From The Publisher

By Tom Grabe

A good friend and former professional handler called me out of the blue the other day and he was fit to be tied. He said, “Tom, I am having a hard time referring past clients or friends to a handler. Every time I do, it bites me in the you-know-what!” He was hot, and for good reason.

You see, my friend was a well-respected handler in his region of the country and he was admired for the care he and his wife gave their dogs. Not only were they conditioned, groomed and presented well, but they were also happy dogs who loved him because they received the attention outside the ring that all good handlers give their dogs. He said, “I have tried helping out some of the new, younger handlers with mixed results. It seems that some of them are more worried about partying at night than taking care of the live animals in their care. I see some who are there at the setup letting the dogs hang out in the fresh air and relax, but I see others who are busy having fun with their friends while the dogs are locked in a crate.” He went on to say, “In fact, one of my good clients, who just got back into show dogs, asked me to refer her to a handler. I sent her to someone who I thought would do a great job, but they didn’t.” He grumbled on telling me that his former client felt the handler didn’t care much about the well-being of her dog. She said the dog seemed to barely recognize the handler when she saw it after being with that person for a month. She went to the show and saw the dog spending an inordinate amount of time in the crate and, when it did get out, the assistants were the ones doing everything with it; so she took the dog home.

Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 6 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.