ShowSight Interviews: David Murray, Players Tibetan Terriers BY ALLAN REZNIK continued
How many TTs do you typically house? Tell us about your cur- rent facilities and how the dogs are maintained. I have only ever kept a very small number of dogs. I have a full-time job as a hairstylist and so I need to live near the city. Three dogs are all I have right now. I live in a typical, residential neigh- borhood and all three are house dogs. Two of those are intact bitches. Who were/are some of your most significant dogs, both in the whelp- ing box and in the show ring? My most influential stud dog was also one of my top winners. His name was Ch. Players Prodigy, call name “RJ.” He was the No. 1 TT three years in a row; a three-time Westminster and back-to- back National Specialty Best of Breed winner. He retired from competition after winning the Non-Sporting Group at the AKC Invitational and a Group 4 at Westminster. I have no idea how many champions he sired but among those were all-breed BIS winners, multiple Group and National Specialty winners. He was a very influential sire in his day. I have a young son of his produced by frozen semen that I am hopeful will be campaigned down the line. His sire, Ch. Sim-Pa Lea’s Ragtime Cowboy, was also a very influential sire for a lot of people. He, too, was a National Specialty BOB winner and produced countless num- bers of champions. As far as bitches go, my top-produc- ing bitch was an RJ daughter named Ch. Players Protocol, call name “Bailee.” She is the dam of many champions and the grand dam of top winners, some of
whom are out competing today. She is 14 years old, as healthy as can be and is the matriarch of my home. Please comment positively on your breed’s present condition and what trends might bear watching. I think the breed is in decent shape right now. At our National Specialty this past spring there were mostly dogs of proper size and balance, with pretty sound movement overall, and presen- tation for the most part was not over- done or underdone. There were sev- eral promising puppies from different breeders that give me hope that people are on the right track. The sport has changed greatly since you began as a breeder-exhib- itor. What are your thoughts on the state of the fancy and the declining numbers of breeders? How do we encourage newcomers to join us and remain in the sport? One of the major differences I see is that many people want to just hire some- one to do the difficult work of training and conditioning their dogs. They want instant success and don’t want to take the time to learn and develop their eye over time. Also, along the same lines, the general public just wants to hire a trainer rather than taking their own dog to obedience school like I did and that was a big way that I know people got started back in the 1970s. We also had handling classes where we could go and learn to show our own conforma- tion dogs. People were available to help us learn to groom and condition. I think those types of people are still available
to newcomers but the emphasis seems to be on hiring professional handlers rather than doing it themselves. This is particularly the case in high-mainte- nance breeds that may be more difficult to get into proper condition. Also there are breeds that are far more competitive in the ring than others. TTs can be diffi- cult to show not only with coat care but getting them mentally prepared can be a challenge. For me that’s the fun part of the challenge but not everyone has the aptitude, patience or experience to train them properly. Where do you see your breeding program in the next decade or two? I would say that in the next decade or two, my breeding program will be phasing out. I have a couple of people who are interested in the breed and my breeding program, and I am hopeful they will continue down the line and keep the pedigree alive. Finally, tell us a little about David Murray outside of dogs… your pro- fession, your hobbies. As I said before I have always main- tained a career as a hairstylist. I also enjoy dabbling in the real estate market, on a small scale. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a little money on the sale of my home purchases. I am cur- rently rehabbing the property I live in and I’m still deciding whether to keep it as an investment or maybe sell it since our market here is strong right now. But I think as anyone else who does this as a lifestyle, the dogs play the major role in my day-to-day life.
180 • S how S ight M agazine , O ctober 2018
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