BECOMING• JacquelynFogel continued
the professional handler’s beautifully groomed, but not very sound dog is beating their sound, but untrained, not as well groomed, and not ready to win puppy. I have seen these great expectations before. I know these temper tantrums and have heard the rants about “piece of garbage” dogs before. I always hope this stage will not last too long and they can get to the next stage where they are not complaining so much as learning what THEY need to do to win next time. There are unwritten rules in every sport –most of them dealing with the etiquette of how we should behave toward each other. The AKC wants people to think of this as a gentleman’s sport, not unlike golf. But in golf nobody mistakes the club or ball for an offspring. To dog people the dogs are more like children than the object of competition. So for us the unwritten rules become even more important. I learned most of the rules I know about dog showing from friends in the hound group. I would like to share some of them. Keep your voice down ringside and save your critique for your set-up. Support your breed by entering specialties even if you do not like the judge or the show chair. Be polite it the ring and wait for others to get ready before you move. Do not use dirty tricks in the ring, even if you know them. Respect those who have been in the breed longer than you have. Talk more about what you like and less about what you do not like. Be objective
about your own dogs. Do not carry another person’s grudge. Laugh at the silliness and ignore themeanness. Eat and drink together as often as possible – it is hard- er to hate people you know. Of course there are other unwritten rules of etiquette, but I will save those for a future column. These are a start. If we can stop demonizing the competition and evaluate people independent from the dogs they breed and show, we are on the right track. If we work on improving ourselves and our own breeding programs, and worry less about what other people are doing, we will all be better off. We are a small community in a large, increasingly hostile environment. We can learn what Basset breeders already know – great expecta- tions are not always enough. n Jackie got her first purebred basset in 1969, but her real edu- cation in the world of AKC dogs and shows started in 1979 when she moved to Wisconsin and whelped her first home- bred champion. In 1995 Jackie got a bedlington terrier from David Ramsey of the famous Willow Wind line. She has bred and shown numerous #1 bedlingtons, and continues to actively breed both bassets and bedlingtons. In 2007 Jackie began judging, and is approved to judge 6 breeds. She owns and manages Cedar Creek Pet Resort, and is active in the Kettle Moraine Kennel Club, Keep Your Pets, Inc , (a non-profit she founded), and the local Rotary club. Jackie writes for Showsight Magazine, the basset column in the Gazette, and a pet column in a local magazine.
SHOWOFF RIBBONS HALF PAGE AD
108 • S how S ight M agazine , A ugust 2017
Powered by FlippingBook