Re: [PyrNet-L] Work, Show or Pet?

[BirdBugg <BirdBugg@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-03-25 08:56:37 EST, you write:

<< I guess that over years, you could breed the work out of a dog
 when breeding for conformation only, but, would you not then have
 dogs that were bred 1.) For show competition and 2.) For a
 working situation. Then the ones who fell inbetween would be
 a pet quality? >>

This is an interesting scenario.  What I get from this is we will have 3
different types: show, working, and pet.  What we have been discussing is
whether a dog that is not shown in conformation should be allowed to breed.

This is really a much more volatile subject than it should be. 

I think everyone here agrees we should only breed the best dogs.  The question
that a lot of us have, is that dogs that are being shown have gradually
changed because of what is winning in the ring, not necessarily what the
"standard" is.  

Let me try this as an "EXAMPLE".  I am going to try this referring to color
and not a specific fault, to prove my point.

Ok, pyrs are allowed to be white or have markings.  Suppose that the most
popular dogs that are winning are the ALL white ones.  Picture this, an all
white pyr with a "slight" fault wins over a marked pyr with no discernable
faults. (for whatever reason, the judge ignored the fault, the handler covered
it up, or the judge likes white dogs...etc)

Have this happen enough times and what color dog  are you going to show?
Human nature is to WANT to win.  So you are going to show a white one even if
you feel it is not "quite" as good as your pyr with markings.  So, when this
white dog wins it's championship and someone with a white bitch wants to get
their next show dog comes to you to breed them, along passes that slight
fault.  And so on.  

This is the reason that so many people are questioning the validity of the
conformation ring.  I think that we all agree that there has to be a way to
tell which dogs have acceptable conformation.  The system is not perfect.  And
what concerns me is the tendency for dogs shown in conformation to win "with
the right handler" or because they are "the popular color" or so on.   This is
what we are trying to get across.  No one (that I know of) is saying that the
conformation ring is a complete farce, I for one am only trying to point out
that along the way something was lost and we need to get it back before we
lose too much ground.

I think that if we spent as much effort working to fix the problem together,
that we have spent arguing back and forth we could have it fixed in no time!!!
LOL

Hope my description makes sense.

Sandy
Sandra Ringener
birdbugg@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/birdbugg/index.htm