[quote=dudley1984;1885153]
Quote:
Originally Posted by blitz  Dudley, you're right somehow this got thread got off topic from betterment of the breed so I'm going to point out that getting your dogs out there and putting titles on them is how you know for sure that your dogs are worthy of to be in your breeding program....
----------------------------------------------
Blitz, I know this to be untrue. I have multiple reasons for not showing, among them that I have personally seen inferior dogs win. I believe it was in this thread I told about how I was advised by a big (real big, famous) exhibitor to dye my dog's hair. With the limited time I have available I can't afford to waste it playing those kinds of games. It has to be a very insecure exhibitor who can look at my pedigrees and call me a BYB. |
Maybe she felt that you had an excellent dog stucturally but that it's having a lighter shade of blue was holding it back. In the end structure should be more important than coat and quantity and quality should be more important than what the latest interpretation is to what dark, steel blue is. As I learn to show I am constantly reminded that it is a team effort. It isn't always that an inferior dog lost but maybe that a superior handler won or that a great dog lost but that an inferior handler blew it for that dog. What you may consider inferior may not be strictly true. You may just see that the dog has a weak topline but the judge may see that the dog has a beautiful neck and head placement and proper angulation to move correctly when going around the ring. Jay Ammon wrote a great article on how a dog with bad angles when stacked will often present the best topline but that does not make it the best dog in the ring. We hope that the judge will look at the whole dog and that we can direct their eye towards the dog's finest features. One thing about showing, it will help you to avoid kennel blindness because you have to be able to see your dog as others see it. It also keeps you caring about what you are producing as others ( not just the judge, are watching you and critiquing your breeding program). Being held accountable by your peers is good, it keeps you on your toes.