Rarefied Heirs is going to take a brief detour from Rare Breeds… to Rare Talent. Andy Linton has kindly agreed to offer the fancy a few articles with his insights and recollections gained over a lifetime in our sport. It’s an exciting and humbling thing to have the opportunity to share these interviews with our readers here. I hope the writing rises to the worth of the subject.
When you sit and watch Groups, do you pay attention to the basics of presentation? How the dog is presented is the first impression the judge gets, and often it’s not a great impression.
We are rapidly approaching the back-to-school season, and it comes at the same time that many of our young people are looking forward to their favorite fall show circuits. This is a time for new opportunities to compete in the juniors’ ring, and a renewed focus on academics.
Shaun Usher’s website: https://shaunusher.com/, describes him as “Professional Letter Nerd.” He has earned that title honorably. In 2009, he established a “Letters of Note” website to explore and share his fascination with other people’s letters which, he explained, consisted of “correspondence deserving of a wider audience.” And he gave them one—the site has been visited over 100 million times. This was a period in which much of life was still material, not digital, and Usher obtained letters from families, archives, books, museums, and other collections. Then he lovingly posted facsimiles to his site.
The ‘aristocrats’ of dogdom, Afghan Hounds have a distinguished history at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, with the breed’s first and most notable Best In Show victory coming in 1957. They are known for their elegance, aloofness, exquisiteness, and wildness. Throughout history, they have been a significant status symbol, captivated aristocracy, and have been not only a pet, but a muse to the painter Pablo Picasso. If a specimen of another breed is to take on one in the show ring, it indeed takes a truly outstanding dog to be a worthy peer.
After finishing my assignment in Ring 4, I walked over to my next ring, Ring 8. The judge in Ring 8 finished his last breed for the day, marked his book, and on the way out, saw me waiting and started a conversation. Quite excitedly, he asked if I agreed with his breed winner. I did. Well done.
There was one weekend when I drove nearly across the country for a big dog show. I was excited. Optimistic. I thought we had a real shot. I had imagined how it might feel if everything came together after a dry spell.
The hot topic around the rings these days seems to be, as usual, the quality of judging. Big surprise, huh? Unfortunately, this subject has been beaten to death for longer than I have been alive and it seems to be a problem that just won’t go away. However, the lack of quality judging seems to have become a bigger problem as of late.
Click here to read the complete article 10 – May, 2026 Click here to read the complete article 10 – May, 2026
by Peri Norman Our world is filled with advice on breeding dogs and much of it is very good. Examples include, “pick a stud dog who will improve your bitch’s weak points.” Or, “find a stud dog whose faults will not overpower your bitch’s attributes.” “Never double up on a fault,” is another common bit […]
