139th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Westminster Kennel Club ^

[Roos_Girl]

Are dobe fronts supposed to be as straight as they appear in these pics? I’m a GSP girl myself and we aim for angled fronts, but many many many are too straight, including my bitch that we showed at the garden in 2008. She is slightly underangled in the front. I’ll have to see if I can find a stacked pic of her.

[Batman11]

We went to the Meet the Breeds and “Skills Competition” events that were held in NYC this past Saturday. It is really, really a great day if you are a dog lover. Also, it was much, much better organized this year than last year which made for a much better experience for everyone. The place was packed again. Lots of doggie lovers out there! If you are in NYC the weekend before Westminster you should go!

[Salamander]

No they are not.

45 degrees.

No more, no less.

Most of them are “ loaded” in the front now, too.

No balance in the rear.

Depresses me.

[Roos_Girl]

Sounds like their fronts are supposed to be like GSPs. 45 shoulder layback, 90 degree to the chest down to the elbow. Some reading I've done says this is not possible to achieve. But the dog I bred my bitch to has this perfect angled front and he moves like a dream. His owner/breeder has put 100 AKC titles on him; hunting, retrieving, agility, obedience, etc. THIS is the type of dog that should be used to further our breed. But, CJ won Westminster, everyone in GSPs knows who Val is well prior to this win, and so everyone will breed to CJ and our breed will get bigger and bigger (because size is not a disqualifying fault for us), we'll move further and further in to a hunting line of GSP and a show line of GSP, eyes will get lighter and lighter and on and on and people will pay a $5000 stud fee for these things. It is depressing. Thank you for commiserating with me. :)

[Salamander]

*This* is what they were meant to look like, with the usual German mathematic precision.

Not even close, now. :(

Ugh. Light eyes.

They sometimes pop up in Dobes, especially the 'freak' Blues and Fawns and are referred to as Hawk Eyes.

Used to be penalized, now tolerated.

The Europeans are much less forgiving.

No litters are allowed to be bred *unless* at least one of the parents has a show or working title.

Seven's 10 generation pedigree is 90% "red".

Oh, that things were done like that, here.

[I could rant endlessly] ;)

Odin is built like the dog, above.

He would fail miserably in the current "conformation show ring" but my God, is that dog sound, agile, fast and he single tracks like a dream.

Himself, at 7 months.

Even as an 8 week old pup, I *knew* he was true.

Look at this dog.

Look at him!

LOL

[Salamander]

The GSP is commonly believed to have contributed to the creation of Dobes.

http://www.vomzephirberge.com/history.htm

I had one who pointed birds far better than my dad’s uber expensive Brittany, completely of his own volition and with no coaxing.

:)

[Roos_Girl]

I'm an engineer, I LOVE that diagram! Odin is definitely a handsome boy. I have admired his pictures when you've posted them before. I don't think I've seen the puppy pic before though. :)

That is an interesting video. Never seen anything like it. Was that a conformation event in Europe?

I found some pics of my girl from when we were showing her. We had such a great time showing her, mostly because we got to do a lot of traveling and seeing places we never would have normally gone. Glad we only did it for 2 years though, it was an expensive hobby! Ugh, some of the things we saw in the ring though...toplines that rose from shoulder to tail, flat as pancake feet, gay tails, cow hocks, dogs that can't make it around the ring one time without panting, dogs that can't make it around the ring without crabbing.

She naturally stands like this. I've only ever seen it in dogs that are sound. This was after she finally needed to take a break from playing ball, usually about 1 1/2 hours of full out running after we started. She just turned 11 and doesn't have quite the pep of these younger years.

And I just love this picture of her. I'm the type that notices more the things that could be improved. Her eye is a little light. She's a little straight in the front and she has a slightly short upper arm. She is a 1/2" above the max desired height for bitches, but as I mentioned before it is not a disqualifying fault, and she looked like a midget next to the "California" dogs. There's a reason for heights being included in a breed's conformation; in our case the larger dogs cannot make it a full day out in the field

[Salamander]

She is a beauty and I agree, 100%.

A correct dog will “fall into place” naturally.

I hate watching handlers fussing with leg placement and stringing up their dog to assume the “correct top line”.

It makes me crazy.

Yes, that was a Euro confirmation show.

No stacking.

The dogs are judged by what they naturally look like, without handler interference.

What a crazy concept that is. ;D

I’m sure you noticed the front/rear balance in those dogs, versus what we see in American rings.

Power, fore and aft.

Crabbing has become a huge issue with Dobes.

They are so over-angulated that they cannot get out of their own way and trot diagonally.

They can’t run worth a crap, either.

“Short backed galloper” no longer means much.

I love that diagram, too.

*Nothing* sends a show Doberman forum into a frothing rage faster than simply posting that picture.

LOL