Take a moment and ask yourself this question in relation to your dogs: What things would you still do if no one was watching? Would you have gotten a dog from a breeder instead of a shelter if you could never tell anyone it was a “rescue” instead of a purchase? Or the other way around if you could never claim your dog as a purebred with a pedigree. Would you bother to take your dogs to dog shows and compete for ribbons if you could never be praised for doing so or criticized for not doing so?
What if it was all anonymous? What if you couldn’t plaster your smugness on the bumper of your car?
Now ask yourself why you still do things for the supposed benefit of other people.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
– Gospel of Matthew 6:1-6
I don’t believe that many people would show dogs (not many do anymore anyway, and the number is dropping) if it weren’t a supposed requirement to distinguish the quality of your breeding stock or to separate yourself as a “hobby breeder” instead of a “backyard breeder.” Nor do I believe that the innate joy in moving stock on a trial course is sufficient motivation if it weren’t a public display of skill and a competition against other handlers for all to see. If you only cared about results and not accolades or public acknowledgment, you could stay home and make your assessments in private. Any judge that is qualified to assess your skills in front of hundreds of people (but most importantly your peers) is equally capable of doing the same out of the public eye and in your own backyard instead of half way across the country.
And yet sheeple and canine hairdressers alike pack their cars and drive thousands of miles and pay entry fees to put on the dog in front of their peers just to be judged and then complain about being judged. Most of them don’t even own sheep, or if they do it’s for the express purpose of practicing for the competition.
People who feed raw post photos of their dog’s food bowls every day online like foodie hipsters do on Instagram. Cooked or raw, no one wants to see that. I mean, what’s next, AFTER photos? Dog people talk enough about dog poop, we don’t need a photo diary of it too.
People who shoot, dig, search, or hunt over their dogs are sure to update us every time they set foot out their front door. In case you forgot that they shoot, dig, search, or hunt. But you can never forget because they won’t let you. They’d disappear if you forgot the myth they’re tying to sell you, like Narnia.
And don’t get me started on the people who document their pet’s ongoing illness with histrionic prose worthy of a warzone. Oh the humanity! (Send money). My dog is suffering! I’m totally trying to get a book deal out of this.
And of course, we’ve all met the people who “rescued” their ill-behaved and decidedly non-rehabilitated mutt and uses their past “abuse” as an excuse for every problem with their dog, most of which are not actually problems with the dog but with the idiot holding the leash. What would they say if they couldn’t use their dog as an excuse? The truth maybe?
It’s not enough to consume, you must be seen consuming. And it’s not enough to be seen, you must be judged superior. Thus all the endless social positioning and bizarre value judgements that go along with how you consume in relation to how others consume.
And of course I recognize the irony in telling you this on my own little soap box. LISTEN TO ME, WHAT I SAY IS IMPORTANT. AGREE!
But there is a difference. I know that I would do much the same thing with my dogs, day in and out, even if no one took notice. I don’t value my dogs because you value them. I don’t need your approval and frankly most of what I say is a direct insult to those who play that game. It would be much easier to stay quiet than to invoke the wrath of the dog snobs. I don’t post a great deal of autobiography, rather I try to post arguments. And this is not conspicuous consumption, it’s conspicuous thought. And I don’t so much ask for your agreement as I ask you to provide a better argument if you have one.
I’d always think the same things if no one challenged them, because it’s very hard to change a belief if it’s never challenged by another belief or a run-in with reality. There’s value confrontation, very little in conformation.
You can try to live your life for other people, but that’s never a recipe for success. And it’s quite possibly the root of many problems in dog culture. Mindless following of traditions that aren’t really that old or storied. Mindless aping of behaviors that are harmful and unproductive simply because a mentor does them. Repeating the cycle of stupidity, never asking if there’s any evidence that this is working or not, never any real accountability save to the cultural wardens. The dogs don’t get any better, they just get worse and soon enough there’s no one left around who even remembers how much better it used to be.
Novices to the sport of dogs often have no problems asking these questions, but they are pounced on like a fallen Piñata at a birthday party. First you violate their integrity then you beat them senseless with blinkered flailing, and lastly you rob them of their virtues. Group-think and religious fanaticism wipes out any trace of innovation or dissent, even when it’s well-intentioned. And so not only are the new and different made to think and act like the old conformists, they’re taught the culture of conformity and public reinforcement of the ritual.
Would you still do the same things with your dogs if it meant confrontation instead of conformity? Or just simply anonymity? Why?
If more people simply stopped and asked why they do what they do, we wouldn’t have the problems we do in dogs.
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Actually I have & will continue to do the things I do with my dogs whether anyone else cares or not. I do like to compete but I like training just as much. I have trialed my dogs in herding – alas & alack, not BCs but Belgian Tervurens but we also do chores together. We also track, do rally, agility & obedience, mess around with other sports & even, gasp! sometimes do conformation. I consider myself fortunate to have great dogs who share my life.
You rant more than I do, lately.
I have documented illnesses in my dogs on my blog. Because the information may help others. I still get hits on some of my posts about Zora, from people looking up the drugs she was on.
“Would you still do the same things with your dogs if it meant confrontation instead of conformity? Or just simply anonymity? Why?”
I don’t know how to answer this question. I get plenty of confrontation, so much that have begun blocking people on Facebook, the serial liars and hypocrites, because I just can’t waste my time any more refuting their garbage, and I can’t waste energy on it. I began blogging to make people step away from their assumptions. It doesn’t work. Most people don’t want to think that much. That’s why I don’t blog that much any more.
You cannot be anonymous in my breeds. The dogs have to come from somewhere, and the communities are pretty small.
I would be doing the same thing with my dogs no matter what.
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Heh, I was puzzled for a minute why you mentioned that you write about your sick dogs. Then I reread my post and it clicked.
What I’m shaking my stick at is not autobiography, or even journal style bloggers. And the sort of posts you do on your own dogs’ health are not at all what I’m criticizing. Thus it didn’t click.
I’m referring specifically to the people who have Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy levels of their ego invested in their dog being ill, and who might actually value their dogs more in that state and who might not actually wish for a healthy animal. Because that would mean they couldn’t drama whore every symptom out to the world for sympathy.
You know exactly who I’m talking about and it isn’t you.
this is just a check
now i have forgotten what i said since i was in a “discussion” about my male’s kosher brother and sister-in-law visiting…same fucking thing as breeder discussions…bahhhhhhh.
Hahah! How about “I hate spam filters that mess up my perfectly worded comments!”
“Would you have gotten a dog from a breeder instead of a shelter if you could never tell anyone it was a “rescue” instead of a purchase?”
