Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Dog Shows

Good Morning:

My wife and I have enjoyed watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog Show for quite a few years, and the following are just a few of our observations.

I think the people who trim (shave) a Standard Poodle to look like a Fop, must surely be Gender Benders. I've heard that Poodles are very smart dogs (as are most Dogs when given a chance) but I wonder if they (Poodles) don't feel a little embarrassed to parade around the ring in a Dog Show, with their coat shaved and trimmed to make them look like some sort of a cross between an interrupted hair cut and a Drag Queen. I feel sorry for these dogs.The reason I've been told for Poodles being trimmed in this fashion, is that they were originally bred as hunting dogs and the hair was trimmed, leaving certain areas around the dogs joints unshorn to protect them from the Cold Waters of, say, a Duck Hunt. Bushwha say I. If this was even remotely so, why not just leave the dog alone and let him or her stay Warm all over? I also have trouble understanding why dogs are maimed, early in their lives, by having their ears cropped or their tail chopped off, in the name of Breed Conformation. I wonder how their owners would like it if they had their ears customized to look like Dr. Spock, and have one of their buttocks removed, in the name of fashion. I would venture a guess that there are a few around Soho, the Village, or San Francisco who would probably go for it, but surely no sane person would be in favor of it . But what do I know?

I think that we ought to leave Dogs just as the Good Lord intended them to be and not surgically customize them. I'm pretty sure that the Dogs would be a lot happier.

Another thing I can't help but wondering about is the size of some of the people who "Show" the Dogs. I'm speaking I guess of the "handlers" who run around the ring with the animal and pose it for the Judges. It seems to me to be a rule of thumb that the Handlers Size and Weight are inversely proportional to the size of the Dog being shown . I am pretty sure that I've seen Handlers in the 250-400 Lb range (and I guess it sounds sexist, but it seems that most of these are of the feminine gender, with a portly gent thrown in occasionally, for gender balance,huffing around after a Chihuahua, just as I've seem trim and fit people showing a Neopolitan Mastiff, for example.

In one show we watched we sat horrified as a Double-Wide Handler wiped out on one of the curves and very nearly Squashed a small rat-like dog of some Denomination. I guess the weight problem that some of these people have is due to the hectic shedule of Dog Shows forces them to eat whatever they can, and one presumes that is probably Junk Food, or perhaps the losers in the Shows.

One other thing I've noticed is that the Judge of the Best in Show Feature, seems to me to always be just this side of royalty. I guess that if you do not have a net worth of umpteen cazillion dollars, you need not ever harbor a hope of being asked to Judge this Feature.

I don't Know, all of the above are just observations and opinions, but I do know know for sure that its great fun to watch this annual event.

Have Fun

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