QUESTION FOR ALL SHOWSIGHT READERS Name something in the past year that’s made you proud of your fellow dog fanciers.
Thank you to everyone who offered opinions on this month’s topic. The following is a selection of the responses. Want to voice your opinion to the fancy? Follow ShowSight’s Facebook page for the monthly question prompt!
They are starting to question some of the unconsciona- ble breeding practices being done by supposedly reputable breeders, as they breed multiple litters a year in search of a confirmation show winner. —Anonymous The combined response to the natural disasters this past year, fires, floods and landslides showed the world that we are all more than competitors in a sport but a family concerned with the welfare and safety of all. —Dr. John Ioia In this day and age when we are all dealing with negative views by a lot of the public in a lots of ways, I was pleased to be privy to some interaction between handlers and the general public that took place at a recent dog show. I was sitting outside of the Cairn Terrier ring at one of the recent Celtic Cluster shows in York, Pennsylvania. There was a group of ladies sitting next to me enjoying watching a lot of the Terriers as they were shown that morning. They were obviously gate entry visitors. I had overheard a lot of their
conversation about the various breeds as they each came into the ring. When the Cairns came in the ring it was apparent that at least one of them owned several as pets. They were in a discussion amongst themselves about the different col- ors of the breed and were perplexed about changes in coat color of their own dogs. One of the handlers overheard the discussion as well and turned toward them and proceeded to explain the changes that the coats/color went through in this breed—how grooming affected the color etc—before it was all said and done, there were three-four handlers involved in the conversation with these ladies as they waited their turn to present their dogs. Kudos to all of you in that ring that day that took a few minutes of your time to share knowledge with these visitors! I smiled when one of the ladies said afterward, “I am sure that some of those people that just spoke to us were on that Westminster dog show we watched on TV.” (she was correct). We need more of this type of interaction at the shows if we are to keep the public engaged in pure bred dog. —Linda Reece
“THE COMBINED RESPONSE TO THE NATURAL DISASTERS THIS PAST YEAR, FIRES, FLOODS AND LANDSLIDES SHOWED THE WORLD THAT WE ARE ALL MORE THAN COMPETITORS IN A SPORT BUT A FAMILY CONCERNED WITH THE WELFARE AND SAFETY OF ALL.”
324 • S how S ight M agazine , M ay 2018
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