No… Your assumptions about people’s motivations are naive, insulting and grossly generalising stereotypes.
Grossly Generalized Stereotypes… why, that’s a perfect description for what a purebred dog is. It’s also a good description for show culture, rescue culture, etc. Do you think by merely writing the word stereotype you’ve disproven something? Please, the sum of all stereotypes is culture! And the various dog groups absolutely have a defined culture.
And I’m not making any assumptions about their actions, assumptions are assertions without evidence. I’m looking at behavior and behavior is evidence. And I’m laying down no declarations of conclusions based on proof, I’m asking a question.
And I don’t care if you think it’s insulting. One would only feel insulted if you were so arrogant and self satisfied as to believe your actions above questioning, above reproach. So if you’re insulted, it’s proof positive that you ARE, in fact, concerned about how your behavior is being VIEWED by others. And that’s the entire point of the questions. What would you do if your “good works” weren’t also advertisements for your feelings of moral superiority?
To the question: “What things would you still do if no one was watching?”
There’s a poll going on the Australian Purebred Dog Forum (http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/255332-dogs-as-bedfellows/) about what may be the least watched part of dog ownership . . . bed-sharing. I find it lovely to think about all these people putting up with bed hogs who steal the pillow, fart, snore, scratch, leave chewed up presents in the bed, and on and on…many of them competitive purebred owners.
Yes there are things people do for show (including showing and rescue work). But this usually goes along with a genuine love of the dog as company.
This post came from a vocal greyhound rescuer: “XXX does it all. Burps, farts, groans, grumbles, sighs, kicks me, walks on me, walks on YYY if she dares to get into bed first and take his spot until she moves, scratches his ears with his back kangaroo feet whilst groaning loudly the whole time, spoons even when it’s stinking hot and eventually takes all of the pillows even though he has his own.
YYY sleeps at the end of the bed after doing about 300 circles with the occassional dig in between and then curls up with her metre and a half stuffed crocodile and sleeps like a log.”
Well, I hadn’t considered people who only HAVE a dog to fit someone else’s idea of conformity. I guess those people are out there, but I can’t imagine they read dog blogs.
But I do not think that mere love of dogs is enough to explain the behavior I see. Even after we account for “I love dogs” there is the CHOICE of what dog you’re going to get. And this is absolutely dripping in social signaling to other people. It’s like saying that most people own a car because they need to get around. Well, a jalopy and a limo can both get you around, but the selection of what that car is can have huge social signaling components. Like the people who buy the Lexus instead of the Toyota which is exactly the same car save a little fruit salad. The people who buy an imported Land Rover instead of a domestic Jeep. Twice the cost, half the performance.
Well, people make the same social signaling with dogs. And I think a lot of it has much less to do with the merits of the animals and much more with the STORY you get to tell your peers. Moral superiority, genetic superiority, performance superiority, historical superiority, etc. etc. etc.
This is terrific! I’ve had many people push me to enter my dog in competitions, get a ULP# to participate in AKC sports, more. Even our little local dog park “olympics” which is just supposed to be fun for people and their pets, gets some people into competitive and obnoxious, micro-political psychoses! The trainer who started the whole fun thing has been whispered to deliberately set up ridiculous obstacles only HE can know about in advance, so his S&R trained Giant Schnauzer can be the one to win; they having advanced knowledge of the course ( and why IS he entering his own dog anyway?).
I am considering entering him in a nose work title competition but hey, he’s MY “little man” and I think he’s just wonderful, and my biggest hubris at most is my thought that “Hey! He deserves a little ribbon or whatever too!” But dang, I really don’t care who’s watching. If anything, few people are allowed to see these events and the ORT test was just us and the judges. I don’t think they even allow friends and family to watch!
And if he never gets titled, no biggie. No one tells us our value and worth. Tucker is the grand champion in my eyes. What more does one need? We can play sniffing games to our heart’s content anywhere. Most of our practice is by ourselves. Occasional crowds are only sought out so working near them is not a shock.
Agility classes had to be halted due to credit card debt I want to pay off. But you can play frisbee anywhere, anytime, no crowds, big equipment or audiences necessary. And it’s his favorite game anyway.
BTW, this isn’t exactly what you were talking about, directly, but as long as you’re on the topic of smugness, I was watching the AKC “Master’s agility” with my mom and our favorites were the slower dogs who ran clean. There was such a variety though, compared to what you usually see at the “best of the best” levels that I couldn’t help wonder if the AKC cherry-picked the entrants to push some fake image of their “inclusivity.”
“Mutts” are now known as “All Americans.” This was mentioned several times. I guess “Mutt” is the new N-word?! Does that make “mongrel” the equivalent of “Colored”, “mixed breed” the new “black” and “All American” the new “African American?” And if we have to make this much of a deal about the name, what does that say about the self-consciousness of the AKC that these dogs are “Not the norm for us.”
Unless some of the mutts called and complained about feeling they were being given a derogatory term in this day and age.
There was even a separate prize for an “All American” that won the 24″ class. Oh, gee! How KIND of them. Not even a runner up prize like any other dog might get in conformation or something? How sweet, to make a big self-conscious deal of the fact that “Yes, we ARE allowing those OTHER dogs to come in. Aren’t we just the greatest?”
Sorry AKC, but you don’t get to pat yourselves on the back and golf-clap amongst your constituency for being “inclusive” if you say it 50 thousand times, revealing that you know full well about your own snobbery. You were the institution that made exclusion a mainstream thing in the first place.
FYI, Westminster Agility entries were done random draw. I know a few people who got in who pulled because they didn’t want to make the drive. The only requirement to enter was that your dog be at the Excellent/Masters level. It was more like a typical weekend at a local trial, not a national championship. For good or ill, the participants at AKC trials are SIGNIFICANTLY more diverse than the participants at your average USDAA trial (can’t speak for CPE as I don’t do that venue). I just got back from an AKC Agility trial, and off the top of my head (besides the usual suspects–Border Collies, Shelties, Papillons) we had in attendance Chihuahuas, Bassets, Pomeranians, various permutations of JRTs, Bedlington Terriers, a Mudi, an Italian Greyhound, Vizslas, Goldens, Weimaraners, GSDs, a Kelpie or mix who looked like a Kelpie with one eye, Labs, Chinese Cresteds, an Ibizan Hound, Beagles, Belgian Sheepdogs/Tervs, Pyrenean Shepherds, a Pug, Airedales, American Eskimos, a Portuguese Podengo Pequeno, Australian Shepherds, Dobermans, Corgis, and mixed breeds in every height division.
