Enhancing an Educated Crapshoot

Let’s start with this premise: breeding is an educated crapshoot.

Working breeds come into this deal facing very long odds. Really, the bar is set impossibly high before they lift a paw. Here’s a perfect example, “The Saint Bernard shares with the Newfoundland the honor of being the only two breeds of dogs whose special mission and characteristics are the saving of life, in contradiction to all other breeds which more or less, lie in the direction of destruction.” What!! In other words, if you enter life in this category don’t even think about loafing around the house doing dog stuff. That belief was so totally ingrained in purebred lore that even a hard bitten veteran of the sport like Theo Marples couldn’t resist the ideological claptrap pervading the histories of these breeds.

274 – August, 2013 (click here for full digital article) By Nikki Riggsbee The Border Terrier experts emphasized time and again that this breed is a working terrier, and that the important characteristics were those that support that activity. Some experts expressed doubts that this survey could identify the important features of Border Terriers, that […]

While we are all patiently and not-so-patiently waiting for dog shows to return, it’s no surprise that ideas for virtual dog shows are the talk of the town. To some, virtual shows are an anathema. To others, they offer short-term relief from the stoppage of in-person dog shows. There is, however, another way to look at virtual shows: with a long-term approach that could energize the sport and make in-person dog shows better than ever.

A typical day of a seasoned dog show exhibitor is centered around many self-serving activities, such as finding the best parking spot for yourself, finding the premier grooming set up for yourself and completing all necessary steps to present you and your dog in the most meticulous nature in the ring. All of these serve as catalysts to assure that you are presenting yourself and your dog to maximum potential.

AHA Volunteer Spokesman, David Frei chats with International Heart Classic Judge, Vicki Seiler-Cushman.
DON’T MISS A Virtual Dog Show for Charity!
The American Heart Association’s Healthy Bond for Life™ International Heart Classic Virtual Dog Show
Don’t miss your opportunity to compete at the first virtual dog show of its kind while helping the American Heart Association encourage more people to develop a bond with a pet.

This article was written during the heated battle at AKC over the proposed move of their headquarters to Raleigh/Durham. We all know how it turned out, but the idea was not only brilliant but, in retrospect, something that would probably be beneficial to the operations of today’s American Kennel Club.

I am writing about the need for a multiple-judge panel at the AKC National Championship. I write this column not for the exhibitors. No, nearly all of the exhibitors I talk to love the idea of having a five-judge panel at the group and Best in Show level. I write this column for the decision makers at AKC. I know it will probably fall on deaf ears, but like Don Quixote railing at the windmills, I persevere, knowing I am right and this is what we need.

Are you wondering why a written piece with the title “Ecumenicists, Evangelists, and Everybody Else” appears in a publication about canines? The answer is a bit complicated. Let me start at the beginning. As a child growing up on the North Shore of Long Island, our neighborhood was compiled of families whose children either went to Catechism after school on Wednesdays at the local Catholic Church or hurried to Hebrew School at the Jewish Community Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays. No questions were asked. None were needed. It just was.

By Herman L. Felton, From The Canine Chronicle Archives Rumor is something that goes in one ear and comes out through the mouth. A gossip is one who makes up in suspicion what he or she lacks in knowledge: who is a fact-mangler and misinterpreter; who likes to shake things up for the sake of […]