“I have never seen a Siberian this great,” said the judge, adding, “the ear didn’t bother me.” Old timers will know immediately that the Siberian in question was Ch. Innisfree’s Sierra Cinnar, and “the ear” referred to his show-side ear that was missing the top third. The judge was E. Irving Eldredge, and the win? Best In Show at the 1980 Westminster Kennel Club.
It seems the older I get, the more friends I lose. I am now in my mid-50s and many of the people I knew, loved and respected so much are gone.
While often misattributed to Mark Twain, it was Charles Dudley Warner who made the famous remark, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it”. Well, in our sport, everyone complains about the Judging Approval Process. Unlike the weather, however, much has been done about it over many years.
The Cocker Spaniel was the most popular breed in the United States in the middle of the 20th century. The breed’s popularity may well have been spurred by a dog named Ch. My Own Brucie winning Best in Show twice at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, or possibly another named Checkers owned by Vice President Nixon, and another starring in the popular movie “Lady and the Tramp.” The most recent AKC list ranks Cockers as 28th overall, the fifth most popular sporting breed.
The majority of owners and exhibitors, including professional handlers, fail I think, to give any consideration to the many problems faced by judges today. Nor do they consider how judges strive to solve these problems. Moreover, many novice judges–having little experience with any of a hundred puzzling problems which might come up–do not know how to respond in certain situations or answer the questions when put to them.
There’s nothing new about dogs entering this country from Eastern Europe with questionable documentation. We’ve had rabies scares, among other things. But this is not a rabies-free country to start with. So, aside from a few fatal disease outbreaks, what’s the harm…right? NOT! But that’s another story.
We waited somewhat patiently for the announcement over the PA system. “Junior Showmanship will be held in Ring 3 at 2 PM.” You had to pay attention because the time, ring, and judge were never part of the judging program. It depended on when available handlers had time between showing their dogs to serve as judges. Back then everyone stayed all day so it worked just fine. There was no such thing as entering Junior Showmanship ahead of time; you just showed up at the ring.
The initial dog genome was released in 2000. Now a new and improved dog genome has been developed using new DNA sequencing methods. The new technology has reduced the number of genome gaps from more than 23,000 to just 585.
I’ve been hearing mutterings from The Boss lately that it might be time to start looking for a puppy. Just a goldarn minute here! Hmm, where did that come from? Must have picked it up watching those old John Wayne westerns with The Boss. Or, maybe it was Lee Marvin. Nah, must have been Wayne, couldn’t have been Marvin. Lee Marvin was a former Marine. Fought and seriously wounded on Saipan during WWII. Any expletive he used would have been a lot stronger than “goldarn.” But, I digress. Back to the initial question.
