Life With Pat
The Steel Valley Cluster, otherwise known as “Canfield”, consisted of four all-breed shows with entries increasing from last year and reaching more than 3,000 dogs in the Saturday show.
“Author Archive”
Rebuttal to It’s All About the Spots
I read with interest the article by Ms. Gretchen Bernardi entitled “It’s All About The Spots”, published in your September, 2010 issue. Her stated reluctance to “discuss controversial matters that pertain to breeds other than my own and about which I have only limited information” is duly noted and I wonder what moved her to jump into the business of a Parent Club membership and a complex issue about which a great deal of inaccurate information has been spread through the pages of almost every major dog magazine in America.
It’s All About the Spots
A battle is being waged regarding the registration of backcrossed Dalmatians. It is an old battle, but new technology and research have made it front page again and the opinions on both sides of the issue are as strongly held as ever and the arguments even more complex.
Differences In The Response
In the real world, when bad things happen, most of us are caught off guard. Some learn from these experiences and become more cautious. It is a little like avoiding a crash on an icy road or driving too fast on a sharp curve or not checking to be sure the kennel gate was shut before leaving. These experiences can be game changers. In many respects life generally is a good teacher if we benefit from our experiences and learn from our mistakes.
Constructive Solutions to AKC $$$$ Woes
This month’s article is a compilation of comments taken from the Facebook Group: Constructive Solutions to AKC $$$$ Woes. BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTION! This group, consisting of 824 members, was formed to offer members a forum in which to offer suggestions to improving the financial/management/structural situation at the American Kennel Club. All of the comments below were direct quotes.
Life With Pat
The Maryland Blue Crab Cluster isn’t just another group of shows, it is a special cluster offering entertainment and education to exhibitors, judges, and the junior handlers. Chaired by the hard working Lisa Miller, this outstanding group of shows starts out with the Potomac Hound Show and then continues into four all breed shows over the course of the long weekend.
Knowledge-Based Breeding
Successful breeders know that they must be practical and patient in estimating the time and number of litters it will take to solve a problem or produce a special dog. Thus, when a planned breeding occurs there is usually the expectation for something good.
Where the Buck Stops
President Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk in the Oval Office which said, “The buck stops here.” This derived from the slang expression “pass the buck” meaning that you shunt the responsibility off to someone else. In Truman’s world, once the problem reached his desk, there was no one left to whom he could “pass the buck.” Well, the same thing has occurred in the dog world only in this case the buck stops with people who show their dogs and with the conformation judges.
While On The Subject
I hinted that our behavior at dog events may be aiding and abetting our antagonists, those groups that might like to see us wither and disappear. In how many ways has the world of dogs become a “dog-eat-dog” world; a world in which we care solely about our own interests and the devil take the hindmost? This self-centered, every-man-for-himself attitude can take hold before we are even aware of it, especially so, given that we are a microcosm of our world which seems more and more to be “all-about-me” as well. Is it really so hard to compliment each other… a fellow breeder, exhibitor, a fellow judge? Just how rare is this? Probably more rare than you and I would like to admit.
One Man’s Opinion
Great Western was Margaret Young Renihan’s brainchild. Quite a few claimed it would not fly, but it has become one of the great Terrier shows in the country, second only to the Montgomery County Kennel Club in Pennsylvania.
