food for tought - Page 1

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217359100265071&set=a.1837274567202&type=3&theater

Here Duke I posted the picture from your link above ~

 

Beautiful Scotty!!!!

More food for thought from The Terrierman. I've kept this link on file for many years:

https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2009/08/counterfeit-collies-and-transvestite.html

A working dog is defined by its work, not by its form. A retriever retrieves, a herding dog herds, a pointer points, a molosser guards, a pulling dog pulls.

"Form follows function?"

That's not even true in that sentence!

Form is about form. Function is about function. At best there is a relationship when it come to gross body shape or size, but that's not what they are judging at the dog shows is it? Instead, the most minute and insignificant detail is elevated to importance by preening pretenders and a handful of people doing contrived "work."

And what is the result?

It can be seen in breed after show-ring breed: transvestite terriers, counterfeit collies, and bogus bulldogs. The dogs may look the part, but they cannot do the job.

The Saint Bernard has been reduced to such dysplastic dysfunction that the dog cannot hope to rescue anything. In fact, it is an animal that needs to be rescued!

And let's not even start with the show-line German Shepherd, with hocks so sprung it looks like a dog sired by a frog.

Here is a simple truth: you cannot protect and preserve working dogs without working them.

You cannot breed quality retrievers or pointers when your own dogs have never heard a shotgun.

You cannot gauge the sheep-sense and holding power of a good Border Collie by tossing a Frisbee.

You cannot judge the true grit of a Jack Russell Terrier with a rubber ball. A one-hour cart pull around a farm does not a sled dog make.

People who think otherwise are kidding themselves. They are the reason every working dog breed dragged into the Kennel Club has been ruined there.

These people sincerely believe that if they breed a dog that looks the part, it can do the part. But this misguided belief underscores their ignorance. What makes working breeds special is not what is on their outside, but what is on their inside.

AMEN!

Honestly?
As much I love dogs and seeing dogs, any dogs....
I HATE conformation shows.
I hate the Westminster show. I hate seeing what some breeds have come too. I hate the way the hair/fur is cut, grown, styled on some breeds. It is silly and ridiculous and an insult to any dog breed.

I hate the back end of many show GSD’s. I feel an inner pain when looking at them. I want to gather them up in my imaginary arms and soothe and straighten their misshapen spines and hocks.

Hate is a strong word that I try not to use...but there are a few thing I truly find horrid, and judging dogs by looks alone is one of them.

The human ego has no boundaries.

YES it's a beauty pageant. No doubt about it. But it makes tons of money. I am sure that is what keeps conformation shows going.