Wolf Friends

The other day, I was wondering just how the situation in SHOW dogs ever got this bad.

What went wrong? I decided that dog shows got off to a bad start. It was an era when people latched onto new ideas and ran with them. Some of these were good ideas, but some were not. The idea behind dog shows was a leaky boat.

Usually people are told when they are doing something wrong. None of us are born a scientist, a parent, a teacher - we are all just born a little baby. People point us back onto the right path when we go astray.

I think the real problem is that the club didn't have good enough enemies.

If it had good enemies, it could have over come it's weaknesses.

Inuit saying "The wolves keep the caribou herds strong."

I guess I mean to say the club needed more aggressive criticism. Not mealy-mouthed "Are you sure that Pekingese dogs are okay?" but "Hey! Those dogs are suffering because YOU incite people to breed dogs with flat faces. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!!! Are you planning on encouraging the breeding of more puppies who will grow up to suffer? Do you think that is a nice thing to do?".

The club might have heard a few disgruntled people sadly say of them, "They are ruining dogs", but what they needed to hear was:

"What kind of idiots are you? Are you stupid or what? Can't you see your winning bulldog is a suffering, smashed face mess, with goop growing in his skin folds, a twisted tail, and teeth that don't meet?

Poor dog! And it is YOUR fault. YOU are the ones inciting breeders to breed dogs like that. Can't you do anything right?

Git off your lazy behind, and insist that every breeder breed only healthy dogs, that every standard describe fit healthy dogs, that judges turn away whole classes and breeds until fit dogs are brought before them.

Hire some people who don't have mouse balls and pea brains. Insist that dogs can't be shown unless they are healthy and health tested."

Wolves keep the caribou herds strong.

The club might have wanted peace, but it needed to hear the outrage, the laughter, the scorn.

Because when someone you love is in a boat drifting towards the falls, or going grizzly bear hunting with just a knife, or staggering drunk to his car to drive down the mountain - you don't just wave bye-bye and say "Have a nice time, dear".

You say "Get that boat out of the river, now! Leave the Grizzly Bear Alone! Give me your car keys!"

Maybe people didn't care enough to criticize. Maybe the club didn't listen.

Is this nice?

Look at the calf. The fluid shooting out of his little nose. What is happening to his back? In a few frames he will be yanked off his feet. Is this nice?

Rodeos aren't about skills real cowboys use. No sane rancher would ruin the health of his calves by roping them like this, at high speed. (If at all.)

There are other issues about animals. One of those issues is about dog breeding, and breeding dogs to be used in competitions.

On the surface it might not seem as bad as calf roping. But multiplied across the county by so many people, the problems multiply too.

If nobody speaks up about the problems, or if nobody listens, then the problems will just get worse, and all the improvements that could have been made, will never happen.

9 Giant Pumpkins

Jack-o-lantern.


Did you know that there are contests for growing giant vegetables, like a giant pumpkin?

People will do all kinds of crazy things to win. I read on how to grow giant veggies.

Yes you buy seeds that grow big.
But then you add chemicals around the plant.

And then, after the plant is grown, and the pumpkin starts to grow on the plant - YOU FEED THE VEGETABLE WITH AN I.V. DRIP!

You get these huge vegetables that way. It makes some sense for growing jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but they get so huge that nobody can carry them, and they are either craved where they are grown, or moved with a lift and a wagon.

The I.V. drip has sugar water in it, so the vegetables grown this way aren't very flavorful, but they are huge!

Why would a farmer grow huge vegetables that aren't worth eating?

Farmers don't. People growing plants as a hobby do.

They enter the giant vegetables in fairs and plant shows. Like:
Who can grow the biggest green bean.
Who can grown the biggest ear of corn.
Who can grow the biggest strawberry.

I like small dog and large dogs too.
There are giant breeds of dogs.
Giant dog slide show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iLd55uMb7k

Die Loser Die!

The thing I dislike most about sled dog races, greyhound races, dog shows, and all other competitive events using dogs are "What do you do with all the losers?".

"What do you do with all those puppies who you know will never become winners in the sport?"

Many breeds of dogs have been bred to be a specialist at a specific job,
if they are NOT good at that job, what happens to them?

Racing greyhounds who try to win, but can't, have very little value.

Years ago, a breeder of these dogs told me she had the losers "put to sleep" (humanly killed) so that they would not end up being used in medical research or product testing.

Some losers are adopted, but many losers are killed. I believe it would be better if dog tracks became casinos.

In the Vick case, we all read about how the losers were killed for "underperforming".
But dog fights aren't the only dog competition where the losers die.

Dog shows are just another competitive event using dogs.

I have talked with many many show dog breeders.
What value does a dog have if the whole point of keeping him has been to own and show a winner, but the pup turns out to be a loser?

He is useless as a show dog because he doesn't win, and he is usually useless for breeding because he hasn't won.

To read the rest of this post, click on the blue POST title (not archive title).

1 Freaking Show Fish.

This is an exhibition of mutant fish breeding.

