Best of Breed?

Time for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show to come on again...yawn.  Hours and hours of dogs running counter clockwise once...then dumping up on the examining table to be probed....then run clockwise once more.

The one on the left?  Feed him coal and he will shite diamonds.  The one on the right?  We need to party!

This is how we pick the "Best of Breed" of each dog? Because the only requirements seem to be maintaining your posture and dignity as some strange human picks at your parts. I'm actually surprised that they don't make the dogs prance around with books balanced on their heads finishing school style!

Does your dog have a talent?....judges don't care. Are you a retriever breed that could care less about actually retrieving?...no?...are your haunches tight?...good enough.  They had a dog actually relieve itself in the judging area a few years ago...that's right, it wasn't even housebroken. 

If dog show judges got a hold of the Ms. USA pageant, they would dispense with all the talent and questioning. Just divide up all the contestants into groups they could judge(eastern, Midwest, southern, ethnic, and valley girl) and then have them stand mute as they measured them with calipers!

It's time to have an insurgent style dog show. I want a talent show, have the organizers seen "stupid pet tricks" all these years? Have a costume review so the dogs can sparkle a bit. Finally I want to see the dogs do what the announcers at the Westminster say their breed is bred to do. Your a rat dog...catch a rodent...Herder...do it...working breed...pull a sled. How can you be a "Best of Breed" if you can't actually do what you were bred to do?

I know this probably sounds nit picky...but the reason people love dogs is that they have personalty...quirks. I don't see any of that in this stale dog show.

Gracie vs. The Dogs

I was a little worried about how my niece Gracie and my dogs would get a along while she was in town over Christmas.  Rambunctious toddler with no fear and two skittish dogs twice her size.  Yeah, me, watching like a hawk.

Gracie vs. Hudson: The Rookie and the Old Man

Turned out to be fine...and completely entertaining.  Gracie would get a kick out of the fact that as soon as she ran towards the dogs they would scatter and slink away.  So, I would call them over and and calm them down and have Gracie come over and give them a big bear hug, they just looked like they wanted to bolt heh.

Well Gracie got a kick out of giving them hugs, and knew they would scatter they saw her coming, so she started stalking them!  She would come up slow behind them while they slept, or more impressive...crawl under the coffee table and sneak up on them that way...then give them a big hug and laugh at her ingenuity.

Thing she liked the best was feeding them, and the dogs did great at that.  They actually trusted her when she was locked up tight in her highchair.  She would just reach down and they would gently take the food from her hand...and then she would squeal and smile when their tongue or nose touched her hand.  I actually think she got a real kick out of finally being able to feed someone else instead for once.

Miss Gracie heh.

Aside: I can not get a picture of the dogs.  I could cook up a nice steak, put it on the ground at my feat, and the dogs would run the opposite way as soon as I were to pull out the camera.  I only got Hudson in the one above because he was asleep.  He came awake fast as soon as he heard to camera lens extend.