Top Dogs 

Raised to be Great

By Anne Rogers Clark

 

 

Do you wonder - while you were watching a great performance, of a great dog, at a great show - do you ever wonder how that dog got that way?

 

It starts with genes: the ones that control balance, proportion, temperament, size, outline, color and markings, bone, substance, soundness, coat length and texture, feet correct for the breed, ear size, shape and carriage, plus inherited instincts: of herding, the  chase, scenting of game, the “go to ground” mania of the Terriers, guarding and protecting, retrieving and/or carrying, and the happy swimmer, as well as stamina, inherited vigor and health.

 

And then, when all the research has been done to find the compatible mate - which hopefully will produce the dream dog or bitch to carry on the line, as well as to be the great show dog and worker - the breeding is made.  

 

Hopefully the birth is easy and there is your litter nursing gustily.  Even in size, they look great in the nest, and the mavens amount us pick up one of the newborns and remark on the length of neck, the strong back, the color and markings - and the dreams start to gather.

 

Great dogs are born, but many never see the inside of a Best in Show ring, because great dogs not only must be bred to be great - they must be raised to be great…

 

My first really good show dog was a homebred brown Miniature Poodle, raised as an only child, because he was a only child. born in the bedroom, he had a name before his eyes were open - “Suds” - and he was handled from birth - worn out would be a more appropriate term.  Because most of the decade’s Poodles were “hand-stacked” by the kneeling exhibitor, and because I wanted Suds to stand out in crowd, he was never hand-stacked and was instead encouraged to show like a Terrier.  He stood up on his four good legs and baited for a bit of liver.  The liver of course was held by me - all six feet two inches of me, standing tall!  Short-backed, sound, tail up in a well-scissored puppy coat, Suds was Reserve Winners Dog at the Poodle Club  of America in June of 1950, to the dog that went on to Best Miniature Poodle that year at the National.

 

Sud’s early socialization (this was not a word we even knew in those days) stood us both in good stead.  He was a Best in Show winner and champion in both the US and Canada.  He did not win many Best in Shows, for at that time we had a Working dog being shown by Nate Levine that was show dog personified - his name, Ch. Bang Away of Sirrah Crest.  “Bang Bang” dominated the Best in Show rings - a flashily marked fawn Boxer dog a moderate size, his handler showed him not only free-stacked, but Nate took a pocketful of rubber balls into the ring with him and threw one in the direction he wished Bang Bang to whirl, and then stood fully alert totally on his own with Nate hanging on to the end of the lead, smirking!  Competing handlers, had a fit, until one thought up a scheme.  The next breed ring that they entered, everyone had a pocketful of rubber balls - I don’t know who went more berserk, Nate or Bang Away!

 

There were  others in our early healing days: Janie Forsyth and her English Cockers that stood like living statues without lead of hand on them, whether in the Breed, Group or Best in Show rings, and the great-winning Doberman (twice Best in Show a Westminster), Ch. Rancho Dobe’s Storm, masterfully  shown by Peter Knoop.  This Doberman could, would and did stand for fifteen minutes at a time, gazing up at Peter, waiting of the smallest bit of liver - but we knew that Stormy knew that this was a game that had been devised between Peter and himself - one that they both loved to play.  Stormy could also trot, without breaking stride, as quickly as a grown man could run!

 

I think that all that I have talked about up until this point is where great performances started to be part of the dog show scene.  Purebred dogs evolved to become not just flesh and bone and coat and breeding to the standard, but all of that plus intelligence and character, which has become a necessary part of a good show dog’s career.  Gone are the dogs which are beautiful to look at but dumb to live with.  We now require a show of intelligence and character in the dog show ring, and the people who purchase our pets  have a right to purchase a ten-to-twelve-week-old puppy that knows its name, has some idea of being clean in the house, exhibits a playful attitude, and is not fearful of new sights and sounds.

 

Now that we have learned to teach our dogs to learn (!), We have come along way down the track. We can also teach our dogs that being a show dog is fun and a game – just as the herders, retrievers and go-to-grounders have a good time and what they do for work. In this way we can also - in these mad days of rankings and requiring our show dogs to go through the same routines at 150+ shows a year!!! - teach them to relax and enjoy their free time with other games we have taught them to play – Frisbee, exercise him on a Jog-a-Dog, free exercise on clean grassy plots of securely fenced acres, riding up front in the dog show truck, sleeping on the bed in motels - all the man-made comfort. But don't expect them to enjoy television unless it's the Discovery channel with a lot of bird an animal noises!

 

If you want to experiment with the making of a show dog, keep in mind, some of those that have done it brilliantly. Mark Threlfall with the English Springer, Ch. Salilyn’s Condor; Jimmy Moses with the German Shepherd, Ch. Cody Tucker Hill’s Manhattan; and Andy Linton with the Doberman, Ch. Royal Tudor’s Wild As The Wind.  These three were of different breeds, and taught and trained in three different modes as a befit their breed. And when you next see a great performance, by a Doberman, an Alaskan Malamute, a Norwich Terrier, a Welsh Terrier, Bichon, a Poodle, a Papillon, a Setter, a Bearded Collie, a German Shepherd, a Basenji, or a Norwegian Elkhound, or an Afghan, remember – great show dogs are born and raised to be just that by someone with a lot of time, patience, and know how.

 

The point that I am aiming for this article: when you see a great performance in the show ring, have the realization that dedicated people not only bred this wonder, that have brought it to the peak of health, condition, intelligence, and showmanship, so that you, as well as the owner, the exhibitor, and the dog, can enjoy the spectacle that you are watching.