I was watching the Herding Group at a big show the other week. Hadn’t seen any of the breeds, and I was interested to see the Beardies and Cavaliers in the Groups.
The Cavalier had been very pretty and and nicely made. Tail wagging away. Trimmed a bit, dammit -- where does the hairdressing gene come from in dog dog show exhibitors?
Then came the Herding dogs and the Beardie flew into the ring. As the dogs took their positions, my eye scanned the lineup. At first glance, the Beardie -- silver slate -- looked fine, when my eyes screeched a halt and backed up to looked again.
Trimmed of course (that hairdressing gene again), legs carefully shaped to end straight at the ground, like an elephant’s. No toe shall appear uncovered. Hair dead straight -- are they ironed now?
His head! Trimmed like a Dandie Dinmont, or maybe a Westie (except for the ears, of course). It created a separation between head and neck. What happened to “From cheeks, lower lips and under chin, coat increases in length towards chest, forming typical beard.” I’m sure that describes a continuous flow of hair. Or I could be wrong — the flow could run into rapids, thereby separating the cheeks from the chest.
Okay, okay, none of that affects the dog underneath.
Then they moved. Did the Beardie have a parent who was a tacky garden ornament? The kind where the legs whirl around in the wind. His back legs did just that.
He looked like he was riding a bike across the ground. Lots of effort, lots of leg action, going nowhere. But it sure made his rear coat fly. And he sure looked showy.
I remember seeing one of the great Beardies of the past, Ch. Wishanger Cairnbhan, moving on the other side of a hedge from me. You couldn’t tell if he he were moving his legs or riding on a moving sidewalk, so smoothly did he gait. When he came out from behind the hedge, he fairly floated. It was effortless, relaxed and definitely not showy. He’d probably never win in the ring today.
But this dog did. He’d obviously won over Beardies, including other Champions. I wondered what they must be like. I felt sorry for the handler who must think he had a good Beardie and would be sent to the bottom of the pack.
But of course, he wasn’t. He won the Group. At least he didn’t win Best In Show.
And the next day, people were posting how wonderful this dog is, what a great example of the breed. Now I feel sorry for the breed.
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