From The CC Vault: Visions, Passions and Purposes

By Dr. Gareth Morgan-Jones

Originally published January 2012

There has, in recent times, been concern expressed about the direction which the sport of pedigreed dogs is currently taking, with a seemingly shifting emphasis and focus occurring away from the pursuit of meaningful breeding practices. A rather oddly rhetorical, and in some ways slightly nonsensical, question has been asked as to the relative and respective importance of judging versus breeding. As if the two could be divorced from one another, as if there was no connection between them. Don’t the two belong together; are they not intricately intertwined? You cannot, after all, have the one without the other and the breeding part surely has to come first. This is the anchor, which keeps the ship from drifting and ultimately ending up on the rocks. There are, of course, various layers and levels to this but the evaluation of stock going forward cannot meaningfully occur in the absence of purposeful and successful breeding. If the latter falters the whole sport will inevitably come apart, for its very essence, the development, perfection and preservation of breeds, is betrayed. Our dogs will seriously suffer as a consequence. Long-term vision, abiding passion and responsible purpose are the ingredients, which glue things together. If these elements are not in place the foundation is eroded. One does, of course, readily get the distinct feeling nowadays that many of the newcomers to the sport are approaching it much too superficially, with the aim of obtaining instant gratification taking precedence over making a long-term, in-depth commitment to the welfare and well-being of our breeds. Substantive participation has to be ongoing and progressive; the cart cannot summarily be placed before the horse. Before anyone nurtures an aspiration to judge there are quite clearly significant dues to pay and stars to be earned. Success as a breeder of consequence should, ideally, be a prerequisite but, regrettably, it is not always that way. In an essay of mine published in this magazine a couple of months ago I related a remark made by an exhibitor to the effect that a particular judge was just a fancier and not a breeder. What should one make of someone saying of another ‘oh, she’s never bred a decent dog in her life’?
As I have written previously, on at least one occasion, to an astute observer of our sport and the somewhat complex culture which surrounds it, an aspect which always engages interest is the quite notable differences which exist in the way various individuals approach it, view it, and participate in it. Even its very purpose can be looked upon somewhat differently. With the passage of time things have certainly changed a good deal in this regard and even the ethos, as well as guiding beliefs, have drifted. The emphasis and focus, quite remarkably perhaps, in fact now vary a great deal. Changing values is something that we have to constantly confront. When asked what is the purpose of the conformation dog show most people will, out of pure habit, readily produce a pat response which goes something as follows: well to evaluate the respective merits of breeding stock, of course. This answer can sometimes now, in a very real sense, unfortunately have an aura of glibness to it although, in reality, it accurately states what our sport is supposed to be all about. Yes, it has indeed come to this! Are you following me here? This exactly suits the need for justification and don’t we always nowadays feel a need to transparently justify everything? But how contrived does this seem at this moment in time? Is this type statement merely pandering to the ostensible and plausible rather than reflecting what is true and real in totality? In other words, are dog shows still being held purely with their original purpose in mind or have they drifted in other directions, at least to some degree? This question of the comparative importance of breeding versus judging crops up in the context of a changed firmament, of a different culture if you will. It can be argued that most of the zigs in this are offset by the zags but there is still surely a cause for considerable concern.

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