HONORING THE LINEAGE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CLASSIC BREED PRESENTATION
BY LEE WHITTIER W hen you show a dog in its classic breed presentation, you are hon- oring its lineage—both the breed history and the future of your breed. Preservation breeders not only breed to honor the his- tory of their breed, they also regard the future of the breed as it extends into the breed ring. By doing so, you can leave a legacy of your breed for those who will follow after you. It is vital to understand the foundation of your breed and “the why” behind its very existence. When the presentation changes, so does the under- standing of breed purpose. And, of course, breed purpose was the foundation of type. When presenting your breed to showcase the breed-specific aspects, you are showing your depth of knowledge of key breed points. These key breed points are also called “hallmarks.” Breed-specific presentation includes both standing presentation and moving presentation. HOW CLASSIC PRESENTATION IS IMPLEMENTED IN THE RING You might wonder why specificity is important. It’s not important merely to impress others, nor is it to show off how much you know so that you can win more in the ring. It may help, but it’s not the primary reason. Owner handlers, pay attention! Classic presentation is one of the things that separates the high-lev- el A professionals from the level B professionals, and Group A owner handlers from Group B owner handlers. While recently judging an entry of Great Pyrenees, the handler knelt and presented her exhibit like a Pointer; with the head up and her arms extended. Of course, the classic presentation of this breed is to show the classic Pyr head, which the AKC Breed Standard beautifully describes as having a “nearly imperceptible stop and soft expression.” Although I was able to deter- mine the head type and quality of the exhibit, it took extra attention on my part to do so. The deviation from the standard presentation style for this breed also made me question the commitment of the exhibitor to the breed and whether she was a breeder/owner/handler or a professional handler. Another way that the absence of classic presentation can change a breed is in breeds that were traditionally free-stacked and later became a hard-stacked breed. How does this change a breed? George G. Alston describes in The Winning Edge: Show Ring Secrets, with Connie Vanacore, how the presentation of the Collie came to pass. The Collie used to be hard-stacked until a prominent handler had a dog he couldn’t touch. Once the handler found out that the dog showed well while standing freely, he showed well enough to change the course of history for the Collie. Forever more, the Collie is free-stacked. In the case of the Collie, the change may have benefitted the breed by making them more able to stand on their own, four-square. Many breeds that are hard- stacked simply can’t stand on their own, which, of course, affects their ability to function, specifically as a Herding dog. Let’s look at the Doberman Pinscher, a breed whose legs are screwed into the ground to such a degree that the dog is unrecognizable once it begins to move.
During the time of the large entries in Dober- mans, I used to sit and watch the entire entries of 60 or more, focusing on learning the breed. There was one particular professional handler who was highly successful, almost unbeatable, in her day. Time after time I would watch her cre- ate a magnificent picture of the breed, standing and moving. I would think, “How could she have so many great dogs?” As I trained my eye to the breed and learned the standard, I began to notice
164 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2022
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