| Where I See Dog Shows Headed by Evelyn Peterson (Seahour Shelties) |
| We live in an ever changing world. Some of these changes are good, others are not. If breeders and pure bred dog enthusiasts don't get their act together and ALL start fighting back with the Animal Rights people, there will be no dogs to take to nonexistent dog shows. This is what I see in the future. Costs in showing dogs seem to be one of the biggest problems. Everything keeps getting more and more expensive and the "little man," plain Joe Blow is not going to be able to afford the dogs, the dog supplies, the entries or the travel expense involved in a whole weekend of showing. Puppy sales for pet puppies have sky rocketed and that helps defray some of the expenses but not enough to really matter. This just may end up to be nothing but a rich man's sport! So many breeders today sell their puppies on a spay neuter agreement. Neither can be shown in the ring. For heaven's sake, how in the world is anyone going to get a start in the breed? Yes, I know some are pure pet quality but even pet quality comes in different grades. Maybe a puppy has a fault you cannot stand but someone else would have no problem with that fault. We are not discussing defects here as that is something else entirely. Just plain MINOR "faults" as listed in the standard; maybe a short tail, a weak topline or a round eye. There are many breeders breeding from this today but yet if they have a puppy to sell that has that fault, they must be spayed or neutered! This does not make sense to me and never has! There is a continued and booming interest in the performance activities today and that just may be the saving grace. If not it is highly possible dog breeding and showing may go the way of the dinosaur. |
 |
| Cahaba Brown Sugar O'Seahour WB Open class Tennessee Valley Kennel Club09/10/82 Owner Handled |