Who else is a victim of procrastination? Sometimes, when I feel there is a huge job I must do, I put it off and put it off. I was so excited about the dog show I went to see, but the idea of writing and about all the groups felt like such a big job, I didn’t want to get started.
Then, while driving today I had the idea to just write about one group at a time. This is actually good for two reasons. One, I can break down my thoughts into smaller posts and not be so boring. Two, there are almost 300 pictures. This would overwhelm even the most hard core dog lover. Like your Uncle’s vacation slide show you had to sit through as a child.
Overall the show was fascinating. There were no seats-I wish I had known to bring my own! The day I went had 1600 dogs entered. It took place in 13 rings in 3 different buildings. You could also walk right through all the prep/crating/grooming areas. I got to stand right next to the rings. When I first walked in I thought I had went in the wrong way-I had no idea I’d be allowed to get that close. The little dogs have these carts that have 4 built in cages all in one. I had never seen anything it. In fact, somewhere there is a show dog warehouse full of all sorts of things people ‘need’ at these shows. And phew! The poodle area was hard to breath. They use more hairspray than we did back in the 90’s!
The RV setups were just outside. I know some of the folks do dog showing as a profession but some of the set ups were over the top!
Up first is the Herding group. I didn’t get to see any of these individual breed matches, just the group competition. So my thoughts? I still don’t understand why we want German Shepherds with ankles that almost touch the ground. It looks like they’ve been hit by a car to me. I really liked the smooth Collie. I tend to think I prefer short coats-brushing just isn’t much for me. The Puli was awesome! You just don’t see those often. I saw the handler getting the dog ready. It had the chords all separate, pulled into clips going through them one by one. That is way too much work. My dogs hair can not take longer than my own to fix. (click the picture below to see the album)
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| Orlando Cluster Show-Herding Group |
I don't like GSDs whose ankles touch the ground and are cow hocked. It is not healthy and IMHO, is not good for the breed. This could be a working dog?? Pleease – why does one think K-9 units buy their GSDs in Germany?
OMgosh – that Puli is something. I am liking Belgian Malinois more and more. Your photos are great; nice showing of the breeds. I can do that with Picasa? I am so lame – HA.
That Puli is wild! And yeah, Mom's with you. Lots of time spent preening and poofing just isn't her thing. About 5 minutes is her max BOL! Glad you had such a good time at the show! Great idea to eat the elephant one bite at a time 😉
Waggin at ya,
Roo
Great pics, such pretty dogs!
the german shepherd looked like he was getting ready to pee… or at least, that's basically Gwynn's stance before he does his business. His proportions might look odd just because they've arranged him, legs extended behind him a bit?
Also, I've heard that there are a lot of issues with dog showing – it isn't necessarily the healthiest/best-for-working version of the breed standard that tends to be displayed. Most labs that are shown are actually very overweight (labs are heavy-set, naturally, but not meant to be THAT heavy-set), and a lot of the 'this is a great display of the breed' type dogs are not the healthiest, but are judged on appearances. Apparently, the best-in-show winner at the big one in London last year (one of the squished nose breeds, can't remember which one) was brought out to accept the prize sitting on what looked like a pillow, but was actually an ice-pack. she was prone to seizures and other issues, and they'd established that if she heated up over X temperature, she'd have an aneurism and die… no matter how good she looks, how does she win if she's got such serious health issues?! And this dog is passing these traits onto puppies, which get sold for thousands of dollars, because she's a show-winner.