AKC has allowed mixed breeds for a couple of years now, LIKELY because they can get registration income from it and because there was increasing grumbling from AKC Agility participants who felt it was unfair that AKC did not allow mixes to compete–particularly since they always did anyway, ILP’d (now PAL) as one breed or another. The Agility venues that have always allowed mixed breeds to enter have been shrinking lately and looking for ways to expand their entries–unfortunately, they tend to be a little bit tone deaf WRT what their participants actually want and how to attract more participants.
AKC has copied USDAA with the “all-American” stuff. That’s what USDAA has always called registered mixes (unless they are “all-Canadian”).
By the way, the 24-inch winner at the Westminster Agility trial also won 2013 AKC Nationals. AKC requires that participants jump their measured height (except 26″ jumpers) at Nationals as of this past year, which was kind of nice as it meant that true 24-inch dogs competed against each other and the height division did not fill up with 20-inch jumping Border Collies.
Sure, I would do what I do if nobody was watching. Half the time I am hoping nobody IS watching!
Right now I have 3 Shelties from the same breeder, an IG from a breeder, and an IG from rescue. And I say “from rescue”, not “rescued” because she was pulled from the shelter at 8 weeks by IG rescue and never needed to be rescued FROM anything. Because IGs are often hard to housebreak and have other idiosyncrasies that it helps if people are aware of, rescue tries to pull them from shelters if they can, and if the shelter wants to place the dog themselves, rescue offers support information that can be passed on to the new owners–more than once, rescue has ended up with a dog they had offered to take from a shelter (which the shelter decided to place themselves) after the new owners found an IG to be not quite what they had expected.
ANYWAY, I don’t tell people she is from rescue unless they ask where I got her (which people do, as she is turning in to quite a nice little Agility dog).
Your statement that your dogs never had to be rescued FROM anything resonates with me.
People ask me where my dog came from. I will start on the story about he was on a farm and was not keen on sheep and I will get interuppted at about this point with “Oh! So he was a rescue?”
I guess they expect bad news after hearing he wasn’t doing his intended line of work? But anyway, I respond with either a simple “No” or “No, he was never in any danger.”
See, you nailed it on the head. To me, “rescue” implies the dog’s life was in danger and needs to be saved FROM that danger. Anything else is more like an “adoption” or simply “I took him home.”
One friend of my mother’s wanted to get me an “I adopted my dog” magnet. I said no thanks. Another friend of mine, who tells me she does not like the purebred dog set but is kind enough to at least not get into it, gives me all sorts of rescue car magnets too.
I don’t wish to poo-poo on a well intended gift, but I never post these magnets on my car. To me it’s displaying some sort of moral superiority and that embarasses me.
Said friend who is not into purebreds also adopted her dog from North Shore Animal League on a mostly emotional basis. Dog had many many issues and I am glad she stuck to her guns as an owner and kept her. She has been rather responsible and enduring, I will say. So I don’t dump all over her with reports on how much $$ the NSAL head is reputed to make, or that they may not kill but have transported animals in their history to the animal control centers of NYC to BE killed, while cherry-picking more “adoptable” candidates for their shelter.
Nor will I remind her that a friend of ours who did buy his dog, a labrador, has had far fewer problems to deal with in the long run. He knew what he wanted and he got it. A congenial, loyal animal that he has had registered with Therapy Dogs International and that everybody loves.
I also had a “non-rescue” dog, a collie named Bonnie. She was born without eyes, and at first I said I’d take her because I felt sorry for her (her breeder had posted the puppy’s situation on Collie-L). My previous dog had just died, and I wasn’t *quite* ready for another collie, but serendipity.
If ever there was a dog you couldn’t feel sorry for very long, it was Bonnie. Sure, she fell down sometimes, or smacked into furniture/people/dogs, but she’d bounce right back with a goofy dog-smile. I was often asked if she was a rescue, and honestly she was not. The breeder gave her to me for free – some people on the Collie-L had advised her to euthanize, but she didn’t want to and wasn’t planning to.
I did compete with Bonnie, although I didn’t tell people she was blind unless they asked. Since her face was black (and collies have small eyes anyway) it wasn’t always obvious. She did walk a little crooked and held her head to the side, so it just looked like she was a little “special”. She actually earned her CS (Carting Started) with the judge not even realizing it.
We did earn some titles and such, but it was all for fun. Bonnie liked to learn tricks, she liked to travel, and she especially liked being in crowds of people.
I can’t think of anything I’d do differently. I chose to get a puppy from a “no-kill” shelter because I didn’t trust the health of breeder’s dogs, wanted to support an organization that would use my money to save another dog (instead of giving it to, say, someone’s an oops-puppy), and specifically wanted a mutt. I wasn’t particularly anti-breeder at the time, except for the hate of inbreeding, so picking out my first puppy wasn’t really a statement. I lied on the shelter app and lied to my landlord to get the puppy I wanted, too, so nothing to brag about there. We did agility for fun, not for ribbons, and I was repeatedly complimented on my calm demeanor when training: I had no ego involved when competing Zelda.
I even got into animal rescue without any ego: I just got so mad that there are perfectly good dogs in my community getting killed because people are lazy. Really, that’s it. If I was in it for ego, I’m out of luck, because on balance I piss off more people and/or are ignored/insulted by more people than there are people singing my praises.
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I think it is a very good exercise to think about the reason behind your actions, always. It is amazing how many people cannot answer such questions, that is a big reason why therapy exists.
I would never change a thing I do to my dogs because of public opinion, although I know that a lot of what I do with them was and still is motivated by social reinforcement. I train agility so there is no going around that one.
I started training tricks and agility because of how special it made the connection with my dog look and people would praise me for it. But I’m a very lucky individual and got the worst possible dog for that job. Turns out he taught me what deep connection really is, no need for being a show off.
I still compete and love agility, just as much as I love doing things that were never reinforced by anyone but my own dogs. And I do not condemn social reinforced behaviors because we are social animals afterall. But I also disprove of people that are not able to answer these questions and that refuse to see or think upon arguments in order to avoid such answers and reality. It is important to know when we are doing things to others that are more for ourselves. It just keeps you safe from being a jerk.
HECK yes I would still do it!
The only person I’ve known who always seemed to insert in our conversations that all her animals were “rescues” was a known animal hoarder. A warning bell rings in my head when I hear someone tell my their animal is “a rescue”, as obviously I am supposed to think better of that person–so I start wondering if that person probably has some shortcomings to hide.This has been the case in my personal experience.
Besides, if we procure an animal from someone who doesn’t want it, isn’t that a “rescue”–even if the animal is bred to a standard and sold for a high price? Otherwise, the animal would be in a situation where they were unwanted. All our animals are rescues, really, unless we’ve had them bred specifically for us.
