Posted on 03/24/2012 1:09:31 PM PDT by csvset
Once upon a time in Tulsa, Okla., there was a flaxen-haired princess with a coterie of loving attendants, a three-hour-a-day grooming regimen and a room full of trophies.
Fast-forward seven years to East Oakland. That princess - a champion shih tzu show dog named Pup-Pourri's Briana - was found this week staggering along one of the city's meanest streets, tangled in chicken wire and dirt-encrusted dreadlocks, one of the most bizarre animal-neglect cases Oakland animal control officers have ever seen.
"Our best guess is that she was enclosed in chicken wire so tightly she couldn't move, for months if not years," said Oakland Animal Services Director Megan Webb. "But she seemed to have all this training. This air about her. It was strange."
Oakland animal control officers have started piecing together Pup-Pourri's Briana's trajectory. After veterinary staff shaved off the chicken wire and matted fur, treated her skin infections and fed her a decent meal, they checked to see if she had a microchip. She did, and it was registered to a woman named Cheryl Baer in Tulsa.
She's a winner
Baer wept when she heard the fate of one of her favorite show dogs, a creature so beautiful, proud and charming she won best-of-breed competitions in five states. Baer was Pup-Pourri's Briana's groomer for five years, primping her for hours a day with shampoo, conditioner, curling irons and special latex bands for her topknot.
"I am absolutely appalled at what happened to her," said Baer, choking back tears Friday when reached by phone. "A dog that was so loved. ... It's a miracle she's alive."
According to Baer, Pup-Pourri's Briana was born in 1998 in Tulsa, the daughter of a four-time best-in-show sire.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
My husband raises rodeo bulls. We have 2 old retired bucking bulls, living out there lives in the pasture. They are not going to the slaughter house, no way.
The title “champion” is actually a dime a dozen for anyone who attempts to show the dog more than once a month.
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Ever tried Labradors ? ( didn’t think so )
dime a dozen ? Maybe in lesser known breeds but not Labradors.
Here is my divisions point schedule.
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/events/conformation/point_schedule/2011/division5.pdf
God bless you for that.
I dont’ know what your brother means by “professional” breeders but he needs to remember that any time you paint with a broad brush you are probably wrong. I know people who say all Vets are money grubbing idiots. And of course, they’re wrong too.
As for this little dog, very sad story with a happy ending. As someone quite involved in the sport of purebred dogs, I have heard of cases where show breeders turned into what i guess would have to be called hoarders. Like in anything people are involved in there are saintly people and there are awful people and then most people fall somewhere in the great middle. Most show people I know are just like the people who are commenting here. Regular folk with a hobby, and most of them love their dogs and will be horrified when they read this article.
My champion (who is now retired to the life of leisure) loves the whole process, with the exception of the bath. She loves to stand on the grooming table and get trimmed and blow dried and brushed and fussed over. Most pet dogs, who are not used to that kind of thing find it stressful because they are not started at an early age to tolerate it. I think dogs who are well socialized in that way are far better off than the average pet who goes nowhere and then once or twice a year has the stressful experience of going to the vet’s office for a check up and shots, or the groomers etc.
I take mine to a groomer now, sometimes instead of doing it myself, and the groomer ALWAYS comments on how enjoyable she is to groom because she enjoys it.
Now, ME, I always hated being in the ring. It was torture for ME. :)
Depends on the breed. (altho it’s not difficult to get a pedigree with CH in them). Goldens are not that easy to finish. I wouldn’t call them a dime a dozen, if they were I would have far more of them! I swear it costs at least a quarter! ;)
I too thought that was odd.
Getting ready for a storm here too. Stay ssafe.
ssafe should have been safe.
I don’t know anyone in my breed who would place a retired CH INTACT (that is not spayed or neutered) in just any home. It’s simply just not done. Now, maybe in some breeds, but I can tell you, that in goldens, that would get you shunned.
Yes, I have placed dogs who didn’t turn out into pet homes, just like I don’t keep every puppy in a litter (on the same sort of spay/neuter contract, or already spayed/neutered). Of course, I haven’t had a zillion champions, so it’s not like I have had to decide what to do with them, but I will say that if I had say 10 champions and I could decide to put a few in good pet homes (and yes, I screen my pet homes quite carefully) or let them be part of a large pack at my own house, I see nothing wrong in putting them in a home where they would be the center of attention.
That’s not the same as going to the slaughterhouse.
Whether or not to show is a very personal choice. For one thing it’s quite expensive. For another it’s not for the faint of heart. It can be gut wrenching ot have someone tell you your dog is not good enough. And, it’s hard work. So, I don’t blame you.
I’m a German Shepherd person, so I’m pretty aware of high point schedules.
My point is there are thousands of “champions” in the AKC world, in any part of it. We have ads for many of them whom most of the powers that be wouldn’t know from Adam. Not all of them are world-beaters; they just have pro handlers who take them to 3 shows every weekend to make sure they get a CH. ASAP. You don’t even have to actually win a show to be a Ch. as in most sports, so that’s a whole lot of Ch’s.
You, too, k. We’ve got another coming shortly, out here in farm country. The one last night was a rear *trash can mover*. Hatches are all fully-battened-down.
In other words force them to be an OWS piece of scum for a few months! :)
Sounds pretty plausible.
I’m very aware of your stellar treatment of critters.....:)
Dobermanns are arduous to get titled.
The sheer number of dogs competing is incredible.
Same with GSDs and the other ‘top 25’ breeds.
I could’ve titled all of my Ibizan Hounds in less than 6 months if I’d been so inclined.
There are so few of them that amassing points is not that hard.
I hate these people.
I agree with your brother.
When critters come here, they stay here until their time comes, no matter what.
I’m not keen on subjecting myself or my dogs to the treachery that often goes on at dog shows.
I used to go as a spectator and just listening to the breeders snarking at ring side was enough bile for me.
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