CRUFTS BIS HANDLING CONTROVERSY...
I am not positive where I stand on this but am leaning towards
it being THE JUDGE'S CALL. To me it falls into the same category as a breed standard calling for, or a judge telling you to show on a loose lead, then rewarding the dogs who are
strung up so tight that their front feet don't touch the ground. If the ring belongs to the judge, and the
judge works for The Kennel Club, then the judge should have been informed by
The Kennel Club of the handling restrictions/requirements/prohibitions
etc. Unless the clubs are going to take away from the authority of the judge in the ring and place a referee in the
ring to catch things that are happening when the judge is looking elsewhere,
and there is an 'instant recall' video feature, we have to leave the judging
and awarding of ribbons or disqualifications up to that judge. After all isn't that why the clubs hire them and we enter under them?
I witnessed a judge DQ a purple/blue dog this past weekend. BRAVO TO HIM!!! Not even in the grandest old-lady hair colors was this natural to any living, breathing creature. A flower maybe, but a warm blooded critter, definitely not!
We have all seen things happen in the ring that were not
right, whether it was handling 'technique' or hitting of a dog, or a dog who
actually bit his owner (and drew blood-yes in the ring) but I, for one, was
told by and AKC rep that the judge had to see it for anything to be done about
it.
I have been wanting to write something about a HORRIFYING action that I saw when boarding one of the shuttles in NYC getting ready to go
to the Piers this year. A woman with a
Newfy and short-woman syndrome literally punched her dog in the head. The dog was not misbehaving, he barely
reacted to another dog, a Portie I believe, that made a somewhat aggressive
move towards him. The Newfy evidently
had enough of a reaction to startle the owner/handler so she punched him in the
head. Not a little tap, or a swat as a minor correction, but A FULL FISTED PUNCH!!! Then she did it again! It took a minute for me to realize what I had
just witnessed, and when she drew her arm back, hand clenched into a fist, for
the third time, I yelled at her to stop.
I told her she had better not hit that dog again, or she would be
dealing with more than just me. I was
the only one, of all the people boarding that bus, who said anything.
And now with the poisoning and BIS handling controversy at Cruft's, no wonder people have the wrong idea about show dogs and show people.
However, it wasn't the wrong idea
about that woman. I wouldn't want to be
a show dog with that owner either.
