The devil sports a continental clip
By Kim Campbell Thornton
February 9, 2009
Black Poodles are the devil in disguise. That was the thought that popped into my mind as I watched Surrey 
Spice and the Standard Poodle, Ch. Randenn Tristar Affirmation (call name Yes), during the Non-Sporting Group. Those eyes! That haughty expression! They just scream “I’m clever, I’m cunning, I have the potential to be deliciously evil.” All that and beauty, too. Yes, even with that clip. Or maybe because of it.
I took over Jerry’s recliner at 6 sharp, with Bella at my side and Harper in my lap, only to discover that we had missed the Hound Group and were now on to Terriers. My least favorite Group, with apologies to Terrierman. As an art lover, I can appreciate their sculptural appearance–artificial though it may be–but our personalities just wouldn’t mesh. I think I could live with a Skye or a Sealyham, though. Maybe.
I call my friend Tamela to make fun of the Bedlington’s name: Ch. Velvety Angel Eyes. We discuss the fact that judge Peter Green has dismissed two dogs from the ring because their handlers used to work for him. Wouldn’t you know that ahead of time and send in a different handler? Maybe it’s against the rules to change handlers. Stupid rules, if that’s the case. What’s the point of winning your breed if you know your dog is going to be excused from the ring because he has the wrong handler? Maybe someone can clear this up for me.
Harper does not like the Border Terrier or the Wire Fox Terrier. She jumps off my lap each time, walks up to the TV screen and growls menacingly at them. She doesn’t care for the terrier mix-looking dog looking at himself in the PetCo ad, either. Great, my dog has the same prejudices I do. I wonder if she would growl at a Re, oh, never mind. Wrong blog.
Peter Green is a terrier man from way back–and funny. He walks down the line, quacking at all the dogs to elicit expression from them. “Well, he is a former handler,” David Frei explains. The Norwich barks at him. I think it ought to get extra points for that, and indeed it goes Group 3.
Although I miss sitting at the press table, I have to admit that I’m enjoying being at home, having Jerry bring me ice cream because there are dogs in my lap, and getting to hear the color commentary for once. The Wheaten has a breeder/owner/handler, Frei notes approvingly.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a good-looking dog. I have a soft spot for them. One of my early moves as editor of Dog Fancy was to hire former AKC Gazette features editor Marion Lane to write a column about life with her new SBT puppy. We called it Raisin’ Nell. She’s a super writer and I was always entertained by her adventures with Nell.
The Pedigree Foundation has a wonderful series of ads promoting shelter adoptions. Most of us saw the first one during the Super Bowl–the Westminster of football games, as Frei likes to say–but they’ve added a couple more. “Tonight as we celebrate the best purebred dogs in the world, let’s not forget about the ones who aren’t so lucky,” the narrator says. “Remember Echo, Otis and Frankie.” They have a nice website with information on how to adopt, volunteer or donate. Dogs rule, indeed–and so do cats.
As we watch the Non-Sporting dogs, Frei says the AKC is considering reworking the Groups, adding more and moving some breeds around. It’s about time. I’ve been saying they should do that for years, but no doubt they didn’t want to look as if they were copying the Federation Cynologique Internationale. There should be a Nordic Group, they should move the Dalmatian to the Working Group, and the Toys should be renamed the Companion Group, with many of the Non-Sporting Dogs moved under that category. That’s just for starters.
The Schipperke looks like a cross between a hyena and a warthog, Jerry says. I assume he means in silhouette because they’re not unattractive. Actually, neither are hyenas and warthogs. Warthogs were our surprise favorite animal in Africa because of the cuteness factor. But I digress.
We’re watching the Herding Group now. I decide early on that I have to root for the Australian Shepherd because his name is Copyright. The Beardie bounces up and down for the judge. Here comes the poor German Shepherd. It horrifies me every time I see that sloping rear. They did not look like that 35 years ago. It horrifies me, too, that it has been 35 years since I was a kid and we had German Shepherds. Oh well.
Harper has lost interest in my lap and the show. She is rolling on the floor, clutching a toy to her chest and gnawing on its head. Twyla has taken her place in my lap, and Bella hasn’t moved. I was going to rant about the extra weight show dogs are required to carry to be competitive in the ring, but I can’t remember now what set me off about it, and I want to go back and watch the Hound Group. I think I’ve lost my chair, though.
