[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: showgsd-l Digest V3 #801
- From: Santanagsd1954@xxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 13:40:42 EST
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Msg: #1 in digest
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:59:47 -0500
From: Peggy <pmick@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Great ALL Breed Dogs
Nah...I can't buy that. There are very, very few great dogs in any
individual's lifetime. That's not to say that there aren't dogs with
great show records...that's the handling part (and these days, the money
part)...a lot of big winners are really mediocre animals.
Great dogs are recognized by the fancy...and they can change the
breed...if they are truly great, they could be handled by the kid down
the block.
With good management and a lot of influence over a number of people,
the money for a lot of advertising, and a certain amount of
salesmanship, an average to good or very good dog can become a famous
one with a great record...as a show dog or as a producer. Would that
dog have done that winning or that producing without the management,
etc....that's a test of whether a dog is a great one.
Great ones come along very seldom. Tossing out the names of dogs
that may have been good, even excellent, doesn't make them great. There
are people who have been in dogs for 40 or 50 years who have never seen
a truly great dog with their own eyes. There are also a lot of people
who wouldn't know a great one if it bit them in the butt. It remains to
be seen whether there are any great dogs amongst those whose names have
been bandied about here.
Lance was a great dog..he changed the breed.
The Golden Retriever, Goldrush Charlie, was a great dog for the same
reason. To be sure, there were problems he brought, but he did
standardize the breed...especially in the areas of head and size; he
also had an impact on fronts in the breed (some would say not for the
better), --and there are a lot of people who knew Charlie who today
couldn't tell you who the handler was.
The Smooth Fox Terrier, Ttarb the Brat, was a great one...in spite
of great oppositon from the most well known and respected people in the
breed, breeders wanted their dogs to look like the Brat and so they used
him. No one promoted him as a stud dog...people sought him out...and he
changed the breed (for the better, I think).
Yes, people knew Brat's handler... a lot of people didn't like him
then and a lot still don't...but breeders saw that dog and wanted dogs
just like him..so they bred to him. He was extremely prepotent...it was
lovely to see how quickly his descendants rose to the top. Of course,
just as with Lance and Charlie, not everything from the Brat was
wonderful...but the bloodline is recognizable, and people in the breed
like it.
So there are three...and while I don't remember whether there was
the level of management involved with Lance as there was in more recent
dogs...I do remember everyone I knew going ga-ga about the dog without
ever speaking to another person. I don't remember who handled
Charlie...I think it was his breeder...but I know the Golden breeders
couldn't get bitches to the dog fast enough.
There is no doubt at all that these dogs changed their breeds
forever...the entire "look" of those breeds changed, just as the GSD
breed changed after people saw Lance and that extreme gait.
Great ones are not nearly so controversial as some of the dogs
people have named here on the list are...if they are really great, they
are pretty much universally recognized as such without any promoting,
any pushing, and without tons of advertising.
Handlers can help make a big show record, especially in this day and
age, but with a really great one, as I said, you could have had the kid
down the block hold the lead...people find them without a face or name
on the end of the lead......
Peggy
I agree with Peggy.. as much of my Breed Perspective comes from having
admired and owned and studied and learned about other Breeds and learning of
the
Legends in those Breeds, as well as German Shepherds.
.I have never forgotten the thrill of visiting Kay Finch and seeing her
Great Afghan Ch. Crown Crest Mr. Universe literally floating across her
yard... and coming home with a daughter of his...I still remember stopping in
my
tracks when I first saw the Great Samoyed Ch. Yurok of Whitecliff.. and The
Great Boxer Ch. Evo-Wen's Impressario and I could on forever with the Great and
Beautiful Dogs who were so outstanding in every way , I have had the fantastic
privilige of seeing, they just made your stop and catch your breath. Not a
mediocre one in that rare Company of truly Great Ones... Some dogs achieve
their greatness as producers and some as Winners and some , rare ones, do
both.But make no mistake, the truly GREAT ONES achieve that status by being so
far
and above the maddening crowd, that they breathe Rare Air...
As the prestigious Shepherd Specialist Judge Reginald Cleveland said about
our Beloved Ch. Von Schrief's Portrait ROM, when he gave her BOB over 126
Top Competitive Shepherds that day on Her way to the Santa Barbara Best In
Show. 'One's Like this, Come along only once in a Lifetime, and only then if we
are very, very fortunate. She is a REAL ONE!!!"..
She attained her ROM going over her own Dam on points, and set the 'easily
recognizable strain within the Breed , for the Santana Shepherd', easily
recognized by all...' She proved her Greatness in the whelping box as well as
the
Show Ring...
That Day, She also competed in the huge and Formidable WORKING GROUP long
before the Herding Group was devised... and in doing so, competed againest
and , in that Group, the Great Boxer, who had been BIS there the year before,
Ch. Evo-Wen's Impressario handled by the Fabulous Handler Harry Sangster, a
Legend himself, .
"Portrait," who had accomplished more than we could ever have dreamed of,
being a young couple of hard-working, average people with no financial
back-up, and a couple of growing Kids..when She went Best in Show at Santa
Barbara
KC then the largest One Day Show in the USA and referred to as the West
Coast Westminster..). Handled by Bill Hixson and Doyle, it took two then to
run
them for the time required, and Bill never charged us a dime to handle her.
He planned vacations so he could show "Portrait ", and always paid his
own way to the shows, which we always drove to, even once across the USA , to
a National...because we would not risk ever putting her on an airplane for our
convenience...
Bill always said, 'I'll never have a chance to even see one again, like
her, money isn't even a consideration... It has been my great honor and
privilige to have her on the end of a lead'... He carried her picture in his
wallet
all his life..
None of us four, Portrait, Doyle, Bill or Me, could ever have done it
without each other. .. A true labor of true Love...shared by all of us..
.I didn't mean to go on so long... But Peggy is right.."The Truly Great
Ones," need only a large ring and they could go in with even an unknown
Handler, and still win all by themselves...
The Truly Great's of any Breed, will stop any real Dog Lover in their
tracks, just seeing them in the flesh....and send shivers down their
spines....Barb Williams
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