March 11, 2012

Kudos Crufts!!

I usually don't post my "opinion" on this blog.  I try to keep it about my dogs and their kids.  Poor Kenny is usually the brunt of all my "opinions", which are many if you know me.

But I have been reading with interest what is going on at the Crufts show in England.


I have been disheartened, since I got into the dog world, to see the ever widening gap between the show dogs and field dogs in the Sporting Group.  Some of them don't even look like the same breed.  The dog above did not compete at Crufts, as far as I know, but he's a representative of a show winning Labrador of recent years.  It's gross.

Some breeders are doing it right.  My friend Liz breeds Flat Coated Retrievers (Blazingstar) and I have always admired her dogs and the fact they win in the show ring AND do what they're bred to do.  Sadly, this is not the case for most Sporting breeds, nor CAN it be the case.  The PIGador shown above could not be expected to withstand a full day's hunt, and my own dogs would be laughed out of the show ring.

3x NFC AFC AND Ch Shed Of Arden



Dual Champion Cherokee Rocket

But looking at the above photos of Dual Champion (show and field champion) labradors from the 40s and 50s, shows that the breed has gone in the wrong direction in the show ring, as far as I'm concerned.  The over exaggerated head was not present 50 years ago, and the dogs had some leg.  I'd like to think that my dogs are closer to these old dual champion dogs then the dogs showing in AKC bench shows are today.

True, I admit, that many current Field Trial dogs are as far removed from these great dogs of yester-year as the show labs are: snipey heads, curl tails and slim frames.  In breeding for the elusive Field Trial blue ribbons, many of the field breeders are forgetting the labrador's breed type as well.  We're also guilty for breeding some manic, frothing at the mouth dogs that would be an absolute NIGHTMARE to have on a day's hunt, or just living in our house with us.

And it's not just in labradors that the gap is widening.  I'm proud to say that I was once owned by a very self important English Springer Spaniel.  She was 100% of the show variety.  She had zero, zip, zilch desire to retrieve birds.  I know this, because I tried.  And her long, down to the ground coat was tangled in more burrs than you could count after a walk in the field.  I had to tie her ears up when she ate so as not to get in the way, and groom her incessantly.  Of course, this very pretty dog was a show Champion.  But so far removed from the job which she was bred to do that I was discouraged from buying anything "show" bred again.

The field bred English Springers looked absolutely nothing like her.  Not even of the same breed.

Isn't there a way to meet in the middle?  

I'll admit that I'm far from perfect, but I've always kept the Labrador type in mind when doing a breeding.  Mostly, my quest for performance overrides that of beauty and form, but form follows function as they say.  I've bred a couple dogs that I think are close to the ideal specimen of a labrador retriever in my mind, both in form AND function, but I've also bred dogs I judge with a critical eye in that they are too tall, too small, too snipey or poor coated.  But my critical eye also has to look out for performance shortcomings, such as dogs I've bred that are too wild, have questionable desire or intelligence and everything in between.  A critical eye to performance is something show breeders are mostly not concerned about at all.  I will keep trying to produce the perfect dog, but an outcross to a show bred lab to thicken my dogs' tails or broaden their heads is NOT in my future, I can promise you.

But I digress.  Crufts disqualified several of the breed winners for failing a post-win health check.  The Clumber Spaniel, specifically, for having ectropic eyes.  Certainly NOT something somebody wants in a gun dog. The Kennel Club over there may be trying to garner publicity for this "stunt", but they are also trying to preserve the health of 15 breeds they deem to be in danger, including the Clumber Spaniel.

I applaude them and hope it's a wake up call for all of us.

Should this dog be removed from the gene pool as she has many wonderful qualities?  No.  But should she win one of the biggest dog shows of the year as the IDEAL example of her breed.  I say no to that too.

More on what is happening at Crufts on my new favourite blog:

2 comments:

Blazingstar said...

Great post Marcy! I feel very flattered about what you said about our dogs - thank-you. I looked at this post because of the lab photo you posted and because I've been watching labs in the show ring lately with some degree of horror. They are not all bad (I've seen a few really nice examples do well in the ring), but I've also seen a few that look more like rottweilers with short legs and they are huffing and puffing after just one run around a tiny show ring. Very sad indeed.....

I've been following the Crufts stuff with interest. Ideally dogs that do not pass health exams should probably not be allowed to enter in the first place - that would seem like a more reasonable approach than letting a judge pick a winner that is then disqualified. However the logisitcs of health checks for all dogs entered would be overwhelming because of the huge numbers of dogs entered.

Marcy said...

Liz-you've been a big influence on me...more then you know probably.
I think the lab that won the breed at Crufts is a WONDERFUL step in the right direction. He has his JH in the US and looks very moderate. I'd be proud if one of my dogs look like him.

I love your dogs. Always have, always will.