I think being humble is just against human nature.
However, I don’t think necessarily that people “flaunt” having a rescue because they’re feeding their ego, or at least not everyone does (I know there are people who do, and they are very sick). I have 6 cats with me currently which I rescued from feral colonies, do I take pride in this? Yes, because their owners wanted them to starve to death, I did the right thing by taking them in and feeding them, but this isn’t why I advertise them as “feral colony rescues”, I do this so people know how big of a problem feral cat colonies are and to educate them on what selfish greedy neglectful farmers/ranchers do to their “livestock”, though it isn’t always farmers, the first cats I rescued were dumped off at a farm house and started breeding like rabbits because they were fed and watered properly, the people at fault in their case were irresponsible and neglectful pet owners who didn’t want to stick their animals in a shelter (for this reason, I am glad that shelters sometimes put down animals and am glad for their existence, because the alternative is far worse!) but the recent litter I rescued from a dairy I was working at and the owner treated her cats just as well as she treated her livestock AND employees.
Anyway would I still rescue kittens from feral cat colonies if I couldn’t tell anyone that they were feral cat colony rescues? Absolutely. Would I still rescue them if they were from irresponsible cat owners who don’t know the meaning of the words “spay and neuter”, instead of feral cat colonies? No. Not unless they were being neglectful. I like to see the owners squirm from all the hungry mouths to feed and panic a little first, maybe they’ll learn their lesson that way.
Now would I still compete if I couldn’t prove that my animal was all that and a bag of chips? Well, I would, for fun. It would certainly be far more relaxing and rather nice actually…. Someone should do this, non-competitive sports, lol. The competition becomes like crack I think, from the adrenaline rush of winning or competing, having people look up to you and knowing you’re the “best”, and because of that some people become obsessed with it.
Ever heard of the Skinners Box? It’s a lot like positive reinforcement/classical conditioning/pavlov’s dogs, getting someone or something to do something repetitive for a reward, but there isn’t necessarily always a positive reward or a reward at all. The skinners box is used most to refer to video games and the like (of which I’m quite a fan of), a popular topic is how do we break out of the box, but anyway, I think dog showing and anything competitive is a skinners box, why do we show and compete with our animals? Because it’s rewarding and stimulating for us, even though we may fail, the thought of succeeding drives us, and when we do succeed we reach the ultimate high.
But, who is to say, that this is wrong? Life itself, if you think about it, is a skinners box, for example, you start out working on the low end of the totem pole, you have your ups and downs and maybe even pitfalls, but you climb back out, you get some seniority and maybe start living the high life (reward, or the alternative is you have a midlife crisis, negative “reward”), and the ultimate reward is retiring and hopefully having a nice bundle of cash to sit on. I think this is where that saying that goes something like “too much of anything isn’t always good” comes in.
Sure you can play with the skinners box but don’t become obsessed with it or think that you are going to have a positive outcome all the time. This is perhaps the biggest problem in dog breeding, everyone wants to be perfect, but the facts are being perfect is impossible. You are going to get defects (particularly when your dogs are as inbred as they are), you are going to lose competitions, you are going to have puppies sent back, etc. It all then boils down to mentality. I think once you become aware of what is really going on (your paradise of perfection doesn’t exist or wasn’t what you thought it was and you need to get off your high horse), it’s easier to take a step back and get a grasp on it, but this has yet to happen.
I’m also amazed that they are still using “hobby = reputable”. When I first heard the word “hobby breeder” I thought it was silly, and I still do feel that way. YEAH I BREED DOGS AS A HOBBY, IT’S JUST LIKE COLLECTING ROCKS AND STAMPS AND LEAVES. It’s just not that simple. It also reminds me of the “If you’re not making a profit then you’re a reputable breeder” faux pas. There needs to be a list somewhere of all of the bullcrap sayings of what a reputable breeder is believed to be and what a backyard breeder is believed to be.
I am knee-deep in the “rescue world” and I see people who adopt/foster/pull dogs from kill shelters for their ego. Or at least, ego is a large part. Many people I know and work with would not be as active in rescue if they didn’t get any bragging rights, I guarantee it. That’s just the way it is, and it’s not necessarily BAD. I will HAPPILY adopt out a hard-to-place dog to rich people who want bragging rights, because in the end, ego is HELPING dogs get good homes.
Being humble is knowing what you’re good at 😉
Being humble is knowing when to shut your mouth and listen and realize there is a world around you that can easily survive without your participation.
I think the person initiating this blog has had too many “self esteem” classes and need to take some “being humble” classes.
You’re doing a horrible job of being humble then, because we can get along without your participation. Hah!
Somebody puts out a public blog that allows comments, they should expect responses. All my blogs allow comments. If they don’t want comments, then don’t allow them on the blog. It is very simple.
I allow comments, I also allow myself the freedom to respond to them and criticize them. Perhaps you need to review the comment policy though.
Maybe she’s found what she is good at: being rude!
Don’t worry my darling — I know very well that the world will go on quite well without me. I’m well acquainted with death and loss of huge proportions; the inherent knowledge that in the grand scheme of things we account for very little.
I find your comments…deeply amusing — perhaps bemused would be a better term.
In the meantime, congratulations on your success with your dogs and your blogs; I wish you nothing but the best…pity you seem incapable of allowing others the same.
Would I still do the same things? Probably. What I do with my animals, or my kids, is really nobody else’s business — I try to keep up my end of the contract by not abusing or neglecting them, but I don’t need the threat of, deserved, legal punishment to keep me in line for that. Maybe that’s part of it — people are so hung up on making sure everything is safe and secure, and everyone is being “nice” and “doing the right thing” that they’ve turned the world into the nanny boo boo police…and in the process less and less is truly safe, and fewer and fewer people are truly being good?
As I’ve stated before, I’m from the horse world (which is it’s own set of weird, ego driven neurosis) — I’ve had to show because my family was in the business. Showing? Yep, and you’d better do well, because to not do so meant no money for potatoes on the table. “Rescuing” horses…yep (and I will admit that finding something nice that had fallen through the cracks is a very heady experience, and the turn around can be profitable sometimes); although it took a bit different significance back in the day (not so many medals for supreme rescuer of lost equine souls back then).
And my parents/grandparents, bless them, were honest about this — that it really didn’t matter in the important things all that really much; it was for outside consumption…to put potatoes on the table. A necessary pain in the tuckus, while the really tangible things happened at home and were fun…and that the horse show world could be many things, but a true test of how good things and people were was not one of them.
