Are dog shows fair? Is judging fair? Do dogs that win do so because they’re the best ones in the ring? Ask two populations of people in the dog show world and you’ll get two very different answers.
I know that many of my American friends are following the great Brexit debacle with interest; a disgraceful episode still rumbling on over here three years after the result of the vote was announced, and many of you are scratching your heads in sheer disbelief at what is happening. So many have asked me, ‘What on earth has happened to your country?’
I cannot give a sensible reply; like a lot of my countrymen (well, those who live outside of London) I am equally baffled and ashamed by the pantomime unfolding all around me.
Purebreddogs are the world’s most diverse species. In a detached sense, they are a spectacular genetics experiment continually unfolding in record time. Think about this tidbit for a minute: the inimitable Betty White is 98 years old. When she was born, most of today’s dog breeds did not exist!
A few months ago we attended Crufts with our Dachshund, Otto. Whilst Marc was stressing out, getting our boy ready for his big moment in the ring, I ambled off to ‘Discover Dogs’ which is the equivalent to the American ‘Meet the Breeds’. Between you and me, the Americans definitely have the better choice of name for this event!
The Lhasa Apso is one of four AKC-recognized breeds originating in Tibet, the others being the Tibetan Mastiff, Tibetan Spaniel, and the Tibetan Terrier. All have a heavy coat and carry the tail over the back. The Lhasa is named after the capitol city of Tibet (Lhasa) with “Apso” meaning bearded or goatee. It is one of the oldest breeds, over a thousand years old. It served as the inside dog in the Buddhist monasteries as a sentinel to let the monks know of new arrivals. Originally, they were called the Lhasa Terrier and put in the AKC terrier group in 1935. Later the name was changed, and they moved to the Non-Sporting group in 1959.
And herein lies one problem with genetic testing: dog owners, and even dog breeders, too often don’t know what it means. And it’s not really their fault. Thirty years ago all we had to know was the difference between genotype and phenotype, and dominant and recessive. We thought that if we could identify every carrier through test breedings, and remove them from the gene pool, we could purge our dogs of hereditary illness. We fantasized about DNA tests that might one day allow us to actually “see” a dog’s recessive genes. And when that first test happened, and then another, and another, breeders set out to do just that. They removed every carrier they could identify, and in so doing created a genetic bottleneck that reduce their breed’s genetic diversity and allowed other heretofore unknown or insignificant diseases to come to the forefront. With more knowledge of our dog’s genes came the need for more knowledge on how to use this knowledge.
One of the things that I noticed during the 15 or so years that I judged all three types of AKC hunt tests was that dogs seem to have perfect timing for when they royally mess things up. Things they’ve never done in training suddenly pop up, frequently in the most spectacular fashion, when the money’s on the line in a test. This seems to be especially true if dog and handler are within one orange ribbon of a title.
A hot topic these past few months, with the long awaited return of dog shows occurring, has been the judging panels. Why are many of the same judges appearing consistently at the few shows available for exhibitors? With more shows open for entries now, what will be the effects of these repetitions? Has the time come to look at the pros and cons of the suspension–due to COVID–of the 30 day/200 miles between assignments for judges? Read through what our panel of judges has to say on these issues and more. You will find their opinions worthy of serious consideration.
In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, overachiever Odysseus leaves home for 20 years to fight in the Trojan War and find his way home without GPS. All because a gaggle of goddesses were quarreling over who would get The Golden Apple for being the fairest of them all. With the quarrel turning into an all-out war, it would have been profoundly unsafe, and bad form, for Odysseus to bring his infant son, Telemachus, along for the journey. So he left little Telemachus under the supervision of an old and trusted friend whose name just happened to be Mentor.
A Resource for Dog Owners, Breeders, and Veterinary Professionals. Sponsored by the AKC Canine Health Foundation and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.
