Westminster tonight

I am having a hard time figuring out how a nose licking waddling dust mop beat out the elegant, graceful beautiful Irish Setter,  the GDS, dobie, dalmatian and kerry blue and the wire coated doxy (which is from Corpus just 20 miles down the road from us.

 But I am sure the Peke owners love and sdore that breed as much as the rest of us adore and love our breed/breeds. And had the Irirsh won (my choice), they would hae wondered how that sleek, struting dog could have beat out their chosen breed.

But at any rate I love the show, never miss it and am amazed at allthe shaes, sizes, etc of the dogs, and love seeing the new ones.

 Well, Malachy must be a spectacular specimen of his breed, because he's won 115 Best In Shows.  That's pretty impressive.  Although I wonder how someone can judge movement on that thing.

miranadobe

Although I wonder how someone can judge movement on that thing.

LOL, good point.  I guess he rarely has to walk anywhere so movement may be a moot point. 

sharismom

Not Peke fans here, are we?  LOL

miranadobe

 

sharismom

Not Peke fans here, are we?  LOL

I'm not a GSD fan, either, and I detest what their conformation standard calls for - but at least that dog met their standard.  One has to trust that Malachy is so perfect of a Peke that he's incomparable.  Cuz it's not like you can tell lookin' at him!

For me the GSD was just "meh".  First off when dealing with AKC specials, the interpretation of the standard is quite extreme (not in a way that I like).  Luckily, this dog was fairly moderate compared to many, but he didn't have anything special.  When I watched the Dobe (and I'm not really a fan of the breed) I thought, "Now THERE'S the dog and handler that came here to win!"  Everything was polished and the dog just looked like she had something special.  For me it's not enough to meet the standard, at a show like that the dog has to have *it*.

Liesje

I thought, "Now THERE'S the dog and handler that came here to win!"  Everything was polished and the dog just looked like she had something special.  For me it's not enough to meet the standard, at a show like that the dog has to have *it*.

I agree, the Setter was my second pick. 

A GSD that large that moves like that needs to be given the lead.  I noticed that Jimmy let him pull out when they went around after the down and back but that was the only time.  There's a reason the GSD always goes first.  Even when I showed Kenya, who has very little angulation, I let her have the lead and move out ahead of me around the ring.   But, Jimmy has been a pro handler longer than I've been alive so who am I to say..... JMHO

The Peke wasn't my first pick either... but, as stated by others, not exactly like we can get our hands on him from our sofas.  I've shown to Cindy Vogels a few times and she's liked nice dogs in my breed, so, I'll take her word for it :)

I saw Fifi when she was being Specialed out here (with a pro handler) about this time last year, you couldn't miss her, your eye went straight to her in fact... she went BIS the night I stayed to watch and she most certainly deserved it.  I was rooting for the Breeder/Owner/Handler, too!

I was a bit upset about Sporting group, that's a very nice Irish, Emily is beautiful!  But, the Weimaraner was dumped, which I thought was odd as a Weim fancier she's pretty much the closest thing I've seen (and many agree with me) to the standard, at the very least I thought she deserved to make the cut.  Seemed he liked fluffies! 

Anyone notice all the upsets in Breed judging this year?  There are always a few, but it seemed every other breed had a fairly major upset.  Interesting!!

Fifi totally pulled my eye in a good way. I'm not a Dobe person, but she is spectacular. I, too, was cheering for the Breeder/Owner/Handler.

What was the mess going in the stands just prior to the BIS judging? It looked like someone was trying to hold up a poster behind the judge (or something). They got the person out of there quickly.

FrisbyPI

What was the mess going in the stands just prior to the BIS judging? It looked like someone was trying to hold up a poster behind the judge (or something). They got the person out of there quickly.

Never seems to fail that PETA shows up.  I guess two of them were trying to make it to the center ring, to do who knows what... but, they got to them quick didn't they!

Sera_J

But, the Weimaraner was dumped, which I thought was odd as a Weim fancier she's pretty much the closest thing I've seen (and many agree with me) to the standard, at the very least I thought she deserved to make the cut.

Fifi is quite scrumptious.

 Well count me in with the people that just struggle to see a peke as a dog. I mean it can't walk too much, can't see for the hair, can't smell as well as most dogs due to his pushed in face, can't breed naturally, hard to imagine one playing or doing any training. I mean I suppose it is great at flopping on a pillow. Just not, to me, a champion dog...............regardless of how well it meets breed standard.

Anyway the dobe was gorgeous, the dal was very nice, the boxer was a very nice dog

As for the sporting breeds well it always seems to be a setter. I openly admit that I don't know the standards and only look at the dogs at face value but I thought the pointer was drop dead stunning. The vizsla and the weim were very nice too (as was IMO the GSP) but I knew a setter or spaniel would win, always does.

I am disgusted with the AKC for what they did here in NC to ensure a puppy mill law didn't make it - left a bad taste in my mouth that won't ever go away. This state has horrific problems and the top dog organization in the US which is based here in Raleigh lobbied hard against something very positive. They can have the peke as its top "dog" - it may look good but you'll be hard pressed to convince me it isn't a useless ornament.

I'm no fan of the AKC.  They talk out of both sides of their mouth.  But I do enjoy watching the purebred dogs and I can't see how we'd get that opportunity without a deep pocket organization to pay the bills and most of their money comes from purebred dogs.  They're going to do all they can to protect their financial interests like any company would.  It is what it is and I accepted the realty that the AKC isn't able to police their thousands and thousands of breeders long ago.  They're a registry that grew into something many faceted and complicated.  It's up to the buyer to put puppy mills out of business, IMO.

I agree, Jackie.  Honestly the *only* reason my dogs are even AKC registered is because it is the only FCI recognized registry in the USA, and since I show, train, title, and breed survey dogs under the German system they must be AKC registered.  Other than that, I stopped participating in AKC events or giving them my money for anything but the required registration certificate and pedigree.  However I do recognize that the AKC is a *registry* and that it is and should be the responsibility of the breed's parent club to police breeding.  The SV is my breed's parent club in Germany and since I go by their system, breeding dogs have to be titled, have an obedience and temperament test, an endurance test, a conformation rating, and hip and elbow certifications at minimum in order to even participate in a breed survey.  Even so I believe the responsibility to research the lines, the health, the temperament, and support ethical breeders lies with me as a buyer and not some registry telling me what is best for my breed.