I’ve found that the same applies to dogs (and is one of the reasons, besides not wanting to entangle myself any more than I already do with a bunch of let’s be honest, a bit wacky people, that I don’t really do dog shows, events, whatever).
I’m glad to be free of having to do it — economic downturns can be not all bad sometimes — I’m happier not having to play that game, and I think my kids are the better off for not having been around the biz quite as much. It’s nice to just get to enjoy life at home and leave work at the office…and try to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and not because somebody could give me a medal for it.
Now, do I put up pictures and stories of my dogs and horses? Of course I do! I also put up pictures and stories about my kids and my work, and my hobbies and excursions and thoughts as well. I happen to like them, if nobody else does (we all have a little ego projecting after all). I’d probably be pretty upset if someone decided to blast them (because like my kids, I have a soft spot for my critters) but I’m sure some people snicker at all of these behind my back…that’s their business; I have mine. In the interests of good manners I do my best to never bad mouth an individual’s animals — sometimes I fail, so turn about is fair play.
In the end, I’m not going to hell or getting the keys to the kingdom because of what my dog or horse does at a show, or what their parents did, or for that matter what my kids do (although I’d prefer they weren’t serial killers or some such!), or whether or not I own the nicest car or fanciest bbq set or get my name in the local paper (heed that part) for rescuing pound puppies.
Yes I would. Dog sports (agility and rally and obedience and conformation) are for me and my dog to bond and have a good time. I even got brave enough to try herding on one of the corgis who loved it and wanted more. My dogs like spending time with me – even if it is snuggling on the couch with me.
Interesting points. Yes, I would still have (rescue) dogs. I don’t compete with them anyway except for ‘waggiest tail’ type classes at charity events, and I would continue to take them to training classes for the things that they enjoy ( though I do occasionally use attendance at those classes to defend my training credentials – eg ‘her recall is shaky but at least she’s brilliant at scentwork’). I try hard not to use the ‘rescue’ lament as an excuse for their behaviour, because I don’t want to put other people off rescue. I would certainly still feed them the same food.
The most interesting question for me is would I have kept one of my dogs if nobody was watching. If I hadn’t kept him, he would have been put down. That would have made our lives a hell of a lot easier, and at times I wondered whether it would fairer to him, too. (These days he is a much happier dog, if still hard work to live with.)
…..and if somebody were not allowed to post their own name to anything they wrote, would they still rant and rave on and on, just to hear their own voice and see their own words in print?
What don’t you spend your time doing something worthwhile for this planet instead of indulging yourself in your own narcissistic verbal garbage?
Meh, complain if you’re anonymous, complain if you put your name on your posts. I take it you’re very self righteous about buying your way into heaven by being nice to doggies and letting everyone know about it, then?
Got a problem with self expression?
It’s impossible to have a life and blog at the same time, apparently. Who knew!
However, people who post comments on blogs are always well-adjusted constructive individuals. 😉
The first statement is not correct. I maintain over 15 blogs and run a small business and show five dogs, all Mixed Breeds, in Rally, Obedience, Conformation, Lure Coursing, Racing, Drafting, Carting, Weight Pull, Barnhunt. However, I don’t waste my time watching TV or hanging out with people who are a waste of time, also.
The second statement, also, is not correct. There is a wide variety of people who post on blogs and many are far from well-adjusted.
And yet here you are. LOL.
Do you not consider your post worthy of two minutes of my time?
I consider my post worthy of MY time. I don’t much care how you spend yours, but I can read your comment and you clearly think that this isn’t worth your time or my time, as you said so yourself! But here you are, still spending your time here, apparently indulging yourself in the sort of narcissism you claim I am guilty of.
Translation: I’m a shameless self promoter and ribbon chaser and I want you all to know about all the ribbons I chase and now I’m MAD AS HELL that someone is pointing out my public display of arrogance and self importance!
I promote my dogs and their accomplishments, not myself.
I don’t chase ribbons or titles. They are given to my dogs after working hard. They earn them and are not given them.
Hahahaahah. HAH. Yeah, your dogs have an online ego and understand about ribbons and promoting themselves online. Sorry, but you are not bragging about your dogs, you are bragging THROUGH your dogs. Nothing wrong with that except pretending that you’re being humble while doing so.
To bring you back from your hysterical rant/rave to the original post which I responded to:
“It’s impossible to have a life and blog at the same time, apparently. Who knew”
It is possible to have a life and blog and write and be focused and happy.
Go back to college and take Critical Thinking 101. It will help with the ADD.
Yawn. Not a single one of your comments has risen above an insult. You’ve provided zero critical thinking at all. No arguments. No reasoning. No structure. Just rage. Meh.
Lady, you need to look up the definition of ‘sarcasm’.
And instead of childishly name-calling at people whose blog posts you don’t like, go do something more constructive with your time. Take your own advice.
All the background on genetics and critical, outside-the-box thinking here, and yet you feel the blogger is not focused and happy? Take Critical Thinking 101?
I saw a couple of your blogs. You are so steeped in the sanctioned competitions that you aren’t seeing the point of this, are you? You’re just taking it all personally?
Well, if you really would do this stuff if no one was watching, I don’t think the blogger could have possibly hit a nerve.
If you like what you do, why do you even care so much what this guy is saying?
And if you have that many blogs you ARE promoting yourself! Saying you are promoting your dogs instead, is a dodge. Do you really think your dogs give a crap if they are involved in structured activities with scoring and points? Did they ask you to make all these blogs about them?
Jackie,you do waste your time getting all wound up on blogs though. Personally I think you should watch more telly, have a few beers with some of the people you think are a waste of time, you might surprise yourself.
You got learn to relax, maid.
Hi Christopher,
Good questions. I am competitive, and not sorry about it! I enjoy competing against others, it is my nature. It’s not the external glory, however, it’s internal. I don’t need to hear your praise if I do well. I feel good because I feel that I did well. Some people think “competitive” may as well be a four letter word. Not me. I’m perfectly happy to admit I am. It pushes me forward. Without goals and some external pay off, I may just lay around in my PJs all day.
I own purebred dogs because I am very fussy. I know what I can and cannot live with. I know what I like and I want to have a general idea of what I can expect from my dogs. I do not care if people know what they are (many do not) and I feel no need to tell them. That is not why I have them. In fact, when I first chose my breed, the people around me were horrified. “Why would you get one of THOSE?!?” Uh, because they are awesome!
I show dogs. I love showing my dogs when they love it too. My current show dog is a very nice bitch (IMO, of course) and she has done well for me. She really enjoys it and we work well as a team. I love getting out there and performing with her. When we are “on” it’s just the best feeling. Yes, it’s fun playing with her in the backyard too, but the setting and mood is different and thus not the same. Okay, I will say it: I’m a show off. So what? And you can’t show off to an empty room. And if we win? Well even better! But losing is a more frequent reality. Part of the deal, and that’s okay. I never feel badly when we lose, especially if I know we did our “job” well. I still get to take the best dog home.
