Page 102 - ShowSight - January 2020
P. 102

                   Good sportsmanship, Luggage
AND MORE...
Michelle Scott When you're showing your dog and the judge points to someone else, do you congratulate
the winner?
For me it's a given. Manners dictate that we say please, thank you, you're welcome, and you congratulate the winner—whether or not you agree with the judges decision.
At a show recently the judge made their place- ments and at least one of the exhibitors went to the placard placement and just stood there, never making any attempt to congratulate the others on their wins. Spectators behind me
noted this as well and commented "she needs to learn the group game". Sorry, but no. It's not "the group game"—it's just good manners.
    I was reading Structure in Action, The Makings of a Durable Dog, by Pat Hast- ings, and the section on hy- perextended or slipped hocks caught my eye. She wrote "...roach their spines to lift weight off of the rear...". "The number one cause of a roached topline is slipped hocks."
I will often feel for the point of hock and if there's any question I may see how much *give* is there, but this gave me something else to work off of. I started looking at dogs that had a roached back (in breeds that don't call for a roach) and when I checked them they did, in- deed, have hyperextended hocks.
It's pretty obvious in the dog pictured but wasn't as obvi- ous in some of the dogs I checked. Observe and let me know what you find.
I was talking to a breeder a while ago and they were lament- ing that judges just didn't understand their breed. I asked why and they answered that their breed is * and gave a one word description from the AKC breed standard. For what it's worth that particular word in not in their CKC breed standard.
I honestly don't think a breed can be summed up with just one word. I could say Poodles are elegant but that could just as
easily be said about Afghan Hounds and Azawakh—I recently read a judge's ed piece that said Staffordshire Bull Terriers should be elegant....I guess elegance is in the eye of the be- holder?
What are your thoughts?
<Write to Mrs. Scott at editor@aramediagroup.com or Michelle Scott on Facebook Continued>
94 • ShowSight Magazine, January 2020



















































































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