Today’s dog game reflects our piecemeal, fragmented lives. Forever dividing our time, energy, and interest between a multitude of demands. Fanciers often comment on the continually changing crowds in their respective breeds, an observation supported by AKC statistics confirming that the average exhibitor bails out after five years.
Americans are sometimes, quite wrongly in my opinion, accused of being rather boastful folk, bragging that they have the ‘biggest this’ and the ‘very best of that’. However, if any American were to claim that their nation was responsible for creating the best breed of dog in the world, I as a proud Englishman would have to humbly concur.
His skeleton was mounted by his last owner, Luke Turner, a dedicated Fox Terrier breeder who wanted to ensure that future Fox Terrier breeders understood the proportion and symmetry that Belgrave Joe transmitted to the breed.
Averell Harriman faced many tests and triumphs during his long, varied career. Surprisingly, he considered a 1936 retriever field trial one of his most challenging ordeals. At AKC’s request, it was held at his posh Sands Point estate on Long Island’s gold coast. The Great Gatsby perfectly portrayed its aristocratic cachet during that era. The trial was organized by Harriman’s brother-in-law, Charley Lawrence, and his friends Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field, which indicates the exclusive nature of the 1930s retriever world.
Although the modern media does its best to distort the fact, purebred dogs stem from a long tradition of the form follows function concept. And that concept had ironclad credibility by 1492 when legions of them began landing on these shores to reunite members of a species that had gone separate ways at least 15,000 years earlier. Like every other aspect of this invasion, European breeds came out on top. However, in many cases, it wasn’t exactly a conquest.
America is the land of opportunity and it’s never been limited to humans. A surprising number of obsolete Old World breeds regained their momentum on these shores. Primarily, this occurred within the context of the East Coast show scene that dominated America’s purebred paradigm for over a century.
This is possibly not the best time to focus on government ability to handle complicated issues. But that’s never stopped them from trying. Getting to the point, a couple of weeks back the Raad van Beheer (Dutch Kennel Club), issued a somewhat militant statement reiterating their stance on dog breeding health and welfare. This is not new. Many European breeders face restrictions and scrutiny that would be unimaginable here. (Think about that the next time you wanna slam AKC). Simply owning a dog requires some scrupulous vetting, never mind breeding or exhibiting.
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.
It’s no secret that Terrier popularity has taken a nosedive in recent years. In truth, this downward trend has gone on for decades. As expected, there’s a gazillion theories to explain it. Here’s what I think. First off, I’m looking at this from the perspective of a diehard purebred lover, and therefore discount those “adopted” pseudo- terriers paraded around by “woke” dog lovers every weekend. I am referring strictly to the genuine article, the kind of Terrier that’s built for business, so you better enjoy that. And there was a time when breeds like that ruled America. Airedales, Wires, Scotties, Irish, those were THE most popular breeds for decades.
There’s a saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s a common phrase that means it is challenging to teach something or someone something new if that person or animal has been doing things a certain way for so long that they’re too stubborn to learn how to do it differently. While that’s not exactly true of old dogs, it can be a bit more difficult and take more patience to teach an old dog something new. But it’s even more difficult and time consuming when the “old dog” is actually the dog’s owner or his professional trainer, Craig Klein, who isn’t old but like me is accustomed to training dogs a certain way, and the result was that both of us have had to learn a bunch of “new tricks.”