These poor ugly fish! They can hardly swim!

3 Normal Goldfish

These are semi-domesticated goldfish.
They are a color varient of the wild type,
like white tigers are to regular tigers,

but more like if we bred white tigers for many generations,
except with domestic fish you can do a lot of culling,
and if the fish goes crazy - it doesn't hurt anyone.

5 Nearly Normal

Not a cull.

Like plants have inbred varieties that aren't as robust as weeds,

and we have made BREEDS of dogs that can't make it in the wild like wolves,

people have made BREEDS of goldfish out of the wild type.

This breed of goldfish is called the Comet Goldfish.

It has longer fins, and is kind of showy.
But are the normal type happier?

Dalmatian Dog.

Which should be judged as the worst fault?

a) the Dalmatian dog who is genetically deaf?

b) the Dalmatian dog with defective genes who forms bladder sludge and bladder stones?

c) the Dalmatain dog whose black spots touch?

Answer: only "c" shows when the dog trots in the show ring.

The dog show judge usually is NOT a veterinarian.

QUIZ Gotta pee, but can't?

Message #129 of 148

Have you heard about the trouble in Dalmatian dogs?

Dalmatians get an inherited disease called hyperuricemia. One dalmatian breeder told me that the disease makes the dog's urine stink worse than most dog urine. Actually, it has a much worse of an effect on the dog's health.

Back in the 1970s one brave man, Robert Schaible, decided to fix the problem by crossing the Dalmatian with the breed most like it, the (English) pointer. He made a line of Dalmatians that looked like other dalmatians, but who didn't have the gene for hyperuricemia.

The American Kennel Club, accepted his Dalmatians.

But the AKC's structure is what is sometimes called a "club of clubs" - that is, the AKC has clubs for members, not people.

The AKC "recognizes" various clubs. There is a club for each breed. One of these clubs is a dalmatian club.

QUIZ:
How did the AKC's dalmatian club react to Schaible creating a line of healthy dalmatians?

1. They made him president of their club.

2. They gave him prize money.

3. They held a banquet in his honor.

4. They named their biggest club after him.

5. All of the above.

6. They asked the AKC to un-register the healthy dalmatians.

If you answered with any of the nice smiley answers, you don't know the world of purebred dogs.

Of course, they un-registered his dogs!

Why? Only they know why.

Maybe because a few of the healthy dalmatians had solid black ears instead of spotted ears?

Dalmatians also often have deafness. I've read that deafness is associated with white coloring, especially white around the base of the ears.

Maybe his healthy dogs made some breeders of deaf and sick dogs look bad?

Maybe the show breeders felt breeding sick dogs would improve the breed?

Maybe the purebred dog breeders had some notion about letting a dog breed with any dog that didn't look like them? But English pointers do look a lot like dalmatians.

Maybe some of the purebred dalmatian breeders had a thing about making a little group of dogs and calling them "pure" and not letting them breed with any other dog, even if it was necessary to do to produce healthy puppies?

Maybe some of the dalmatian breeders wanted to breed unhealthy dogs with a genetic disease? Who knows?

QUIZ:
What did the AKC do?

1. They said "We are glad you brought this to our attention, there is a conflict between the kind of dalmatian you want and the healthy kind Mr.. Schaible has produced. We like his healthy kind better." So the AKC, un-recognized the old dalmatian club, and recognized a new dalmatian club started by Mr. Schaible.

2. They said "We are glad that Mr. Schaible made this new kind of dalmatian that looks like the other dalmatians, but is healthy. We are going to have both kinds in the breed. If the public wants to buy your unhealthy dogs, they can. If the public wants to buy Mr. Schaible's healthy dalmatians, they can."

3. They said "We want to make both clubs happy. We will have two breeds of dalmatians, the "dalmatian", and "American Dalmatians" - which will be those from Mr. Schaible's line.

4. They said "We recognized his dogs, they are in the breed, get over it. We have spoken."

5. They said "We will un-recognize Mr Schaible's healthy dalmatians, and remove them from our registry."

Let me give you a hint: despite this being over 25 years ago, dalmatians are still suffering from hyperuricemia.

That's the world of purebred dogs that we daren't say anything detrimental about, even when it is true.

The AKC un-recognized the healthy dalmatians.

Across the pond, in England, in 2008, the brave Margaret Carter, spoke out about the problem in her breed, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

These spaniels often suffer terribly from a horrid genetic disease which makes the little spaniels have terrible pain. They also often suffer and die from heart disease.

QUIZ:
How did the the Cavalier's dog club over there re-act to Margaret Carter's words?

1. They did nice things.

2. They ignored it.

3. They promised to work on removing unhealthy Cavaliers from breeding.

4. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted out all the people who knowingly bred unhealthy dogs.

5. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted Margaret Carter out of the Cavalier dog club.

Would I have called her "brave" if this was easy?

Of course she was voted out by a huge majority.

Can't have anyone telling the truth about club members or their unhealthy suffering dogs, can they?

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