Going for the Blue (15 page)

The point, obviously, was the way people went into action when someone else’s dog was in trouble. A dog is a dog is a dog,
and the same thing is true of dog lovers.

Chapter 7

Coming

and Going

M
any people, depending on the breed they have chosen, use the family car for transportation to and from the shows they attend.
That is fine if you have a Boston Terrier, an Affenpinscher, or a Pug, but what about the likes of the Great Dane, Newfoundland,
and Irish Wolfhound? More often these exhibitors have a “rig.” It is not exactly clear what a rig actually is or should be
except comfortable, safe, and convenient. (Forget miles-to-a-gallon—this is not the economic part.) Minimum wheels would be
a station wagon, and it goes up from there—a drag-it-along-behind-you trailer, a pickup truck with a cap, a motor home, a
camper, or any customized version of some or all of the above. I have seen dogs arrive in taxis and stretch limousines. One
couple I know has a customized motor home that cost more than $165,000. Now, that is a jolly, comfortable rig! No dog should
be ashamed to be seen traveling in that style. The trick is to keep your dog from expecting the limo.

They are usually quite willing to consider that their right. That can be the beginning of an attitude problem.

With a few exceptions, people do generally drive something to the shows. The alternatives to the highway are not all that
promising: trains are largely impossible; the most likely of the available means is air transport. That can be a terrible
idea unless you are prepared to take precautionary steps.

There can be very high risks in flying dogs to shows, or anywhere else, for that matter. If it is a day like that hot one
in New Jersey years ago, it is extremely hazardous. A dog crate left on a loading dock with the sun pouring in probably bodes
an oft-reported scenario: baggage handlers at the cold-drink machine and one asphyxiated dog in the sun. Cold weather can
produce the same result; it is just a little slower. Shipping a dog to the south and southwest from late spring on should
be outlawed—or to the northern states in winter. Some airlines won’t accept shipments when the temperatures at the destination
are likely to be dangerous. They are right in doing that. A dog in a shipping crate is totally at the mercy of the elements
and whoever is in charge. The dog can do nothing to help itself.

Bad baggage placement in the cargo or baggage compartment can suffocate a dog (and that has happened many times), and even
if a dog is likely to be terrified by what is happening all around it, the use of tranquilizers is still not advisable. They
interfere with the animal’s ability to control its own body temperature. That is something to discuss with a veterinarian.

If you do ship your dog and you are on the same flight—and he isn’t an under-the-seat-in-front-of-you breed—you usually can
arrange with the airline to let you check on your friend at any intermediate stops your plane might make. If you are not on
the same flight, you should make arrangements for the plane to be met at its destination and your dog properly taken care
of by someone who understands dogs. The person should be waiting at the airport when the plane arrives. If you don’t have
friends near the destination who can do you this favor, check with a local humane society. They are always in need of funds
and might take on the assignment in return for a donation. If that doesn’t work, have your veterinarian check his list and
give you the name of a local vet whose kennel help might provide an official greeter—for a price. Anything but sending your
very good friend off into the wild blue yonder before all necessary provisions for his comfort and safety have been made.
This is a very important issue. Dogs are killed every year because owners overlook the hazards it faces in an oven: an escape-proof
box on an extremely hot day.

At least one airline I know of, American, has an “animals on board” check-off box on the preflight checklist. The pilot, copilot,
and engineer all know fragile lives are at stake before they start the engines. That helps, or at least it can help.

The problem is that the airlines often do not charge enough to carry animals and have to hire baggage handlers that are a
pebble short of a beach. If it did cost more to ship your dog by air, if there were a special surcharge for animals in transit,
shipping them would be safer. In our own case we never flew our animals—not once—we always used a well air-conditioned station
wagon or van. The roof rack handled a large wire pen (broken down for shipping) that we could set up in the shade outside
the wagon, in which our dogs could enjoy the passing parade. As the sun moved, so did the pen. The dogs were always secure,
so we felt secure. The only problem was with our beloved, incredible Yankee, the giant Bloodhound. He was fine with other
dogs passing by and doing a little sniffing near his turf—unless it was a Standard Poodle. Then Yankee would become so profoundly
agitated and noisy that one of us had to go into the pen with him and get him to settle down. There was something about that
“look” that really offended him. I don’t know that he would have harmed another dog if he had the chance, but we decided not
to find out. That’s what it is like at the dog show. The exhibitors, judges, stewards, handlers—and the dogs as well—are all
personalities unto themselves. They are expected to be.

Chapter 8

Kids, Too

W
hen the happy day comes and a dog is welcomed into the human family pack or circle, there should be something in the arrangement
for everyone. In the case of show-quality dogs, for the younger human members, besides companionship and learning firsthand
about responsibility, there is a highly competitive sport called Junior Showmanship. The competition is judged solely on the
ability and skill of the juniors in handling their dogs, just as they would in the breed ring in a regular conformation show.
Having a family interest or hobby in which kids can participate as well as adults is obviously an enormously healthy thing.

