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In the dog show world, we can all recall many mistakes of our own, and of others. Luckily, only a few on live television (bloopers). We are fortunate that we are not running for high office and many of our personal “oops” moments are secreted in our memory. The other more visible ones still cause amusement, ridicule, or shock in our small doggy world. It does, however, give me the opportunity to recite just a few of the minor “oops” of which I have heard about, witnessed, or been involved.
August 22nd, 2020 | Posted in Current Articles,Dog Show History,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
What can I tell you? It was a dog club meeting. Blah, blah, blah… As the old saying goes, everyone has an opinion and most of them… well never mind. So we were discussing the Welcome Reception for the judges ad nauseam; the room, the food, the wine, the signage, the decorations, the size of the tables. Finally, I looked at a couple of the biggest complainers and said what I believe (I always tell the truth because that is the way my Mother raised me). “I don’t mean to be rude, but it is not about you. It’s not about the show chair, the photographer, the super or any of the committee members. It’s about the judges. It is a Welcome Event for them.” The reply left me speechless.
August 13th, 2020 | Posted in Current Articles,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
A few weeks ago, a guy I know called, more or less out of the blue, to ask if I might be free for lunch that week. I said, “It’s possible.” and added, since the guy is a CPA, “What do you have in mind?” He said he wanted to talk with me about getting a hunting dog because he knew I’d bred, trained and hunted with both retrievers and pointing breeds for more years than I care to admit. He then added the magic words, “I’m buying.” That sealed the deal for two reasons: First, it would be a violation of the journalists’ credo to turn down a free lunch. Secondly, I’ve known this particular CPA for a number of years and I can count the number of times I’ve seen him pick up a check for any meal on the fingers of one hand. To describe him as “frugal” would require a complete redefinition of the word. So, it was with both some amusement and a considerable amount of bemusement that I headed into the lunch meeting, knowing as I did that over the years, he had seemed perfectly content to hunt over other people’s dogs thus sparing himself the expense of actually keeping one.
August 9th, 2020 | Posted in Current Articles,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
Following a trail certainly applies to breeds in FCI Group 6 – Scenthounds, Leash (scent) Hounds and Related Breeds – that possess a great passion for game and rely on their keen noses and sense of detection.
In Europe, different names are used for scent hounds, such as chien courant (France), Bracke (Germany, Austria), Laufhund (Switzerland) and brak (Netherlands).
Various old European hound breeds share the same history as old French hounds or other breeds that have vanished: they became extinct or merged into one of today’s breeds.
August 9th, 2020 | Posted in Current Articles,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
Quite often when one participates in, or overhears, a conversation concerning the pedigreed dog the word ‘correct’ is seemingly used with great abandon. It has now apparently become one of those elements in our language which we employ with considerable frequency but yet do we oftentimes really consider what we mean when we use it and, as a result, is it always applied in proper context? Are we always aware of how it should be defined? Do we ever qualify it with a follow-up; correct in what sense, for what purpose? Has it now, perhaps, become so loosely and cursorily thrown in so as to lose its potency and intended meaning? Are we compromising a certain connotation here when we use it too casually?
August 1st, 2020 | Posted in Editorial,Featured,Uncategorized | Read More »
Within the judging community, knowing when to stop is for the most part related to either health or age. One’s inherent ability to pass judgment, given the subjective nature of the process, is seldom an issue unless, that is, a judge’s procedure is called into question and subsequently found to be flawed. At the same time,
August 1st, 2020 | Posted in Current Articles,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
First, let me dispose of a couple of things. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to win. It’s always fun and it provides a little ego boost to boot. But, there’s a fine line between being competitive and overly competitive, between winning when it counts and when no one’s counting.
July 26th, 2020 | Posted in Editorial,Featured | Read More »
The Laekenois, which entered Miscellaneous in 2011, has become our 196th recognized breed.
July 13th, 2020 | Posted in Breaking News,Current Articles,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
Many of the keenest minds whose opinions you prize will freely admit much of what they learned (and more importantly…carry into their judgments on a regular basis) were gifts from this great sportswoman. Bea started in dogs in the early 1930s with her “Coastwise” Newfoundlands. She also had success in other breeds which included German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Shetland Sheepdogs, and both Sealyham and Dandie Dinmont Terriers. When I say “success” in these chosen breeds, I say it as humbly as Bea would have; she won National Specialties in each of those breeds over her years of her involvement.
June 29th, 2020 | Posted in Editorial,Featured,Remembering Our Past? | Read More »
We’ve all done it, myself included. Back in the mid-to-late seventies I placed a handsome young dog with a family willing to have him shown. In fact, the husband was open to the idea of handling the dog himself. The pup had a rather strong personality and I soon found myself regretting the placement. I became acutely aware that the pup was getting away with murder, the owners giggling over his stubborn and rather headstrong demeanor.
June 28th, 2020 | Posted in Dog Show History,Editorial,Featured | Read More »
