Page 144 - ShowSight - August 2019

Avoiding Kennel Blindness: Quality Breeding...
BY MICHELLE SCOTT continued
Here's kind of a fun one. Where are the front landmarks? Withers (orange), point of shoulder (pink), elbow (yellow), forechest (green). Pictures are before grooming and after grooming.
Does the trim influence your decision?
“Poor examples of the breed can still be great dogs to learn on—
THEY CAN
TEACH YOU
A LOT—
and you will be that much more experienced when you’re ready for a dog that’s closer to the breed standard that you can win with.”
If you picked one or the other scenario then you were right, because it worked for you....but it gives you no right to condemn or shame anyone that chose differently. Just stop it.
And last but not least: If your first “show” dog doesn’t make the grade please don’t give up. Poor examples of the breed can still be great dogs to learn on—they can teach you a lot—and you will be that much more experienced when you’re ready for a dog that’s closer to the breed standard that you can win with.
Many of us spent years working to per- fect our trims and handling skills before we started to see any big wins with our own dogs—then we wanted to achieve those wins with our own home bred dog and that opens a whole new world for us.
The sport of dogs encourages long term involvement, where young and old can par- ticipate, so I hope to see you at the shows!
142 • ShowSight Magazine, auguSt 2019