Update: Always a bridesmaid, never a Best in Show. I’ve been watching my friend Susan’s Bloodhounds for years at this show. She’s come so close, winning the Breed and the Group several times. Her current bitch, Rita, went Group 3 tonight. In other Hound news, will the WKC never update the announcer’s script so he will quite saying that the Ibizan Hound and the Pharaoh Hound date back 3,500 and 4,400 years? DNA evidence says not quite.
No rules against changing handlers. Although I can understand wanting to stick with the handler who has been working with the dog (and winning with the dog), most experienced show dogs will be fine with almost anybody and handler changes happen all the time for a variety of reasons. It’s not like it’s rocket science! I really think the problem was that the handlers didn’t believe that Peter would stick to his ethical guns and kick them out :-)
I was rooting for the Staffie… I know a Bull Terrier won BIS a few years ago but I think it would be AWESOME for a “pit bull” to win Best in Show at Westminster! :-)
Comment by Barb — February 10, 2009 @ 2:51 am
Did anyone notice that the Barbie Collie BOB, BOS and AOMs were a family affair? Whatever happened to that nice lithe, agile working dog? Oh yah, that’s right, one finds them in AG or actually on a farm somewhere actually working and not in an AKC breed ring! Snark, snark.
Comment by Anne T — February 10, 2009 @ 6:26 am
In Goethe’s Faust, Mephistopheles (The Devil) disguises himself as a black poodle—that’s what went through my mind when I saw the line “The devil sports a continental clip!”
They will never update those breed speculation and lore studies about the Ibizan and Pharoah hounds. I’m almost surprised they don’t say the golden retrievers descend from some unknown, unheard of, and undocumented Russian circus dog.
Comment by retrieverman — February 10, 2009 @ 6:40 am
I missed watching the show. I must admit I love seeing all the different breeds, even though I know there are problems with some of them.
I think it’s interesting that Harper pays attention to the dogs on TV. Kasey could care less, even during the crazy barking clips when we’re watching Dogtown. Yet, let the English Setter next door start barking and he’s at the door like a shot.
Do other people’s dogs pay attention to the TV?
Comment by Lori — February 10, 2009 @ 6:53 am
If you can during the day, you can go to WKC’s website and access the breed videos. For years I’ve watched the videos, not the Groups or BIS.
I don’t have to listen to the commentators, can rerun the clip multiple times and not bother with the breeds I am not enamored of.
Go here:http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/
Then on the top right hand box, open Breed Results. If the class is done and posted, the name will be in Bold and underlined. Just click.
Comment by Anne T — February 10, 2009 @ 7:07 am
I loved Marion’s “Raising Nell” column. One of my favorite dog-related series of articles ever.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 10, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Harper has excellent taste in dogs to bark at. :-) (I’m not a big fan of Border terriers.)
Interesting to hear that the AKC is thinking of breaking up the non-sporting group. It makes perfect sense. And it would give my breed, the Keeshond, a fighting chance of getting to Best in Show, something they never get while stuck in a group with the poodles. I love poodles, especially standard poodles; I just wish they didn’t always win.
Comment by Amy — February 10, 2009 @ 10:14 am
Here’s the lowdown on the AKC group realignment:
http://www.akc.org/events/conf.....gnment.cfm
My breed (Xolo) is going to be in the Companion group once we get through Miscellaneous purgatory. We are more than a bit dismayed that all three varities — standard, intermediate, and toy — have to compete with each other, but AKC says it won’t separate any more breeds by variety.
So that means my 11-pounder gets to compete against the 70-lb. standards in breed. Oh boy.
Comment by stellaluna — February 10, 2009 @ 11:41 am
Stellaluna,
The american eskimo has the same issue. Because the standard is more prevelant, it seems to take folks aback a bit when one of the minis walks into group.
But toy and mini xolos are pretty popular so maybe it won’t seem so unusual.
Comment by Jenniferj — February 10, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
Stellaluna - you’re not the only breed getting stuck with a ‘You can’t have varieties’ thing. Only in our case (German Spitz), the varieties aren’t interbred elsewhere in the world in general, and they’re totally separate in Australia and the UK. (You can get a special exemption to in Germany, but it’s not a normal thing- I *think*. This is all made a zillion times more complicated that the club officials in Germany don’t speak any english apparently (or at least won’t respond to emails in english) and my budget (as I’m the one who is trying to do this research) doesn’t extend to hiring a translater. :P)
Comment by Cait — February 10, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
I wish the AKC would dump the whole business of varieties! Why should these breeds get multiple chances in the Group ring when the vast majority of breeds only get 1?
