says WHAT’S THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT YOUR BREED?
German Wirehaired Pointers should always greet new people and judges happy, never shying away. —Anonymous
Keeshond. Judging them on looking like a big Pom with lots of coat and cute head. —Mary Ellen Meyer
I raise Irish Setters and the biggest misconception is they are hyper and stupid. Yes, the breed is energetic and I would not place a puppy with someone living in an apartment or with someone not willing to commit the time to properly exercising the dog. The breed is also incredibly loyal, quick to learn and eager to please. —Anonymous Doberman Pinscher. That they are mean, they will turn on their owners. This is a joke. They are the most loving, loyal dogs. If they are raised right, like any breed. —Jackie Spratt Siberian Husky. That the tail must trail because that is the indication of proper structure. The Siberian Husky’s standard does not address the tail carriage when moving because the mood of the dog, age etc. play into when a tail is up or down. Tail set is an issue not necessarily related to tail carriage. In my experience I have heard judges state, both, I want it up or I want it trailing when moving. Please do not judge correct against correct. Check the tail set and forget about whether it is up or down. —Anonymous Bearded Collie. The biggest misconception is that they are bouncing idiots, so all sorts of behavior issues are excused, by “oh its a weirdie Beardie.” They should be an intelligent herding dog. —Michele Ritter My breed is the Rottweiler. The biggest misconception is the notion the head plays a minor role in its breed type. On the contrary, it is significant in its breed type and is the defin- ing trait. —Steve Wolfson Keeshonden. Two misconceptions that I actually hear from breeders themselves. 1). Keeshonden don’t really shed that much. They mainly blow their coat twice a year. The truth is they shed all the time. Keeping them groomed cuts down on the shedding but they do shed year round, especially if they are living in the home with families and not out in a kennel. Some do not blow their coats at all. 2). The breed originated in the Netherlands as dogs that road on barges. The truth is the breed was originally an all-purpose farm dog in Germany. They immigrated to the Netherlands where they were discovered by an English family while they were on holiday in the Netherlands. They immigrated to America via England. The story of the English family’s discovery of the breed is what confuses so many people on the real history of their origin. —Pam Hildebrand
The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier are not all cuddly sweet dogs. I think we’ve all had a few that would fight like crazy. Ever try to break up a fight amongst four girls? It isn’t fun. I use an air horn now. Works like magic. My GCH. is the instiga- tor; funny how that works! —Anonymous Border Terrier. Biggest misconception, people think they are hypoallergenic and don’t shed based on incor- rect information found on non-breed specific websites. —Tracy Van Niel
The biggest misconception about Salukis is that they are show dogs! —Anonymous
Norwich Terrier. Biggest Misconception—Breed stan- dard clearly states: “Distance from top of the withers to the ground and distance from the withers to the base of the tail are approximately equal”. Though by human nature, we pre- fer a shorter back as it is more pleasing to most of us, this is not correct according to the Breed Standard. And probably even more significant: “One of the smallest of the Terriers, the ideal height should not exceed 10 inches at the withers.” I think probably in haste people just see the 10 inches and do not notice the preceding words. And 10 inches, therefore, is not the ideal as many think. It is under 10 inches that is ideal. That means over 10 inches is less than ideal. Hope I am not too late for this. I think both of these are paths we are unfortunately ignoring. I will say though, that at our recent National Specialty, there were few over 10 inches at the withers. But, unfortunately, many with shorter backs than called for. This effects movement when backs get so short. And, a dog with the proportions as outlined in the stan- dard looks long in comparison to the many flashy dogs with shorter backs. In my opinion, I fear if we as breeders and exhibitors, and judges too, keep going down that path, it will be hard to retrace our steps. Just my opinion and probably not the most popular one. :) —Anonymous
Samoyed. That they’re all fluff and not a “working” dog. —Anonymous
The Coton De Tulear is thought to be a quiet non-shedding tiny dog. They aren’t. Cotons are a boisterous breed of dog. They will alert to the neighbor getting into his car as well as a leaf blowing the wrong way across your yard. This doesn’t mean they can’t be trained to be a quiet dog, they can but it does take extra effort on the part of the owner to let this breed know when they need to watch out for those squirrels and when the owner has everything under control. They do shed only mostly inside their double coat that means lots of brushing with a long tooth comb or brush with wooden bristles. The Coton coat when a puppy is silky like a Maltese or Golden Retriever but when this dog is an adult the texture changes to a dry coat that feels like a bag of cotton balls, thus the name Coton. —Anonymous
Chinese Crested. That the hairless have no body hair. —Julie Wells
Cocker spaniel. People don’t think they can hunt. —Nancy Gallant
Rhodesian Ridgeback. That they are lion killers. —Anonymous
188 • S how S ight M agazine , J une 2018
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