# Bettering the Breed?



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Colby's hunk of roast proved too much for him at 3:00 this morning, and after our trip outside it left me in bed with my mind wondering as it does whenever I can't sleep.

So my thought of the night was the oxymoron that seems to be for many people bettering the breed and showing in conformation. I don't think I've ever seen a grooming tutorial or demo that didn't include how to cover up a dog's flaws. They always say something along the lines of "if the dog is too thick here, trim like this. too short here, do this, too long here, do this, etc. Then you've got those that use chalk, dye, and whatever other goop they can to hide things they don't like in a dog. If a breeder is truly looking to improve the breed, then why would they hide the flaws of a dog they want to breed? It seems only an honest assessment of a natural dog would be working to improve the breed, and hiding flaws is working to win.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

It's about presenting the dog at it's very best, and no judge is going to be fooled by grooming tricks once they do a hands on exam. Minimizing the appearance of what may not be a dogs strong points is not hiding disqualifying faults. 

Additionally, most of the grooming "tricks" that you are referring to are actually to show the better points of a dog and not have them hidden by too much hair, etc.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Jodie let me preface this with I am not condoning any of the practices you speak of but rather will put to you this scenario.

I think it is human nature that the "first impression" is the "best" or "lasting" impression. So if grooming to "cover" a fault, you could say they are trying to make that first impression the best it can be. A good judge will once it has it's hands on a dog be able to find these faults despite the grooming portion. Again I believe it is human nature to have that "perfect" dog picture in our own mind (judges are human also after all) and if a dog's first impression does not at least come close it will never have a chance. I think many judges determine which dogs are in the running before the dogs ever move or they put their hands on them just from this "first" impression.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

I don't know why you would not show your dog in a manner to be the most competitive while being true to your beliefs in bettering the breed. I'm not condoning cheating or doing anything bad, but it just makes sense to do these grooming "tricks" to present your dog in the best light.

I grew up showing horses and ponies in performance and conformation... you bet your butt before I ever walked in any conformation class with my pony I smacked him on the chest with my crop, added tail extensions, used a curry comb to reduce his cellulite and lightly put Avon Skin So Soft on his muzzle and ears to bring shine to it. I stood him up in a way that forced him to rock back on his hind end (the crop on the chest helped) so he wouldn't stand in a way where he was over his knees with his front end... was this cheating? No. Was this hurting the breed? No. Was this doing what it took to win? Yes. Was this showing him to the best of his/our ability to portrays his positives? Yes. I'm not going to lie... he naturally leaned a bit over his knees and made his front end look strange, but I stood him up to make it very hard to notice. If you looked at his structure you could easily tell what was there, but if you looked at the total package you couldn't tell when I stood him up. Is it that different with dogs?

I've never shown in the breed ring, but I hope to one day, I'm currently looking for my first puppy. I have a lot to learn, but to me it just seems like you should show an animal to portray their best qualities. I would never break any rules in showing an animal (horse or dog), but I think you're cheating yourself to not show your animal to accentuate their positive features. 

It sounds to me like in showing dogs a good judge could spot anything you were doing to diminish the look of flaws and accentuate positive traits, but having an overall picture where positive traits are accentuated surely can't hurt. 

Just my super newbie two cents. If I'm totally off base PLEASE let me know.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Hey, it is, after all, a dog SHOW.
The point is not to breed the two best dogs at the show together. The point is for the judge to pick the prettiest. Seriously.
You can make the same argument for showing in conformation in general, and all the trappings that go with it. Websites and ads, etc. 
What wins or what the owner perceives can be very very different from the truth (where truth = what *I* perceive!)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 
The moral of this story is don't breed to dogs you haven't yourself put your hands on and seen in action. This can be an extremely eye opening experience!!!


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