Mrs Bucket

I grumble and laugh about dog shows.

How can it NOT be laughable?
The seriousness that dog show people put on about dog shows is funny to me.
To listen to people quote their dog’s great-great-great-grandpa’s show history is funny to me. It’s like that Mrs Bucket (I mean Bouquet).

I want to say “Relax a little, your taking the dog’s pedigree a bit too seriously”.
Sometimes I even want to say “Tell me that you don’t really believe in this dog show stuff!”
But I can’t say that at a show, so I smile and nod.

How can it NOT cause me to grumble?
I like dogs. It is that simple. I like dogs.

I don’t like it when somebody tells me that they raise dogs, and then they say that they don’t like dogs, they wouldn’t have a dog, except they needed the tax write off.

I like to talk with people, but I don’t like to hear about how to put all your dogs in cages stacked in one room where they will be out of the way.

I like dogs.
I don’t want to raise dogs as genetic experiments.
I don’t want to raise dogs as objects to enter into shows. I don’t want to raise dogs for money.

When I go to dog shows, I am looking for other dog lovers, who also like people.
Gotta find better place to shop for friends.
It is stupid to go to a tropical island to look for polar bears, or to the arctic to look for macaws.

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Die Loser Die!

The thing I dislike most about sled dog races, greyhound races, dog shows, and all other competitive events using dogs are “What do you do with all the losers?”.

“What do you do with all those puppies who you know will never become winners in the sport?”

Many breeds of dogs have been bred to be a specialist at a specific job,
if they are NOT good at that job, what happens to them?

Racing greyhounds who try to win, but can’t, have very little value.

Years ago, a breeder of these dogs told me she had the losers “put to sleep” (humanly killed) so that they would not end up being used in medical research or product testing.

Some losers are adopted, but many losers are killed. I believe it would be better if dog tracks became casinos.

In the Vick case, we all read about how the losers were killed for “underperforming”.
But dog fights aren’t the only dog competition where the losers die.

Dog shows are just another competitive event using dogs.

I have talked with many many show dog breeders.
What value does a dog have if the whole point of keeping him has been to own and show a winner, but the pup turns out to be a loser?

He is useless as a show dog because he doesn’t win, and he is usually useless for breeding because he hasn’t won.

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Lassoing the Moon.

MAYBE SOME THINGS CAN’T BE FIXED?

I don’t believe we can keep conformation shows, but have show breeders breed for health, temperament, or working ability.

People who want to win, will breed to whatever type of dog in their breed is winning.

It is so bad that show breeders will breed to winning dogs with screw tails, flat faces, undershot jaws, ridges of fur on the back, serious health problems, and temperament problems.

More than one show dog breeder has said “I breed to whatever wins.” or “I let the (club) pick who to breed to”.

You could argue that some mutations are written into the standards, but I believe that makes it even worse.

Who had to approve those standards before they were accepted?

IF we are going to still have dog shows, then IMO, there should be some improvement and updating of dog shows.

Seems to me the registry ought to un-accept those standards which call for deformities.

Or like with the 2 ball rule, in one club, it use to be in each standard, then it was changed to apply to every standard.

Isn’t it more important to have healthy dogs, than to have un-neutered dogs?

Add to the 2 ball rule, “and all dogs will be disqualified if they have deformities, including but not limited to: flat faces, undershot jaw, ridges of fur going to wrong way, etc.

But that won’t stop the breeding of suffering dogs, because the judge can’t see the problem when the dogs hurts inside.

I can find only one answer, when a breed gets too bad, with health, temperament, or not fitting into human society well, then that breed can only be shown in conformation if neutered or spayed.

But really, I believe it is long past overdue that we quit having conformation shows, or in any way supporting having conformation shows. If some of us must use dogs in competitve events, then let’s at least make them talent shows, not mutant shows.

And you want to hear the weird part? I have yet to have anyone write or say “I make money off of dog shows.”

No person, no group, no club, no organization, no business has EVER admitted to me that they are making money by having dog shows.

Handlers & venders make money at dog shows, but not by throwing the dog show.

Right down the line, people have told me that their group looses money at dog shows.

Maybe somebody needs to follow the money there, because I doubt that people would keep going with some thing that cost money, unless it netted more than it cost somehow.

You don’t run a business at a loss every year do you?

Well maybe an organization isn’t legally a business, but if income is less than outgo, then they are going to be in the red.

Maybe if you separate income from registering purebreds from the outgo of showing them … Oh I don’t know, but some how I believe somebody has to be making money from dog shows, because I believe if everybody said “We’d make more money if we stopped having dog shows”, then dog shows would stop.

I can’t believe nobody anywhere is making any money.

Besides 2,000 x $20 entry fee each, per day = $40,000 in one day, shows are often 2, or 3 days. Where does the money go?

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