DOG SHOW BREEDS CONTEMPT

NY Post ^ | February 11, 2003 | Andrea Peyser

[NYer]

No sooner had I walked backstage at Madison Square Garden yesterday when I was brushed aside by a beautifully groomed, purebred bitch who possessed the manners of a mongrel.

She was a dog owner.

"A- -hole!" the high-strung biped ranted, just loud enough to drive a sensitive cocker spaniel to the kibble.

[netmilsmom]

Tin Foil hat for the other dog???
Geez, that's too cute! I'm only five-three, I guess I would be seeing her face to face.

On another note, I wish I could have a dog at this point. My five year old was exposed to some stupid dog owners who let their dogs rush her (even when they knew she was scared)and just gave the "oh he won't hurt you". Really? Tell that to a 4 year old who sees a barking dog bigger than her.
She likes to run with the puppies at the pet store, but is still scared of dogs. I really want a dog to keep watch on the house (and when we moved in there was a built in heated dog house and run!) but I guess it's cats for now.

[netmilsmom]

Ooooops! That's why mamma said not to assume!

[luckymom]

You beat me to it! My aunt showed persians for years, and I'd gone to a few of her shows. The more smooshed in her cats' faces were, the more prized! Ew! Still the PEOPLE were the ones who should have been in cages! What a bunch!

[saluki_in_ohio]

The Saluki, Mascot of Southern Illinois University

[Desdemona]

She likes to run with the puppies at the pet store, but is still scared of dogs. I really want a dog to keep watch on the house

It might be easier for her if she sees it grow from a puppy and grows with it. And you might try something smaller rather than one of the big breeds.

[AnAmericanMother]

If you get a puppy that she can grow up with, and a quiet example of a steady breed (NOT a wild girl like mine - my kids are older - 11 and 13 when we got the dog) she ought to be o.k. A nice easygoing couch potato of a Lab, or maybe a Golden?

[Irene Adler]

Mr. Adler and I would love to have a border collie, but we know we could not provide enough stimulation for such an active, intelligent breed.

Last summer, I watched a herding demonstration with a border collie and three sheep. It was fascinating. The dog could keep all three sheep shoulder to shoulder or cut one away from the group at a second's notice. The poor sheep didn't know which way was up except what the dog was making them do. The toughest part for the guy that was giving the border collie its instructions was to get the dog to lie still on the ground from time to time because the dog wanted to work those sheep fulltime and was reluctant to stop bossing them around. The only instruction the dog was reluctant to take from the man was to STOP what he was doing. He was just crazy to keep those sheep busy every second.

If you leave your tax info. out, your border collie just might be persuaded to do you taxes for you while you're at work.

[CCWoody]

All the ones I know look like a collection of knitting mistakes. ~ AAM

I thought that they were just oversized mops!

( . . . my dog says no thanks, she's a REAL working dog.) ~ AAM

Well, I was initially put off that the local park where I am training my dog to actually retrieve dead flying animals (that I will provide of course) has been overrun with people fishing. This is slightly out of the ordinary as we have no fish who bite in the dead of winter.

Nevertheless, I have a much better attitude now that I know the little lake has has been stocked with several thousand trout. They will die anyway come summer when the lake heats to about 85 on the surface so I should do my part and help get them slithering slimy scurvey creatures out of my training pond. Sheesh!

I'm also eagerly waiting for a lower wind day when the sand is not blowing to take my dog to a friend's land to begin training with a gun. We can't have a gun shy dog....

Woody.

[yankeedame]

Most of the people I've met at dog shows are more or less normal, but the incidence of nuts, fruits, and flakes seems a bit higher than in the population at large.

Yes, but this pretty much true when you get into the rarified atmosphere of any group- chessplayers, antique collectors, muscians, etc.

[Space Wrangler]

My wife came into the marriage with a dalmatian as well. Sometimes I can see the looks of utter contempt on my border collie's face while she watches the dal's antics. And yes, it is one of the harder things to get the bc's to stop what they're doing while herding. You should go to some of the border collie field trials. THAT is where you will see just how outstanding this breed really is. I know people who own farms who said that they no longer have to tend to cattle anymore. Just yell at their BC's to round 'em up, and it's done. All they have to do is close the gate behind the livestock.

