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Westminster

2K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  krandall 
#1 ·
Bono the Havanese won Group tonight at Westminster. Good luck tomorrow night for Best In Show!
 
#5 ·
Super to be first runner up to the #1, all year, fox terrier, plus the judge was a fox terrier guy. Didn’t seem like the fox terrier did anything special to ask for it, & didn’t seem to be the crowd favorite, but you can’t argue with quality of any of the finalists.

Why did they allow the debacle with the schipperke? They had to know before she judged group of that possibility, & the judge should have been replaced. Now the whole group got screwed.

Another thing, if you go to the website for Bono, the woman who showed him was mentioned as their long time handler, yet in the show they kept calling her the breeder/owner/handler. Seems they want to spin the tale that any dedicated person can show their pup to that level. Well, that’s pretty much a joke unless you happen to be wealthy enough to travel the country & pay, pay, pay for about 40 weeks a year. Sounds good though to john q, I guess they will buy anything if fed to them in a happy story.

The commentators even addressed designer dogs & said instead of a healthier dog, you are getting the possible inherent health problems of both breeds. Ok, enough rant, it was after all, fun to see the Hav get recognized, what a cutie!
 
#6 ·
Didn't seem like the fox terrier did anything special to ask for it, & didn't seem to be the crowd favorite, but you can't argue with quality of any of the finalists.
I am not a big fan of conformation judging, just too subjective and political. One of the dogs that was being judged at Westminster was trembling. That dog was not having fun. Ricky was in conformation at 6 months with his previous owner and doing well. But he did not enjoy it and showed it physically. And so his owner dumped him and the world's best dog (for us) dropped onto our laps. We had him neutered at 11 months.

What I enjoyed watching at Westminster was Winkie the Bichon in agility. Both the dog and the owner were having fun. And that's the way it should be.
 
#9 ·
His owners had bred dogs with the Best in Show Judge's long time partner before. They pulled the dog to prevent any possibility of conflict of interest questions. They had no idea, when they came to the show, that they had any chance of winning Group. There was no fault of the dog.
 
#8 ·
I agree about confirmation judging, but that is the whole ball of wax for the breeding game. Everyone wants to see that champion tag on their dogs’ pedigree. I was wrong about the group judge for the schipperke, apparently the top judges partner had involvement with the shipperke’s owners breeding program so it had to be disqualified to prevent ‘taint’. It is all very intertwined, is it not?! I haven’t received my papers back from the AKC for Abby yet, & frankly, & she has already been spayed, I don’t care if I ever get them. Even if we died, she will be cared for by family.
 
#11 ·
Additionally, Taffe DID breed Bono and also owns him. She is a professional handler and has handled for the Oeste/La Tierra gang for a long time and has created a great friendship with them. They now all co-breed together. Pretty unfair to call her hard work a joke. In fact, all of the conformation bashing on this thread from people who aren't involved is pretty unimpressive and offensive to me. I don't come to this forum often these days...maybe this is why.

Ricky's Popi, I know there were extenuating circumstances with his breeder, but placing a show dog that didn't turn out into a loving pet home is not something I can accept breeders being vilified for. Falls right in line with the PETA folks that are trying to shut what everything our reputable preservation breeders stand for down.
 
#20 ·
Additionally, Taffe DID breed Bono and also owns him. She is a professional handler and has handled for the Oeste/La Tierra gang for a long time and has created a great friendship with them. They now all co-breed together. Pretty unfair to call her hard work a joke. In fact, all of the conformation bashing on this thread from people who aren't involved is pretty unimpressive and offensive to me. I don't come to this forum often these days...maybe this is why.
There are very few, Sophie, who have made anything but positive comments about Bono... as it should be. He is a lovely representative of our lovely breed, and we should ALL be thrilled that a representative of our breed has done so well. Anyone who can't see that doesn't know what they are talking about.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Kar Mar, I’m not calling her work a joke. She & her husband are obviously very good at what they do. You have twisted my words to suit yourself. What I said was, by calling her THE breeder/owner/handler they make it sound like she did it all on her own, thereby encouraging others to think they too could be next at Westminster. It’s part of the dream they are selling, along with the gorgeously turned out dogs. All of the guest hosts are part of the business, & make no mistake, it is all business. I personally, don’t know ANY dogs who are co owned by four different owners, but that’s just country bumpkin me. And please don’t attack others who have given a dog the best life it could want after being ‘placed’ in a pet home when they don’t strut well enough in front of clients.
 
#15 ·
Sam am I? Really? “And please don’t attack others who have given a dog the best life it could want after being ‘placed’ in a pet home when they don’t strut well enough in front of clients.” Since my Cassie also is from the same breeder, let me assure you she struts just fine, and is a fabulous pet as well. Maybe all these attacks should end...
 
#16 ·
Thank you, Cassandra. Not exactly sure where Sam I Am thinks I was "attacking" people who own pet placements (I am one of those people, after all!) Seems maybe my words were, as they said, being twisted to suit them. I just don't agree with demonizing breeders for finding loving homes for dogs that don't turn out for show...as much as they would love to hold onto dogs forever, keeping every retired dog and every older puppy that doesn't turn out just isn't possible, and for companion breeds, living in a home where they are loved as one of just a few is a wonderful life!

Not even going to address the continued comments on Bono's ownership. Absolutely delightful people who are doing everything right...I won't entertain continued judgement.
 
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