Will Alexander Drops Some Knowledge About What’s Happening in the Sport of Dogs. It’s Deep… It’s Humorous… It’s Provocative… It’s Will Unfiltered! This week Will gives us My Dogs Top 10 New Year Resolutions. Click here to watch on Canine Chronicle TV!
Watch your breed until the end of judging. I know it’s hard sometimes; after all, who cares about that moron’s opinion now? But try to objectively find things the judge’s winners and losers have in common. If the judge truly only puts up faces, then that’s valuable information. Maybe one day you’ll need to hire a handler under them! But maybe they are actually judging dogs. It’s easy to be so mad about the day’s judging you can’t find anything good about the judge, but maybe, just maybe, their choices had something to so with the (gasp!) dogs! This means you have to be objective about your own dog as well as the competition. I showed a great moving dog with a poor head once. One day he lost to a poor mover with a good head. Once I got over my “They don’t run on their heads!” indignation, I brought that judge my dogs with great heads and never lost under him again! The same with a dog I showed that was more workmanlike. We lost a to a pretty little bitch under a judge who I immediately thought must be senile. But again, I stopped to think about it, and the next time he was on a panel I brought him a pretty little bitch and won the group! You may not have a dog to fit their preferences immediately, but stow that information away for future use. I could have stayed mad at both of these judges and crossed them off my list, but the loss would have been mine, not theirs!
The canine sport of Barn Hunt is still relatively new to the conformation dog show community, but has grown substantially in popularity the last decade. Barn Hunt is a timed event designed to test a dog’s ability to locate the quarry (a rat) and to signal the find to his handler. Just as with most AKC performance events there are multiple skill levels: Novice, Open, Senior and Master, with titles awarded in each. Each test level is made increasingly more difficult with the addition of tubes containing used bedding material and more rats. There is also a basic level, the Instinct test, that must first be passed.
This is a love story, not a romantic one, but a love story nonetheless It speaks to a level of love which is pure, deep, and in so many ways incredibly beautiful. It is poignant and also painful. Yet, it is one I feel compelled to recount. I share it with you in the spirit of the love which I witnessed, and as a lesson in loving. I observed it firsthand while flying at 24,000 feet above earth during my return home from a recent judging assignment. I hope I never forget what I felt and what I learned.
Every child at some point begs their parents for a puppy. If you were one of those parents or if you know one, here is what most likely happened. The parent immediately begins to think about all of the added chores and financial obligations that come with owning a puppy.
Love at first sight. We’ve heard that phrase a million times and generally we’re right by consigning it to the realm of greeting card marketing. Yeah, maybe, mostly…unless you happen to reside in our world. The dedication demanded for success in this sport only comes from one place–absolute love at first sight. And that’s certainly the way it went down for Caroline Coile. She’s a familiar name as an award-winning writer and successful Saluki breeder as well as a name that constantly pops up in the monthly NOHS rankings. We got a lot to unpack here.
Everyone, at some point in their dog career, struggles with fault judging. Let’s be honest here, it’s easy to point out the faults of dogs, especially dogs that win consistently. “How does it win with a topline like that?” “Look at its front, how do they keep pointing at it?” I am quite sure we have all heard these lines before. I’m sure we have all used such phrases during our careers. Early in my own career–when my dogs were perfect–I too succumbed to such feelings. And there was always this voice I would hear. It seemed to follow me around, continuously reminding me, continuously trying to make me use my common sense. This voice wasn’t my inner voice or my muse. This voice was very much real. It belonged to one Garrett Lambert. Garrett was a prominent professional handler during the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s.
Lately, HSUS has begun deploying its minions around my neighborhood seeking to sign up new “lifetime” donors. Understand that they are not requesting the usual $1-$5 handouts customarily associated with that type of street corner fundraising. Hell no. They are armed with immediate credit card authorization weapons.
Part One of this article discussed the differences between AKC shows and The Kennel Club shows in the UK as they relate to the making of a champion and the entry-size per championship show. Much of the data regarding “too many shows” is back in Part One. No need for calculators this time; Part Two looks at the bigger picture, the collateral damage, and the potential consequences for our sport.
There’s a very simple fact about the competitors in any competition, including dog shows. The fact is that those competing entered the contest with the intention of winning it. I don’t think anyone enters the field of play with the sole goal of enjoying the experience. They entered because they believed they were good enough to win the competition and that is their goal.