My last dog was a lovely boy whom I adore. Conformation-wise he was certainly CH material IMO. But he HATED showing. He was miserable. What’s the point? So, much as it bummed me out to temporarily give up a hobby, we stopped. His temperament is somewhat anxious in general, so he is neutered now. I didn’t do this because we weren’t getting praise or because we were being criticized. I did it because it was the right thing to do for my dog. I probably could have “forced” him to keep showing and maybe he’d have finished. That would have been so selfish.
OTOH, I do Rally and Agility with my girlie dog. She is not a breed that is generally seen in the ring and you will probably never see my breed on the National Agility Team or in the top competitors of the sport. We had no breed representatives at Westminster this year. I compete, again, because I am competitive and because I enjoy setting up new challenges for my dog and myself. We are, in this case, competing against an objective standard and ourselves. I do not do it for the accolades (of which there are few to none) but for the fun we have in training and the feeling of accomplishment when we meet them. We were in our first Agility trial a few months ago and my criteria for success was to have my dog take two obstacles in a row that I asked for. She got 5! Did we Q? No. Was I proud as hell? YES! And you better believe I bragged about it.
Would I have done it if Facebook did not exist? If I could not post cute photos of her in her little jacket waiting between runs? YES, HECK YES!
One _can’t_ compete in the privacy of one’s own backyard, so no, I would not behave exactly as I do if being out, in front of other people, competing against other teams were not an option. Would I still train and do things with my dogs? Of course! They would probably be different. Or, alternatively, if my and my dog’s identities were somehow able to be kept secret during competition and I were not allowed to brag afterward, would I do things the same way? Yes, I would. If my face could be blurred out so no one would know it was me or my dog, I would 100% behave the same way. Because I would still be getting the same internal pay off. I would still be having fun with my dog. And I do think my dog is having fun too. If she weren’t, it would not be worthwhile at all. We are a team and -that- is the ultimate pay off for me.
For some reason by the time I got three quarters of the way through this post, I just couldn’t stand the “self-congratulatory” view point anymore. For somebody to go on and on for multiple paragraphs about their inner feelings, how wonderful their dogs are, how much they adore them and how their dogs bring out such wonderful things, is frightening. I think this person needs to escape their own “wonderful” self and reflect on the real world around them. I couldn’t figure out where the candy store ended and the life began.
You’re hilarious. Clearly I’m a bad writer as you’ve described a person that resembles the actual me not at all. Of course, with your 15 blogs I’m sure you’ve no shortage of self importance.
Not one of the blogs is about myself. Take a look at this one and then see all the blogs on the far right. I have also written two books and I am working on my third.
http://dinostraining.blogspot.com/
You won’t find a single blog or book about myself. See, there are far more interesting subjects than the self. More people should be aware of that.
But by the very creation of these blogs, are you not expressing something inherent in yourself? What your interests and opinions are? I mean, the words on your blogs had to come from someone’s mind — I’m guessing yours — correct?
Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, but then why the panties in a twist over someone else doing it…and putting their own thoughts (in this case about why people do what they do with their dogs) down? Disagreement doesn’t have to wander into the realm of emotional meltdown and shotgun spray attacks after all (which appears to be the case here).
Jackie Phillips, it’s ALL about you. CONSTANT exercise in self-promotion, which I guess you more or less have to do in your business(es). Good luck with that.
Nora, it appears you have not actually read the blog that I posted. I am not sure what you read but I hardly think that a blog about my cat’s life (http://mercurythecat.blogspot.com/); and a blog about the actor William Petersen (http://williampetersenfan.blogspot.com/); and blogs about all the dogs I have shared my life with (http://rowdystraining.blogspot.com/); and a blog about the historical adventure fiction books I have written (http://jackiephillipsauthor.blogspot.com/); and a blog to help people find their lost pets (http://iknowmynameischessie.blogspot.com/); and a blog about conversations between my dogs (http://thedotanddinoshow.blogspot.com/); and a blog have my RV trailer would hardly categorize as blogs focused on myself.
I read it — a few articles at least.
Seems the pronouns “I”, “me”, “mine” were used with a fair amount of regularity (and since dogs don’t type, I’m making the assumption that those pronouns referred to you).
Seriously, nothing but congratulations and good wishes in your endeavors if that’s what you want to do — but it is excessively rude to accuse others of the very things you may be doing yourself, or to put yourself on a pedestal of ego-less perfection (it’s all the dogs…and the cat!) while casting stones at other people who may be doing the very same things (yet are refreshingly honest about it — who at least admits they like winning, no?).
Here’s a hint: they’ll probably not be so consumed by it because they recognize it as their own desires; which is fine, as long as you don’t let them own you…and one of the signs that you are is: attributing your own quest for glory as some selfless quest whereby you enable another, in this case your dogs (another one is projecting your own foibles off on other people and closing your ears/mind off to them).
Nora, you clearly did not read the same blogs that I wrote and you clearly misunderstood quite a lot. I suggest you go back and re-read them.
You seem to enjoy interjecting words and thoughts and imagine ideas and intentions and people who are not there. There is a word for that: delusional.
You’re calling Jennifer delusional??!? OMG are you effing kidding me???? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
At least one of the blogs you defended yourself with, is called JACKIE PHILLIPS AUTHOR!!!
My apologies for having the wrong name.
Jennifer, did you actually read the blog and what the books and blogs are about? One is about dogs and one is a historical adventure fiction series based in the 19th Century on the Mexican/Texas border. If you know anything about Search Engine Optimization and how Google works, you have to use common search words. Per many author websites and blogs, their recommendation is to use your name as a search item since people may be searching on your name. It is not an ego thing, as you are clearly misunderstanding. It is a search engine and business thing. I hope that answers your questions. That is one of the many aspects of self-publishing that authors learns.
Please let me know if you have further questions. I would be happy to answer all your questions and concerns.
Don’t blame google search engines Jackie. When one gets to the top of your blog, it’s right there in big bold letters.
“JACKIE PHILLIPS AUTHOR”
Give me an effin break!
And Jennifer is right. The other blogs have “I” and your own thoughts clearly posted.
I shouldn’t let such preposterousness get to me. But every so often I just find it amazing that people so dense even exist. But hey, you came in here all high-and-mighty, being unconstructively critical of another blogger for being brutally honest, so….