Comment by Anne T — February 10, 2009 @ 2:04 pm
Re:Peter Greeene’s dismissal of the two terriers
Little birdie from NYC tells me that the dogs owners wanted the dogs shown. Not clear if he handler change would have made a difference since the handlers were listed as agents for those particular dogs in the catalog, the dogs might have been out as a conflict because of their published agents.
the thinking is that perhaps they felt Peter would have left them in but not considered them. Didn’t work that way. Frankly good for Peter for sticking to his guns.
Comment by Jenniferj — February 10, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
Thanks, Jennifer and Barb, for the scoop on the Peter Greene thing. I’ve never seen dogs dismissed from the ring before, but then with very rare exceptions, Westminster is the only dog show I go to.
Comment by Kim Thornton — February 10, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Stellaluna, many thanks for the link to the AKC report. It mostly looks pretty logical, though I agree that it’s silly not to have varieties compete when there’s a big size discrepancy between them.
Comment by Amy — February 10, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
“I wish the AKC would dump the whole business of varieties! Why should these breeds get multiple chances in the Group ring when the vast majority of breeds only get 1?”
I guess you missed the point earlier. That’s exactly what the AKC is doing — dumping varieties, and it’s a pain in the ass for those of us who have breeds that come in distinctive size varieties.
How many of the vast majority of breeds actually COME in three distinctly separate sizes, such that they may as well be three separate breeds? (In Schnauzers, they actually ARE three separate breeds!)
I don’t understand why the 13” and 15” Beagles are still shown separately, or why there are still color divisions in Cocker Spaniels — my understanding is that these divisions came about during the time that there were so many representatives of the breeds in the show ring, they had to break them up somehow or the classes would be gigantic.
But if a breed is broken up by something as distinct as sizes (and I don’t mean a couple of inches like the Beagles), it seems logical to put them in the groups they fit in, such as the Poodles — a toy Poodle can hardly compete with a standard. A toy Xolo is a lot different than a standard Xolo, and imho, it should have gone into the Toy group. (Apparently it’s the same with Eskies, though I don’t really know their breed well.)
Part of the problem is that they want all Xolos to be shown together regardless of size, and the toy/miniature (the difference between Toy and Miniature Xolo being which registry you are referring to) is small enough in size that it has been shown on a table up until now, while the Intermediate and Standard varieties are shown on the ground. (You’ve seen that in Poodles, right?)
But now that the three varieties will be shown together, they are all supposed to go on the table or a ramp (including the big guys) or all on the ground (including the little guys). It’s a hassle either way — for the dog, the handler, the show-giving club, and the judge, who is going to have to bend over all those little guys to judge them. (Some judges have already complained about this, and the breed has only been in Miscellaneous since January 1.)
These things are not just arbitrary decisions designed to give different breeds a better chance in the groups, they are genuine concerns for breeds that come in distinctive size varieties. I wish it wasn’t so, but that’s the way it is with the breed I choose to share my life with. All breeds are different, all have their own issues, and it’s not as simple as it may seem on the surface.
Comment by stellaluna — February 10, 2009 @ 6:43 pm
Here’s a visual:
http://www.xoloworld.com/images/xolo3sizes.gif
All on the table/ramp or all on the ground — either way, it’s going to be interesting.
Comment by stellaluna — February 10, 2009 @ 6:47 pm
By varieties, I should have been clearer. I meant coat types and color differences as in cockers, daschies, bull terriers etc. I don’t think these distinctions are worthy of their own classes.
Size is another issue. A toy poodle is a separate breed from a standard and should be judged as such, same with xolos or any other breed that comes in distinct sizes that are not interbred.
Anyway, once the changes are implemented, my breed will be moving to a new Group, one that is reflective of the FCI designation. This should prove interesting!
Comment by Anne T — February 11, 2009 @ 5:01 am
Hey Kim, I got the answer for you—just click the link on my name—even got a comment from Ernesto about the excusal.
The rules are outlined and the handlers knew who the judge would be…
Comment by Ark Lady — February 13, 2009 @ 10:03 am
Thanks!
Comment by Kim Thornton — February 13, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
I have always admired the breath taking quality of poodles. Just something about them. Love the title - that really caught my eye - The Devil wears Prada…er continental clip, LOL. The whole fci thing boggles my mind, I had to deal with this a while back in cyber dogs (an online purebred dog game I help run) and it was crazy, we do things so different in America, they classify miniature schnauzers as mollossers not terriers! Wah! And dachshunds have their own group and are not considered hounds…sigh
Comment by Kimberly Helgeson Sams — July 2, 2009 @ 12:23 am