Showsight January 2017

by ARLENE CZECH However, the entry in bitches was right on the major in points. I mulled it over a few times and finally went to the other exhibitors standing by and said that I have never won anything under her and I would like to get my money back, but in doing so would break the major so we will show. They were pleased, and even some said we know she doesn’t like your dogs and we wouldn’t feel too badly if you did pull. So I went into the ring and you guessed it we won the bitch major that also finished her Ch. Talk about being teased by the others jokingly, “Oh yeah sure she hates your dogs.” I was so flabbergasted that I went to her to have a picture taken. I told her how every other dog I brought to her was never her choice until today. I also told her about thinking of pulling, but wanted to hold the major, and then won it! I also asked her what did she like about this dog and she immediately said, “Her expression won me over.” So, I always remember that one day a judge may like what I am show- ing, do not give up on them. But back to my original thought. Those who pulled because of some group decision are either wasting their money or their clients’ money. Today that is too expen- sive to make a statement. This, I repeat, is a sport and we need more sportsman- ship out there. The Facebook junk that goes on should never be allowed. It is a place to visit with doggie friends and hear of their problems and successes. That is the way it was for the years before Facebook. I like Facebook and use it to keep in touch, although I still prefer using the phone. REALITY CHECK was simple. It is the time of the year when owners and handlers are trying to stay ahead in the standings. This week- end there were five or six such dogs entered and they were in the breeds that pulled their entries. This goes on all the time and it is a given. Actually, I find it fun to see if I can win over them. There was no top dog here in my breed. But, I would not pull my entry if there had been. And there were many times there has been a top dog come down to Florida and occasionally we gave them a run for their money. It is a sport after all. And I always say, “You can’t tell what a judge will do.” I can go back almost 40 years when I was living in Michigan and showing dogs. I have told this story before, but it is still so funny I love to tell it on me. For years I had wanted to show my breed- ing to Michelle Billings as I considered her to be one of the best. However, whatever I brought to her received two out of two, four out of four, and on and on. Each time I would show a differ- ent dog trying to find what she liked. To no avail, and I do not go up and ask the judge what didn’t they like. So one Saturday we arrived at the show only to find out that our judge was sick and Mrs. Billings was the substitute. I could get my entry fee back if I wanted to.

I ’ve waited some time before I sat down to put this into words. I needed to think it through thor- oughly. This was a normal four show weekend with better than aver- age entries and the entries were the usual locals with the addition of some who came from out-of-town. At any rate it was just another dog show weekend. Or, so we thought. We had a fairly nice entry and were last in our time slot with a few smaller number breeds and a very large number breed so we could relax andworkwith our dogs a bit before going into the ring. Suddenly, the stew- ardswere calling our breed and our num- bers? Of the big number of entries in the previous breed only a couple showed up. Those that had been judged were muttering something I couldn’t catch, but assumed it was a judge change or some accident or anything that can delay their getting to the ring. But this was the first day of four. This carried on with that breed and several other breeds the whole weekend. By the last day there were instances of no entries showing up at all. I tried to figure out why, but no one either knew or wasn’t telling. So I put two and two together and came up with 22 instead of four. Reading this you have probably come to your own conclusion, but mine

WHAT IS OUR SPORT BECOMING? 88 • S how S ight M agazine , J anuary 2017

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