Page 11 - ShowSight Presents - The French Bulldog

THE
COMPROMISES, CHALLENGES, CHOICES
ompromise: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.
Choice: an act or instance of choosing, a selection.
Challenges: difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.
Life is full of compromises, choices, and challenges, wheth- er you are a judge, an exhibitor or a breeder. All three go hand in hand especially when it comes to the wonderful world of French Bulldogs.
We as judges and breeders need to understand and be able to define type within each breed to excel at both and be successful. One great compliment to receive as a judge is, “You judge as if you were a breeder”. If I can identify the three hallmarks of a breed I feel blessed. The standard is a blueprint we are given to follow to try and achieve perfection; each breed has one and is its holy grail. One sentence I find speaks for generations is to “put a dog on a fence in
“‘You judge as if you were a breeder’...
IF I CAN IDENTIFY THE THREE HALLMARKS OF A BREED I FEEL BLESSED.”
the moonlight and you should know what breed it is”. What truer words could be spoken, and they remain timeless. In silhouette you can see the essence of the breed quickly, and as they move around you can follow the smooth symphony of “S” curves that make a French Bulldog what it is, and sets it apart from all other breeds.
We are unique as a breed and have many challengers from both the place of a breeder and a judge. So many times I hear negative comments for judges not understanding or applying the basic fun- damentals during their judging process. One must remember that a judge has an average of two minutes to asses a dogs virtues in each exhibit. A judge’s priorities may be different from the exhibitors.
As a breeder we also have our blueprint, but so much will be defined by how we interpret that standard, and then how we apply that to the decisions, compromises and challengers we will be faced with. You might say that is not a correct statement, but it is indeed. Even though we might purchase or have breed what we consider to be the “perfect example”, that does not always hold true. Breeding is
FRENCH BULLDOG
by PATRICIA SOSA
282 • SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2019