In this special competition the show qualities of the dog are not even to be considered, so say the rules. Certainly, however,
a beautifully groomed dog with a solid show background and in excellent condition, including psychological motivation, is
going to make the youngster who is showing it look a whole lot better than a combination of lesser elements. Kids who do go
into Junior Showmanship and stay with it are likely to be involved with dogs as a lifelong enthusiasm. The best of the best,
at least many of them, began this way. In the final analysis, it is a lot cheaper than booze, drugs, and psychiatry. How does
it work?

The classes and divisions of junior showmanship are Novice, boys and girls who are at least ten years old and under eighteen
on the day of the show who have not yet won three first-place awards; Open, same age group but the junior shall have won three
first-place awards; Junior and Senior classes: when there is an age split into two divisions, ten to fourteen and over fourteen
to eighteen. Best Junior Handler is a prize not always given, but if it is, the prize must be announced in the premium list
in advance of the show.

The dogs in junior showmanship must be registered with the AKC and very often are retired show dogs with lots of savvy and
plenty of spunk and energy left, making them still highly competitive. The dogs used by the kids can be entered for junior
showmanship only or may also be showing in conformation or obedience at the same show. The dog must be owned by the participant
or a member of the youngster’s immediate family or household and be so registered.

The ribbons offered in the junior showmanship classes are: first, rose; second, brown; third, light green; fourth, gray; and
if Best Junior Handler is offered, the ribbon is rose and green. The intensity and professionalism shown by the kids and the
dogs in these competitions is remarkable and inspiring. They are both serious about the competition and deeply committed to
the concept of winning. They are dog people with no reserves, and people dogs. They care. No quarterback, center, or shortstop
was ever more serious. The ribbons are treasured possessions.

The purpose behind the dog show itself, as we have noted, is to select the best examples of each breed whose genes should
be brought forward in a carefully planned breeding program. The purpose behind junior showmanship is no less precise. It is
to assure the future of the sport and of fine dogs. To begin showing your dogs as an adult is just fine. On the other hand,
if you come into it when you are ten or eleven years old, to be judged on your own skill and not the dog’s degree of perfection,
is an added dimension. Handlers, judges, breeders, exhibitors, experienced family members, are all anxious to help the juniors
develop their skills. It is an important part of the wonderful world of dogs. In no small way it is the future of the whole
grand affair.

The world of show-quality purebred dogs and their future is summed up for me in one image: I remember two kids, about fifteen,
doing their homework together in the benching area. They were apparently good friends outside the show ring. Their dogs, one
a Gordon Setter and the other a Cocker Spaniel, were lying on either side of them, heads on the appropriate lap. The kids
were working away, apparently on their schoolwork, and petting their dogs at the same time. It was a pretty picture. Everything
was in balance.

Parenthetically, the young participants in these competitions are usually delighted to learn one ruling the AKC passes down
to all judges they will face: Under no circumstances should questions be used as a means of testing a junior’s knowledge.
It is one thing to memorize a sheet of wisdom and parrot it back and quite another to perform with your dog in front of a
very critical audience. The only form of competition that I know of where you can win with words is a spelling bee. You can’t
take either an oral or a written exam to become MVP.

Chapter 9

Details

Worth

Noting

T
he Hound Group we outlined earlier in this book noted only one real Coonhound, the Black-and-Tan, that is recognized for
conformation championship points under AKC regulations. It has been a registered breed with the AKC for years. It is one of
many breeds descended from the far more ancient Bloodhound.

There are five other Coonhounds popular in the American South today that almost certainly will be registered by the AKC and
shown in this country under their aegis eventually. One of them is the Plott Hound, which has already been approved and joined
the Hound Group in the year 2000. Following the Plott Hound, someday, will be the Blue Tick Coonhound, American English Coonhound,
Treeing Walker Coonhound, and Redbone Coonhound. As you explore the world of dogs, it is interesting to see how breeds emerge
from cultures and then pass on their genes to more new breeds as they evolve. It has taken at least 150 to 200 centuries of
the process to get us and the Coonhounds to where we are. It is about to happen.

As a matter of fact, as you explore the dog world, you will find discreet groups with at least some common ancestry, like
the Coonhounds, that invite further exploration. As they wend their way through our history and aesthetics, you will see how
the complexities are endless and the ramifications also beyond counting.

The matter of performance life span is of particular importance to people who really like large dogs. Our Bloodhounds fell
into that category, and we are well aware of the heartbreak dog lovers must suffer. Every dog or cat we get is a tragedy waiting
to happen to us eventually. In the case of the giants, it all comes to an end too soon.

Any dog of the Mastiff line is likely to be relatively short-lived. That includes (but not exclusively) the Great Dane, Newfoundland,
Great Pyrenees, Saint Bernard, Bernese Mountain Dog, Mastiff, Bullmastiff, Bulldog, as well as the Bloodhound, Komondor, Borzoi,
Irish Wolfhound, and Rottweiler. That Irish Wolfhound, for example, may not be fully mature until he is four or even five
years old, but he may have pretty much lived out his life by the time he is seven or eight. For comparison, very much smaller
dogs like the Schipperke and Pomeranian regularly live twelve to sixteen years or more. I have known of Schipperkes and Lhasa
Apsos who passed their twentieth birthdays. A Jack Russell Terrier that we placed in a wonderful home (she had to have a wonderful
home because she was born stone deaf and yet earned an obedience title) celebrated her nineteenth birthday before she began
really going downhill.