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Extreme Competition and the In a recent issue of DOG NEWS, there was an article entitled “Form Not Fashion” which had many excellent points. It is certainly true that breeding only for a pretty dog that wins in the breed ring is not considering the entire picture when it comes to breeding for the best we can. The breed ring is meant to evaluate what breeders have accomplished in their breeding programs as compared to the written standard. But it cannot (and is not designed to) evaluate the mental aspects of a breed that includes ‘function’. And a beautiful dog with a lovely full coat does not mean that what is underneath is correct, either. And yes, it is true that too much coat does interfere in our breed with breed purpose at some point. Our breed standard is clear that a dog should have a functional structure and type to do what the breed was bred to do. I also agreed with the author about some of the breeds who have lost a great deal of soundness and would no longer be fit to do what the breed was created to do. In many ways, the article was right on concerning these aspects. Yet, while I did agree with the overall message of this article, I did take issue with the author’s “proof” that Goldens are in dire straits in this aspect. The author states, “The end result, with a number of breeds where there is a pronounced difference between “field” and “show” types is that a dual champion has become virtually impossible to achieve. Indeed, one need look no further than three of the most popular sporting breeds for proof. The last dual champion Labrador was in 1984, the last dual champion Golden retriever was in 1979 and English Springer Spaniel folks have not had an American dual champion since the mid 1930s. This dearth of dual champions has occurred despite an almost total dominance in the realm of retriever and spaniel field championships by Labradors and Springers.” The author goes on to give examples of a dual champion Newfoundland. My problem with the above quote relates to extreme competition. This goes for both the field and the show championship. If we could bring the two to a more workable situation, then perhaps the two types will have a better chance of coming together again so we could again having dual champions. But one needs to realize that the show ring and field trial of 1979 was vastly different than what it is today. It is not a matter of if the breed is both mentally and structurally able to do it’s intended purpose and fit the breed standard. No, the competitions have moved far beyond that in the 21st century. Let’s first look at the “show” competition. In about ten breeds, the number of dogs that finish is 1% or less of the total dogs in competition. In Goldens and Labs, this number is LESS than HALF of 1% of the total entries! Most breeds finish about 3% of their total entry and the most is around 6% when last calculated. So what does this have to do with the above comment? Simple. When most breeds on average finish 6 times the percentile of the two most popular breeds, there are a higher percentile of the dogs in that breed finishing and thus more time to compete in the areas for which the breed was created. This means that breeders of the lower entry breeds are not driven by the extreme competition of the breed ring like they are in highest entry breeds. You see, the AKC point system is set up essentially so all breeds can finish an equal number of champions. But when you look at entry numbers, you will see that some breeds always have far more dogs shown. So how is it advantageous to say that only about 250 dogs of any breed can finish each year even if one breed may only have 250 dogs shown while another may have 100 times that many? When one breed requires 4 dog in competition for a major and another requires close to 30, it is just common sense to know that it is not as competitive in some breeds. This certainly has a HUGE bearing on how many can finish. And when the numbers are so limited and breeders want to win, then other aspects of the breed are given less attention. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all! Now let’s look at the “field” side of the dual champion equation. The author mentions that Labs dominate the retriever tests, and that is entirely true. Unfortunately, Goldens are thrown into the same trials with Labs. And a Golden is NOT a Lab. To compete with them, the Goldens must be a harder driving dog than what the typical Golden temperament is. So once again, breeders who desire this championship will breed for what wins. And if you need to essentially breed for a Lab mentality in a Golden body (and that means the field Lab mentality), then you are not going to be breeding for the overall picture. There are only a handful of field champions in Goldens. The vast majority of the field champions are Labs. It is an extremely competitive venue. And when the dogs aren’t even competing against their own kind (i.e. a Golden is NOT a Lab), it makes things harder. So for the author to offer the proof that Goldens lack form in the breed ring because of the lack of dual champions really does not seem to be proof at all. This statements takes what I consider the most important equation out of the picture. Anytime you have a “winner takes all” mentality, and you have only one winner with very high entries, you are going to be setting up the perfect storm for people who want to win to breed FOR that win. And thus, in my opinion, this is one of the biggest reasons for the split we see in these popular breeds. Perhaps it is time the AKC realizes just how and why their system plays into this split in our breed. Perhaps the AKC needs to consider the needs of each breed, meaning breeds with very high entries should probably be allowed more championships (maybe cap the points needed for each point level earned?) And maybe the AKC needs to allow Goldens to compete only against Goldens, not expect them to beat the admittedly better retriever field trial breed (in general) to get the FC. Might that help bridge this gap in a more productive way? You see, speaking for Goldens, I do think breeders breed for sound dogs. I do think many conformation dogs can and do work in the field, although not to the level of an FC Lab! We do have conformation champions with all levels of field titles, too. And by the way…. Canada does have a dual champion Golden from the last few years. But remember, Canada’s point system for a conformation championship is the same for all breeds, not set up so each breed has a limit dependant on the number of majors (18%) of the shows each year. As always, I encourage anyone with ideas on issues I’ve discussed, or issues they would like to see addressed, to please share their thoughts with me. I can be reached at shilogr@yahoo.com Thanks so much |
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