[AnAmericanMother]

My dog came absolutely impervious to fireworks, backfiring trucks, and shotguns. She has never flinched.

My kids play the silliest game with her. She has a toy stuffed Mallard duck. My son has a toy gun. They go out in the yard, my son shoulders the gun and shouts, "BANG!" and my daughter throws the "duck" as far as she can. The dog happily dashes after the "duck" and brings it back to my son, who gives her a treat. It's side-splitting to watch, and they all love it.

She has begun to retrieve items strictly on hand signals. We were walking along a creek just last weekend, and she would retrieve junk out of the creek if I pointed her to it, and bring it back to us. (Tennis balls and milk jugs, I didn't point out any spare tires or tin cans. She did once, however, bring me a bowling ball in my living room.) She didn't care a rap about the two real live Mallard ducks that were coasting in an eddy on the other side of the creek, but I didn't point her at 'em for fear that she would go and get them . . . if birds hit the glass in our back yard, she goes and gets them and brings them to me. One wood thrush even SURVIVED this treatment.

[AnAmericanMother]

Border collies are amazing. OF course they absolutely rule in agility.

We almost got a bc - a friend of my husband's bred them. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack, and I swear his widow had those dogs out of there almost before he was in his grave. We waited a decent interval to ask her about a pup, no more than a week or two, and the dogs were already all gone. Guess she didn't like 'em.

[netmilsmom]

COOL!

[netmilsmom]

My two year old just said those doggies are playing Go Fish. "Can we have a doggie that plays Go Fish?"
thanks....

[netmilsmom]

I think you ladies are right. I had an aunt who raised black labs and one of hers, Hondo, was always my pal. On the other hand my sister had a Papillion, Katrina, who was the bomb. She would walk on her front legs when she tinkled! We will wait a few years and try with Nettie.

[mrs. a]

I have two female dachshunds - possibly not the finest minds of the Western world, but they're cute enough to make up for it. I do not show them.

However, I do show alpacas. Alpaca show people are the polar opposite of dog show people in attitude and cooperation. I have had competitors help me exercise my animals and prepare them for the ring.

Go to an alpaca show some day and look at animal show people ENJOYING THEMSELVES. It's quite refreshing.

[tracer]

Letterman forgot to mention that the French poodle surrendered after biting the hand that fed it....

[tracer]

Does the dog in the photo mind being inflated with helium??

[ZULU]

For some reason, the judges in these shows seem to feel those dogs that best conform to their breed's standards are invariably those little freaky monsters like Poodles, etc.

Real dogs like German Sherpherds, Wolfhounds, Setters, pointers, etc, have no chance.

This can't be coincidental. Perhaps a breed's ability to perform its developed function is inversely proportional to its conformance with the artificial standards concocted for them by these show world people. Consequently, dogs like German Shepherds who are bred for real work like guiding the blind,police and track work, etc, have no chance in these "beauty" shows. Sporting breeds who are entered in these shows are generally divided into bench lines and field dogs, and in some cases like the English Setter, there is a substantial difference in appearance between the two, the bench dog looking very beautiful, but not being very functional, and the field trial dog not looking so great, but being much better at what the breed was originally developed for.

Another example is the English Bulldog. The Bulldog was originally a large, powerful aggressive and agile animal developed for the brutal sport of bull-baiting. When British sensibilities mandated an end to that "sport", they deliberately bred that magnificent animal into the gargoylesque creature known as the "English Bulldog". Today, there is a dog known as the American Bulldog, whic is NOT recognized by the AKC, but which more closely resembles their common forebearer. It makes an excellent and effective guard dog and companion and has even been used for hunting. While the English Bulldog experiences respiratory difficulties and births occur via caesarian section as the heads have been developed to such an abornmal degree they can't pass though the mother's pelvic passage.

It is no accident that people who have real working breeds like coonhounds, bearhounds, and border collies and whose interest lies in the breed's ability to accomplish its purpose rather than conformance with an effete beauty standard, don't actively seek AKC recognition for their dogs.