InPreservatIonWetrust• DanSayers continued
porters who work (or test) their dogs for function, but not every puppy they produce will find a similar home. In fact, most pups will live out their lives with people who discovered the breed through a film, a televised dog show, or a Google search. Think about it. A social media restoration could just save our breeds from going the way of the St. John’s Water Dog and the Alpine Spaniel.
world, a parallel could be drawn in a breed that is celebrated not only by serious fanciers, but by dog-loving people the world over — a breed like the Cairn Terrier. In 1939, a dog named Toto burst onto the big screen in a bas- ket carried by the biggest star at MGM Studios, Judy Garland. Toto wasn’t just any dog. He was a perfectly-sized Cairn that could just as easily leap off a closing draw- bridge as crawl down a foxhole. He was everythig his breed expected him to be, only he was more. Toto was a star. He was undoubtedly a Terrier (after all he was willing to take on the Wicked Witch of the West), but his scene-stealing appearance in one of history’s most beloved films thrust his breed into the spotlight in a mid- century America sort of way. Cairn Terriers were no longer just an early work- ing breed from the Scottish Highlands. The Cairn Terrier had become a celebrity. In the 21st century, “adaptive reuse” has been coined by real estate developers, city planners, architects and politicians as a directive for finding new purposes for places that already exist. Well, dog breeders have been doing much the same thing for years. Whereas a breed may have been originally developed to retrieve ducks, chase gazelles or confront an errant bull, the Golden Retriever, Saluki and Bulldog have each manged to survive through their own particular adaptive reuse: guide dog; coach potato; and symbol of the British Empire respectively. The survival of each breed depends — at least in part — on its having been rebranding for the modern world. There’s really no shame to this. Every breed has its sup-
Despite the doom and gloom attitude of some of today’s fanciers, many people “in dogs” are discovering a renewed devotion to the sport. Today’s preservation breeders have come to realize that our beloved breeds — and the clubs and events that support them — can no longer exist within the status quo. As cultural, economic and technological changes continue to forge a scism between serious dog breeders and
A classic film can immortalize a breed and win new supporters to the breed for a lifetime.
everyone else who cares deeply about dogs, the time is nigh to implement a determined course of action that guarantees our breeds will be preserved in perpetuity. So, what kind of preservation breeder are you? n Dan sayers covers the dog sport with a particular interest in the peo- ple who’ve served to promote and preserve purebred dogs. His articles feature breeders and exhibitors of the past as well as those who work tirelessly on behalf of the fancy today. A self-taught artist, Dan’s art- work is represented in collections worldwide and his illustrations appear in the award-winning Encyclopedia of K-9 Terminology by Ed and Pat Gilbert. Since 1981, Dan has exhibited primarily Sporting breeds and Hounds. He’s bred both Irish Water Spaniels and Rhodesian Ridgebacks and has judged a variety of match shows and sweepstakes, including the Irish Water Spaniel Club of America National Specialty twice.
106 • S how S ight M agazine , J uly 2017
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