Many years ago there was a judge who would dump any of the top dogs in the country, especially as the year came to a close, and put up decidedly less deserving dogs. I was on the winning end of some of those awards. I had had my hands on the top dogs that I beat, and my grooming (and yes, it's just hair) was not then, what it is now. At that time, I would have been happy to just take Best of Opposite to them. After a conversation with this particular judge, never probably thinking that 20 years later I would remember his words, he said "I am so sick of everyone putting these 'top' dogs up all of the time. Somebody needs to take them down a notch." When these dogs are in the last weeks of being qualified for Westminster (which used to mean something) that was just WRONG! Well, I have to admit that I do agree with the first part of his statement. But the latter is as offensive to me as having a dog win because they 'are a top dog.'
I remember telling a friend, who was excited about her win over a top handler with a top dog, and came out of the ring saying "My Fluffball beat TopDog! And I didn't think she showed that well. I guess I was wrong." She wasn't. Her bitch showed badly, as always, skittish, tail down, etc. Having had my hands on both, and not showing in that breed, that weekend, I had to tell her "Congratulations! Your win is your win, but the dogs really had nothing to do with it. The judge dumped TopDog & TopDogHandler. TopDogHandler lost to you." Fluffball was shown many times before and after that never winning another Best of Breed. Actually, it was a miracle she even finished. TopDog was in great shape (scissored to the 9s, coat that looked like velvet) and deserved every Best in Show he got, which happened to be every day of that circuit, except for that one.
This is just warped.
And when a judge puts a puppy up because they have a 'softer coat' when the standard calls for soft, is this right? No, it doesn't say, "the softest coat in the ring" it says 'SOFT." Now that I just returned from the hair salon, my hair is very soft and silky. It is, and never will be as soft as a young child's hair. Both are soft and silky, but that kid is always going to be softer than an senior.
When a judge does this, is this another example of dumping a line-up of top dogs, or is it just a mis-interpretation of the standard?
Who knows?
I have won with puppies under many judges who thought 'soft' meant 'softest' and while that puppy may have deserved Winners Dog or Winners Bitch, did they really deserve the breed?
All we can do is take the win and run with it!
Then hope we can do the same or better the next day.
Done ranting...til next time!!! - It's a SHOW, why does the quality of the dog's showmanship count as much as the quality of the dog - especially at the BEST IN SHOW level???
OK, I am going to keep going....
7 nice dogs in the BIS ring.
5 Dogs showing very well.
1 Dog showing exceptionally well.
1 Dog showing poorly.
(To the point that spectators knew that if this Irish Terrier dog broke the lead, or somehow got away from the handler, he would kill the Corgi. He had his sight set on the Corgi from the minute it walked into the ring.)
What does the judge do? You guessed it, and I quote "The Best in Show today will go to the badly misbehaving Irish Terrier." WFT?!?!?!!
If that handler has lost his deathgrip on the dog, it would have been a murderous Irish Terrier!"
OK, I am done for now. I have work to do.
HAVE A FABULOUS DAY!
I am off to clean up branches from the storm last night. At least it isn't supposed to be as hot as the last couple of days.
