It seems as though whenever those of us in the sport of purebred dogs and the dog fancy in general find that things are not going our way (with pending anti-dog legislation mostly) we rally to the battle cry, “We need to educate the public!” But, what exactly is the message we wish to convey to the public? Where should we go to find the public we are seeking to educate? And, what is our plan for reaching them?
Situated in the heart of Europe, Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság) is the country of pusztas (prairies) and the Danube, but also of Turkish occupation, Habsburg emperors, communist regimes and the 1956 uprising against the Russians. Until 1989, Hungary was a Socialist People’s Republic, but today it is an independent democratic republic.
Anyone who is connected to the world of dogs and loves to learn new facts on the topic is pretty likely to know the term ‘domestication’. The word itself originates from the Latin word ‘domesticus’, which means ‘belonging to the house’.
There are some dogs that are simply born to work who also take their jobs very seriously and nothing will deter them from doing that work. If you have been lucky enough to have owned one of these dogs, you know that they are the type that,
You do all you can, each and every day, to make their lives happy and healthy. Some do this full-time (handlers); others do this part-time (owner, breeders or junior handlers) while they also work or go to school.
By the 1950s, one could easily notice that the sport of dogs had evolved and turned another corner. Changes occurred in almost every area of the sport, mainly through the efforts of new research, technologies and better breeding methods.
This sport forces attention in the moment. It’s essential. Developments unfold constantly.Stay on top of things or suffer the consequences. Short term memory, no problem.However,if it didn’t happen last week, last month, or last year, that’s a different story. For instance, a recent random query reveals that hardly anyone remembers Tom Gately.The name sparked a few recollections of him as a Terrier man,a decent judge.His involvement in this sport as a breeder, handler, and judge spanned a lifetime. He made history and deserves better. So here’s a history lesson.
Monorchidism is an all-too-common condition among male dogs. It refers to the defect in which one of the dog’s testes remains undescended. This canine defect has been recognized for many decades. Even by selectively breeding only males with two normally descended testicles, this defect may be exhibited with relative frequency in their progeny.
April I had the pleasure of judging the Amstaff Major, an American Staffordshire Terrier Specialty, held each year in a different European country. This show was put together by it’s founders, Mirko Popovic and Vladimir Mihaljcic, both residents of Serbia. They have done a fabulous job of in- creasing the size of this specialty to hundreds of exhibits.
It’s time for a change. I’ve been looking back for a long time, but from this point on I’m looking around… then I’mlooking forward! Looking around recently, it has come to my attention (again) how so much that is wrong with our dog shows is blamed on the judges! Well, folks, I have news for you. We need to look more closely at the people who put the shows together for some (or more) of the blame.