Whoa! Dude! Clearly there are some unresolved anger and frustration issues happening on your end. I think you have had way too many cappuccino mochas and you need to decaffeinate. Go have a beer!
Obviously you don’t understand a lot of things and you refuse to open up to new ideas, and my repeated patient attempts to explain them in extreme detail aren’t resolving your obvious issues.
Nobody is blaming anybody or anything, so you can clear that thought from your mind.
Rather than continuing to waste my time, if you have anything constructive or worthwhile to offer to this conversation, you are welcome to add it at anytime. However, you want to continue to attempt to harass and dismiss my comments as false statements, I will no longer respond. I can notice a dead-end person and conversation when I see one.
Please, take your own advice, and read the Comment Policy. You have not risen above name-calling and ad hominems, and I don’t care about your thoughts on tone, so unless you get back on topic and rise to the level of counter-arguments, you’re wasting all of our time. Improve or move along.
I did indeed read your blog — back at the beginning as well as the recent posts. That’s how I caught the usage of the first person pronouns.
Now, to be fair, I really don’t have an issue with a bit of ego-projection — it’s a normal thing, and as long as it doesn’t get out of hand is pretty harmless.
But don’t for a second think that you are above it and not only that but are so pure and unstained that you can go around accusing others of grievous sinning in that regard — which is probably a sign that it’s getting the better of you.
I probably shouldn’t have ranted at you — as it’s trolling — but the flu has gotten to me and made me cranky. And your posts here have reeked with a bit of the “hoooowww daaaare Yoooouuuu!”, which can admittedly be like waving a red flag — I do dare; just watch me!
By the by — don’t feel badly about your dog embarassing you at an obedience training session.
Life is made up of minor and major embarassments, and children and animals are often the vehicles for them; in the end, it helps to cultivate a sense of humor about it…there will always be a newer, more glaring one to take the place of the last.
*and yes, I know I’m misspelling; never could spell that word correctly — which is a bit cringe inducing since I was until quite recently an instructor of composition…oh well.
“For somebody to go on and on for multiple paragraphs about their inner feelings, how wonderful their dogs are, how much they adore them and how their dogs bring out such wonderful things, is frightening.”
So you DO have a problem with self-expression! Oh, why didn’t you just say so?
I mean, gee, you’re right, revealing one’s feelings, revealing adoration for their dogs, that’s so freaking WRONG!
Just some sarcasm there. Recognize it?
She’s already shown she’s tone-deaf to sarcasm, so I doubt it.
This reminds me of reading a story about an Olympic medalist rider, and world renowned trainer, having a conversation with another very renowned rider/trainer who did not compete. They both regarded each other very highly, even though they came from very different philosophies in the horse world.
The non-competitor paid the competitor many compliments on his ability and wondered why he didn’t “come over to the other side”; the competitor, equally appreciative of the other guy and where he came from, very truthfully said: “because I like winning too much”. The non-competitor laughed and said “fair enough”, and encouraged his own students to ride like the competitor and to consider his honesty with himself and his horses, if they chose to compete. He was against competition, but understood that not everyone was like him, and that the best advice to give them was to not let the desire to win, to be perfect “own” you — because then you run the risk of becoming something monstrous…something the competitor had not allowed to happen to him, because he knew that eventually it came down to his ego and that in order to truly be good, a person had to be able to confine one’s ego from getting away with itself — to not let the quest for perfection (and ribbons) become the enemy of the good (his own ethics) — he wrote a book in which he examined this part of himself quite thoroughly and with a refreshing candor and honesty; I always recommend it to other riders.
This is always a hard thing for everyone to do — and this post pretty much sums it up for the dog world…lol…obviously!
I write this because both men were very concerned that in their arena — the horse world — there was a growing drive to create, through breeding and training (from market forces and ego drive to be the “best”), a cookie cutter phenomena for both horses and riders, and what was being lost was a certain individuality, personality, a certain amount of “soul” if you will (and the results in the breeding pen and the training arena are quite sad in my opinion).
In that world it has had some very bad effects, a disaster even — I can see the same thing going on with the world of dogs, and it would be nice if everyone stepped back from it a bit — it’s hard to see the entire kit and kaboodle losing for the sake of winning.
Well, to answer your question I guess I will tell the truth and shame the devil… If no one was watching I would still buy from a breeder. I love my 2 breeds and wouldn’t want a mixed breed ever. I have yet to meet a rescue dog that was actually rescued, and many people here share my viewpoint.
Now, the biggie… I show in the breed ring and I LOVE IT!!! I love the ribbons, I love having champions and I love the attention. Do my dogs love it? IDK, they love attention and being with me but we could be in the park for all they “care”. So if no one were watching I wouldn’t compete because for me there wouldn’t be a point. I would still own my dogs and the rest but run in circles and get ribbons? Nope.
PS I really like this blog even though I will never have the balls to stand up to the dog show culture myself. It makes me think A LOT
Liking the honesty here for sure! 🙂
Interesting flip of this: had a recent conversation with a friend about where she got her dog from. He’s a very nice dog, and she loves him very much — he is a rather controversial type of dog, and she is pretty big into the whole rescue scene.
She told me in private that she bought him off an ad because she felt sorry for him (he had an incredibly hard start in life, coming from basically the worse of breeding situations). She is afraid of the public shaming that might take place if her “dirty little secret” got out, seeing as how she’s a big supporter of the “don’t breed, rescue” movement.
So then it gets into — if people were watching, would you still do it? from the other side. For myself, I don’t think she should feel ashamed of how she got her dog — I mean, as it stands she gave a home to a dog that has given her much love and joy (and the dog got a very good home in the bargain), and it would have been not the case if people had been watching (which might have caused her to not give that dog a home, thereby the dog would have certainly lost out).
On a certain level public opinion as the watchdog for our behaviors has its merits — we tend to act more civilly if we think doing otherwise would garner us public shunning — but as with everything else, there is a balancing point.
http://www.border-wars.com/2014/02/would-you-still-do-it-if-no-one-knew.html
“They’d disappear if you forgot the myth they’re tying to sell you, like Narnia.”
Narnia doesn’t disappear if noone believes in it. Narnia is simply another world to which it is possible to travel through different time-space portals.
(“Uncle Andrew tricks Polly into touching a yellow magic ring, causing her to vanish. Then he explains to Digory that he has been dabbling in magic, and that the rings allow travel between one world and another. He persuades Digory… …to take another yellow ring to follow wherever Polly has gone…” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician%27s_Nephew))
There are actually more worlds to which you can travel, such as the world with the dying sun, origin world of the white witch, in the first (timelinewise) book “The Magician’s Nephew” and belief in the worlds’ existance is not mentioned in the books to be actually necessary for their continued existance.
