Ok.....what's up with this?!?!?!
 

Ok, so my BFF and I have a set of Yorkie "twins". LOL I have the girl, and she has the boy. We have been obsessing over our babies and looking at photos, watched Westminster together end everything. So after watching it, my BFF asks if she thinks that some breeders "buck" they system and color their dogs hair to meet that standard for showing. I was like, oh, heck no!!! They couldn't, they wouldn't, they would be banished.......so on and so on. So.......she comes across this video with a man "coloring???" a Yorkie. :eek: I don't think this is dye though? Maybe some sort of "color enhancer" for their natural color??? :confused:

I know a lot of you who have been around here for a while would know about this product, but can you explain it to me?

color system

I am not a breeder or a shower but, have friends that have done both. I don't think showers would be allowed to dye their dogs,....I do know that they have this powder to put on white dogs to make their coat brighter...We do have breeders and showers on here...I'm sure they can give you the answer.

I saw the video of the man coloring the dog and the 'color system' stuff about a year ago and was a bit freaked out by it. :eek:

My understanding of how the color works is that it isn't permanent...more like a temporary rinse...along the lines of the 'covers only the gray' advertising mentality. However, I used a temporary rinse once that was supposed to be "Light Ash Blonde" and lighter than my own color...for "highlights"...as recommended by friends who were in hair stylist school...and it turned my hair a gorgeous brunette...and I washed it over and over to get that temporary coloring out. If it works the same, the color would be there for several washings and maybe could be done far enough in advance to be difficult to detect.

I also understand that it is not allowed in conformation shows to color the dogs to 'match' the standard, but whether or not it is being done I have no idea and wouldn't speculate. I do not know if show judges pour through a Yorkies hair looking for signs of coloring, now that the 'color system' is readily available for purchase, but I seem to recall reading something a time back about it being a violation of some kind to color a dog for conformation showing and the dog would be out of the competition if coloring was discovered. I neither breed nor show dogs, but I have seen some posts in various places indicating that some people do these things for competition. I would really like to believe that they are all honest about their dogs winning on true merit and do not do stuff like that. :rolleyes::p:D

But then again...there is that Westminster Champion Collie...the offspring of a blind and deaf deliberately created double merle...:confused:

Chris Christensen also put out a blackener for their nose...so there is a lot more goes on than most realize, unless you are into showing

I do know if there noses are not the right color some of them will have the noses tatooed to make the3m black.

Ugg, that makes me really sad. Poor babies.

oh your be surprised of all the tricks, handlers and breeders do to make sure their dogs LOOK like the book description, I know of a breeder that used chalk to make his dog whiter, and a silky breeder that used dye in his silky to hide some of the mix blonde in the coat.. you REALLY be super surprise of the things that go on in there..LOL

Okay.......uhm....:eek: I can't say it enough!!!! You have GOT to be kidding me! I have heard it all now. SMH. I would never do that to my dog, but I guess if someone had a dog that was "perfect" (as far as matching the breed standard), and all that stood in their way was the coloring of the dogs nose.....I see how/why they would do that, but still.....:eek:

Every dog can't be a show dog, but you can treat him/her like they are!

I have not been in the show ring for more than 30 years when I showed my Standard Poodle. At that time alot of show owners and handlers used chalk and other means to make a dog look closer to standard. If it was happening then, it happens now.

:confused: Chalk??? Aren't they afraid that the judges will get the temporary "color" on their hands? I mean, the judges do touch these dogs. I guess I just can't imagine the gall of some of these people.

I have never shown a dog but I have family members that have and do. I have purchased dogs from several people who show and in the past I did show Himalayan cats. I know that people would like to think that the show ring is full of people with the highest of integrity but it just isn't so. Some people may have a beautiful dog that has a fault here and there and they will try to champion it by disguising the faults with color or by various other tricks. There is a lot of fierce competition going on in those rings and there are a lot of tricks of the trade going on at all times. It is very unfortunate but the people who play by the rules are many times beat out by the people who want to win at all costs. It has driven a lot of good people out of the business.
Sometimes color is used to to get the edge and not necessarily to cover a fault. Getting the coat just a little darker or lighter may make that dog catch the eye of the judge a bit more than the other dog. There are so many things that go on behind the scenes that you just don't want to know.

