Career Enders – Or Not
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By Caroline Coile
“I have never seen a Siberian this great,” said the judge, adding, “the ear didn’t bother me.” Old timers will know immediately that the Siberian in question was Ch. Innisfree’s Sierra Cinnar, and “the ear” referred to his show-side ear that was missing the top third. The judge was E. Irving Eldredge, and the win? Best In Show at the 1980 Westminster Kennel Club.
Cinnar was already a 13-time Best In Show winner when a kennelmate bit off part of his ear. Following that, it seemed judges passed over him for months. It took Langdon Skarda to ignore the disfigurement and give him his first post-injury Best. After that, he went on to take 17 more!
One could argue that, technically, the Siberian Husky standard calls for “triangular” ears with “rounded tips” and only one of Cinnar’s ears still conformed to that, but to discard a great dog due to an obvious accident would be stupid.
In fact, many breed standards address this eventuality, for example: “Honorable scars and broken teeth incurred in the line of duty are acceptable” (Border Collie); “Honorable scars from fair wear and tear are acceptable” (Norwich Terrier); “Honorable scars are not to be penalized” (Chesapeake Bay Retriever), and on and on, breed after breed forgiving “honorable” scars—although no mention is made of how a judge is supposed to determine which are honorable and which are dishonorable! One person suggested “honorable” scars are on the front of the dog—and “dishonorable” ones on the rear!
Cinnar is probably the best-known, but far from only, show dog who succeeded despite disfigurement. When I posed this question to exhibitors, I was surprised at the number of responses. Ears are apparently near the top of body parts that bad things happen to.
Ears
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Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=199572
Posted by AnthonyA
on Apr 10 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured.
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