For elegant lines, clean habits and graceful movement, few dogs can rival the Whippet. And it is for these very reasons that his popularity (both as a show dog and a valued companion) have continued to increase in recent years.
The more charitable among my investigative reporter colleagues over the years have viewed me as something of an oddity. Most of the others have made no secret of the fact that they considered me to be somewhat worse than an ax murderer. So, why do so many of my fellow reporters regard me in such a bad light despite the fact that numerous stories I’ve written have earned national honors and my friends regard me as a very amiable person? It seems I’m an anathema to most reporters because I hunt with my dogs and I own and use firearms. Since most reporters these days are on the left-most fringes of the political spectrum, it is easy to see why they would take such a dim view of one of their own being a “gun-totin’ hunter.”
Thousands of years from now, historians may unlock the arcane mysteries of AKC policy and procedure. It is convoluted territory, to be sure. The organization’s incomprehensible twists and turns over the years seem limitless. But more than a few of the truly puzzling episodes center on its breed recognition process. Yeah, these days the whole thing’s been itemized and compartmentalized into clear administrative steps. However, any sane person can see that things rarely operate so smoothly. More interestingly, the FSS program represents the tip of the iceberg. Countless breeds got tossed around the boardroom long before that deal went down. Those stories could fill a book, but we’re short on time here. So, let’s talk Basenjis.
Who doesn’t love Lady Gaga? Okay, maybe not everyone. But there is no denying the fact that she’s been setting trends for decades. And as of late February, it looks like she might be setting a new one that nobody wants.
All dog lovers understand the bittersweet irony that the life of a dog is much too short. While they’re with us, we cherish their company and when they’ve passed on, they live forever in our hearts. Some charismatic creatures have captured our imagination through their breathtaking careers and champion producing progeny. In their time, these canine superstars set the dog world on fire with a brightly burning torch that we’ll carry with us always. These are the dogs known as “The Great Ones”.
Despite all you might hear or read, the sport of purebred dogs is not dying. Some of the nay-sayers will quote statistics about lower entries and clubs folding due to lack of a working membership. The simple truth is, people get older, retire and move to warmer climates. The demographics of our sport change, they always have and will, and will continue to do so. As for entries, maybe the entries for some shows are smaller, but some have grown larger. There are also more clubs with more shows and exhibitors have more to choose from than they ever have before, so they can be more selective about where they want to go. Now, back to my point and that being: if the sport was dying, I have no doubt it is the fathers of the children who love this sport who would somehow find a way to keep it alive.
For many years, the Irish Kennel Club held their spectacular St. Patrick’s Day Show at the glorious Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in Dublin. The event is a grand affair with a great history. As it happens, the RDS sits strategically near the end of the route of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. This location is important to its history because, with the holiday being a religious one, there was a time when pubs were closed for the day. The only place you could get a pint was at a sporting event. No problem for the locals who could go to the parade and end up at the dog show where pints were sold.
When the Westminster Kennel Club was established in 1877, it was the outgrowth of competition among privileged men and their dogs—good breeding celebrated on both sides. It was a colorful notion born of an optimistic and prosperous time: why not have a great show in a great city?
Some in our sport, when it comes to breeding and exhibiting dogs, tend to gravitate to the extreme. It seems as if they feel that more is always better. If a big winning dog has extreme characteristics or a certain ourtrageous style, then many will go out and try to emulate it. If a top winner is too big or too small, is groomed in a certain way, etc.–even if it is wrong for the breed–then the next step is to produce one with more of that trait. If a breed that moves the wrong way wins all over, then lets find more dogs of that breed that move the same way. There is nothing wrong with a dog that has extreme quality as long as those traits adhere to the standard. But having one or two exceptional parts while having numerous serious problems never should be rewarded. Our standards for conformation were written for a reason, so maybe it’s time we got back to basics. This month’s offering is a fable. It is fictitious but may serve as a cautionary tale for our sport, our breeding programs, and our livelihood. Read on.
I recently watched a TV production on dogs dedicated to molding, dying, cutting, and in some cases changing the species altogether. It was not to my liking, but this program started me thinking about the dying, cutting, and molding we have gotten used to seeing in our dog show world!
