Champion show dog found neglected in East Oakland

SF Gate ^ | March 24, 2012 | Carolyn Jones

[Salamander]

I have nothing against dog shows, per se.

What I despise is the rush to "restyle" a breed to please a judge or fit in with the current fashion.

Pictures are worth a thousand words:

The immortal Dictator

Illena and The Seven Sires

[acknowledged as the driving forces behind the American Dobes]

THE perfect Dobermann as detmined by the originators of the breed.

The dog is German mathematical perfection and *any* deviation by degree was faulted.

My European brat, for comparison.

the current "in style Dobermann"

[has 53 champions in 5 generations; on paper, that's impressive as hell...but....ugh!]

But there are rays of hope. This breeder in AL is spot on and apparently determined to "bring back" the breed he loves.

When they first put the -breed- ring videos on the WKC site, I was overjoyed.

Then, I watched the judging. Within minutes, I had my BOB/BOS/RC picks.

I was thrilled when the judge picked those exact 3 dogs out of the line....but then he DISMISSED them!

Instead of those 4-square and firm, flawless examples of the breed, he chose 2 dogs who were so over-angulated they actually crabbed at the trot.

The other dog had no visible withers and was sway backed.

WTH?!?

I haven't watched the ring videos or the show, since.

It tears my heart out that "my breed" has been watered down, stretched out, over done and "glamorized" for the sake of ribbons, at the expense of health.

[Solid, square Dobes -rarely- get "Wobblers" or *either* dysplasia]

I am angry, disappointed and outraged at those people involved who have colluded to create the genetic train wreck we have today.

This incomparable breed deserved better than that.

And there are other breeders like the last one above but they never 'win shows'.

Not only that, having 'gone rogue' from the show circuit, they're generally considered "backyard breeders" and crucified by the 'breed elites'.

I suppose they get the last laugh when their dogs live to be 12-14 with regularity.

I will hop off my soapbox, now.

Darnright, check your FReepmail.

[Salamander]

Redji was deeply unhappy and shown anyway, for 10 years until she finally ‘hit it’.

Her owner was a seriously disturbed woman who cared nothing for her dogs; only for the fame and glory they brought her.

She was a “warehouser” who “gave” dogs to people with the implication that they *might* be called upon to breed said dogs, should any of their show siblings strike it big.

I had *five* dogs from her.
When my Izzy’s sister hit the big time [Westminster] she started on me to breed Izzy.
Unlike her *many* other weaker warehouse victims, I told her to go pound sand.
Not only did my dog’s sister hit the Ibizan world like a storm, so did her puppies.
Unfortunately, the woman warehousing *her* let her out with 6 studs and she got pregnant.

The pups were sold to an unsuspecting stranger in CA as being ‘legit’ when in fact, the papers had been falsified to name one dog who was not, in fact, the father of ANY of those pups.
[it was a multiple sire litter]

In the aftermath, the poor nice woman she snookered had all those titles taken away.
[on the bright side, my dog’s sister got a wonderful home and was dearly loved instead of being crated 24/7 like before]

As an aside from, that warehouser went through a series of devastating health and personal issues and the *27* dogs kept there ended up in our rescue but the president of the breed club was “BFF” with the breeder and covered up her connection to those dogs, knowing full well she would not go fetch them back as is expected.

The warehouser was fined, thrown out of the AKC for life and suffered brutal humiliation because the -real- perp threatened her, should she ever open her mouth.

Though there may be sweetness and light in most of the show world, I have seen horrors beyond imagining.

[brytlea]

I’m not offended, I just have to stand up. I know it’s a weird hobby, and it gets bad press. And there are all sorts of people involved, some I wouldn’t want in my home. Most are regular people. I got involved because I love dogs (love animals, always have from the time I was a little kid, I brought everything home, you know, you were probably like that).
But, I’m not an Animal Rights activist because their agenda is against pet ownership in the end (just google Ingrid Newkirk,-the founder of PeTA- quotes. If you aren’t familiar. I’m for animal welfare, I hate stories like this one, I don’t even see how someone can do something like this. But we’ll never have a perfect world where no animals are ever harmed. We just keep soldiering on. My dogs are certainly better off than they would be in the wild.

[brytlea]

Yup, there are those out there. Obviously, if you have people involved you have bad ones. I have a crazy breeder story myself that I won’t repeat here, but I did learn a lot from it. But I will say it again. Most of the people I know involved are normal people who like dogs. I know some really crazy conservatives too. I hope no one judges all of us by them. :)

[CatherineofAragon]

I’m pretty much like you; concerned about animal welfare but definitely not a PETA supporter. Those people are insane. And it’s been shown here on FR that most of the animals in their care get euthanized.

[the OlLine Rebel]

No problem. Sorry I wasn’t clear.

There’s nothing wrong with “just” being WD/B; you beat many dogs usually, anyway. However, it’s counterintuitive to Joe Schmoe to see a dog who never even won BOB to be a “Champion”.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I did not mean to offend you. Yes, I’ve no doubt with many dogs it’s trying. And many will never make it except maybe in 10 years a`la Salamander story.

‘Needless to say, it takes more than entering any dog of that breed “more than once a month” to finish it, at least by the average owner/handler.’

Perhaps I should’ve said “once a week” - because most are endlessly shown relentlessly for weeks on end all weekend.

My main point is there are TONS of “champions” every year. Anyone can see them at any given show - you can’t deny that. How often do you go to a show and find no Champions are there in the Specials class?

At any given show, indeed, Champions are a dime a dozen. It’s not as if they’re rare, which is what Joe Schmoe expect on hearing such a word.

“It currently takes far more Papillons in competition to qualify for a major than it does German Shepherds just for comparison.”

GS have been hugely popular for some 7 decades on end, so I’m pretty aware of dogs needing lots of opponents to get points and majors, regardless of Papillon schedules here and now, or whatever division of the country.

[Darnright]

The object in dog shows is simple. You show your dog against others to narrow down the best breeding stock. How would it help to keep the purebred gene pools healthy if only one or two specimens out of 3,000 dogs representing well over 150 breeds were singled out as a “champion”?

Obviously, if a breeder knows nothing of gentics nor of breed standards, structure, temperament nor health, breeding two champions together isn’t going to insure a litter of pups that adhere to that breeds’ standard. There is only so much a championship can indicate. It doesn’t indicate pedigree, for example, or freedom from some hidden disease. And, it doesn’t insure that the champion from 2 parents will produce puppies of the same or better quality than itself.

[Salamander]

Ha!

I hope nobody judges other conservatives by *me*....;D

[brytlea]

We are a complex group of characters... :)