There are cheaters in every walk of life as well as very honest people that play by the rules. In the end it will eventually come back to bite you in the end if you cheat.

I saw that video a while ago, and it doesn't surprise me... People lie and cheat to get what they want. Why would they stop when it comes to showing dogs? Sad...

I guess y'all are right and I was just being naive. What a shame. Hmph, I guess I will still watch dog shows, but I think I'll end up being a little less enthusiastic.....

I feel bad for the dogs who don't understand, but how is this any different than pageants using Vaseline on the teeth, make up, push up bras, and spray tans?

Well, I hope they aren't giving dogs silicone injections at the very least!

Great topic and info. I was on the sofa watching the dog show and feeling bad because my bichon isn't as snowy white as the one in the dog show.

Tinalove, please show pictures of your Bichon Frise, I lost my Missy, Bichon Frise in August of 2010 at the age of 12. I miss her every day, Keno my giant yorkie has helped me so much with my grief. He makes me smile and laugh every day. Bichon's are wonderful pets and one of my favorite breeds.

Yes. They are beauty pagents for dogs and just like the human kind...there's alot of "beauty aids" used to enhance what they have. The difference is...people (other than lil kids...but that's a whole other convo...) chose it and dogs don't have a choice.

There's alot of controversy involving dog shows and breed standards. Crufts kicked dogs out this year for being unhealthy. Too many people breeding for rediculous looks and not breeding HEALTHY dogs.

I went to a dog show in Detroit a few weeks ago. A yorkie that won one show I watched, looked like a bug-eyed chihuahua. How that reflects the yorkie breed standard I have no clue. But certain "looks" seem to trend.

You are correct, Certain looks do trend. That is the way it has always been. I only showed Standard Poodles, but have owned other show dogs, usually thru a partnership and each breed seems to have "LOOKS" trends thru out the years. I see alot of breeding for a certain look and little or no regard for health issues. Money talks I guess.

IMO, those do not compare to what I am takling about in this thread. Using those things are not considered as "cheating". Now, had you said what if male (in DRAG) won a female beauty pageant, then I think there would be some comparison. I am not talking about "legal" enhancements. I am talking about breaking rules and cheating in dog shows - which is what people are doing if they are altering the looks & features of their dogs, just so that the dog can be considered within breed standards.

[QUOTE=KazzyK810;3857783]Yes. They are beauty pagents for dogs and just like the human kind...there's alot of "beauty aids" used to enhance what they have. The difference is...people (other than lil kids...but that's a whole other convo...) chose it and dogs don't have a choice.

There's alot of controversy involving dog shows and breed standards. Crufts kicked dogs out this year for being unhealthy. Too many people breeding for rediculous looks and not breeding HEALTHY dogs.

I went to a dog show in Detroit a few weeks ago. A yorkie that won one show I watched, looked like a bug-eyed chihuahua. How that reflects the yorkie breed standard I have no clue. But certain "looks" seem to trend.[/QUOTE]


Exactly, I have seen so many dogs that look like this and they look HORRIBLE!!! They look as if they are 80 years old - and very frail. You're right - since when is this the standard?

As I said I have never shown a dog myself but I have attended several shows with friends and family. I did, in the past, show Himalayan cats. At that time the breed had a small nose but that was not good enough. People wanted a "small" nose so the breeders had to go to the extreme to an almost no nose look. The Siamese people decided they did not like the apple head look and decided to make the head so angled it was beyond freakish.

I have seen this sort of thing happen in the dog world as well. The Collie was once a beautiful dog but now they have make the head so extreme that it has caused some serious health issues. Anytime breeders decide to go for the extreme and judges go along with the trend there are going to be problems in the breed because so much line/in breeding has to be done to accomplish the changes.

Yes, there a lot of tricks going on. It is a very political and competitive world. Many of the dogs that you see in the Westminster dog show have been being show from one end of the country to the other for more than a year by professional handlers. If those dogs have a home they may not have seen it in a very long time. Dogs at that level are sometimes owned by several people and are a kind of sport for the owners. It takes a lot of money to get to that level. It's big financial investment and no one likes to lose on their investment.

GracieLove, I can see where you're coming from. It all just caught me off guard. I never would have though that those things went on. I thought people had a little more integrity than that. Well, I think I have the best Chihuahua and the best Yorkie in the WORLD!!!! Their imperfections are what make them special.