(“Digory finds himself transported to a sleepy woodland with an almost narcotic effect; he finds Polly nearby. The woodland is filled with pools. Digory and Polly surmise that the wood is not really a proper world at all but a “Wood between the Worlds,”… …and that each pool leads to a separate universe… …They decide to explore a different world… …and jump into one of the nearby pools.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician%27s_Nephew)
Supposedly (as alluded to in several books in the series) you wouldn’t be able to travel to Narnia if you forgot it, which you would because as you grew older you stopped believing in (as you say) myths, but this comes into logical conflict with the fact that the majority of persons, that we know of through the books, when they travel to Narnia for the first time have no prior knowledge of the land’s existence (See above Wikilink as well as the actual books, “The Magician’s Nephew” where several people end up in Narnia, “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” where the four most famous characters end up in Narnia, as well as “Prince Caspian” where Aslan says that pirates one came to Narnia, and populated one nation, through a portal they discover by accident in a cave)
Actually, Narnia not even properly “in existance” when the first “Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve” visit the world (“they stumble into a dark void that Jadis recognizes as a world not yet created. They then all witness the creation of a new world by the lion Aslan”, see above Wikilink as well as the book “The Magician’s Nephew”). The creation of the world, however, is never credited to their arrival or belief in it.
I see what you’re trying to say but a more correct analogy might be “like fairies” or “like the fairies in Peter Pan”.
I am honest to the gods not trolling, I am just very passionate about my books.
(I would quote page numbers and exact quotes instead of Wikipedia, but as I do not own any english copies of them I would have to re-translate the text into English and it seemed unnecessary and as unreliable a sourcetext for someone else to factcheck with.)
On topic I agree with all of this, but I think people should ask themselves this question regarding everything. I think this is a problem every-where-.
I wish people would take a step back and analyze their own actions more often. I wish they would consider themselves important enough to be their own praisers, to feel confident enough without a crowd behind them to stick to their guns in a shitstorm but never important enough to believe they have the right to shove their views down someone’s elses throat without any shred of evidence to wash it down with.
When it comes to the question posed here: I don’t need praise or acknowledgement, I do what feels right for me. Which of course does lead to me rather doing things ‘when noone sees’, because while it wouldn’t change my actions being actively shunned and/or harassed is unpleasant.
I don’t feel that I can judge others, however. I don’t quite work like I’m supposed to. Fortunately the natural human drive to fit in or conform, in any aspect of my life, could never contend with my (stubborn)principles. Most probably helped along by being defective from birth and the following view that trying to fit in would just be a ridiculous and pathetic effort. As well as never seeing the point even if I had been ‘normal’. Why would I want to fit in with people who can’t stand who I really am? If anything people are puzzle pieces and if you don’t fit, you don’t carve on others or yourself until you do. You respect the pieces you didn’t fit with and look for other pieces. That may of course perhaps be another reason I’m -not- normal. It does make me more of a burden on society, since comformity in many aspects is crucial to a working society.
I’m human, of course, and I like praise as much as anyone else and I dislike reproach as much as anyone else – but I don’t do the things I do for praise or stop doing them just because someone else doesn’t agree with them. I’m not enough of a people person, and the praise not enough of a motivator for it to be worth it in the end.
I want to add, since you seemed to not just trying to provoke thought but sincerely doubt dog shows as anything but a place to recieve praise and adulation. I quite happily engaged in shows with my mice without the need or want for that. Most mice were not to be bred (because of medical complications, stress-behaviour, aggression or other things that put them (or their kin) at a disadvantage in life that I didn’t want another mice to bear. Or because I had someone I thought better suited for mating.) Just because it was fun to see what other people thought, even when it was negative. Just as a discussion is fun, not because I hold some belief that the other party will in the end agree with me and praise my great mind but, because I expand my world by hearing another persons point of view – a view that may never have crossed my mind. Just as you say is a reason that you keep this blog.
Regardless of how well or bad my mice did with the judges, I still bred by my standards first and foremost. I wanted to produce males that wouldn’t have to be killed at birth (I don’t cull myself), I wanted mice that would live long healthy lives. That came before looks and before behaviour appreciated by judges. The shows were because I liked the people, I liked getting together with people who shared my interests. It -is- nice to be in a group and feel like you belong in some way. Even if my views were -not- popular. I got more negative feedback from both the judges on my mice and from members on my views. But the critique was civil, there were people who -could- get past my views and discuss other more pleasant things. So even if it was negative I got input from other people and I got to be around the animals I love.
But eventually the seemingly inevitable event you describe took place. The civilized arguments turned into overwhelming bullying, where the incredibly few (young people) who shared my views or at least believed in my right to have them of course didn’t want to get dragged down and beaten with me. Fortunately I was a piñata made of poo. Unfortunately that led to uglier tactics such as bullshit animal abuse claims, that the authorities saw right through and didn’t even bother to check.
The reason I get a bit off topic and talk about -mice- shows is that despite having dogs my entire life I never actually engaged in dog shows. I never thought I’d enjoy the atmosphere. Poking around a bit with curiosity when I was younger I quickly got the impression of people there to arrogantly show off their ultimate dogs, act snooty and elitist and give me a hard time for not agreeing with their views on breeding and raising dogs. I admit, my in-the-end mice club experience didn’t make that better. But I have a hard time imagining -every- breed club is like that. So I dispute any claim that everyone attends shows or competitions for glory and worship. And completely without any of that I still train with my dogs and admire their beauty (my mix’s more so than the purebred Frogleg- sorry, German Shepherd).
… but I did like posting them pictures of my BARF sometimes. ;p Half the reason to ick people out, half the reason because I put way too much effort into some meals. (My girl wanted her meat marinated in something, tvm!, and with gravy)
This question feels like the distant cousin to a question I got as a teen. I started cutting myself, since I thought it preferable to other forms of anxiety relief I had employed (such as lashing out verbally and physically at innocent people), and didn’t think what I did with my body was anything anyone had a right to judge or question, and thus stupidly assumed they wouldn’t. I continued to wear long or short sleeves just as I would normally – according to weather and mood. That led to a few people asking version of this question, which at the time, directed to me directly, was both confusing and greatly offending: “Are you cutting yourself for the attention?” So I guess a lot of people are starved for approval, and other kinds of attention. For acceptance. But then there are those of us who just don’t give a fuck.
Unfortunately I have discovered a great majority of us are disabilitated burdens on society, doing little good with our “Fuck-it-all”-super powers. Maybe gene connected to the “fuck-it-all” has the unfortunate result of working with other genes to create these disabilities. Hmm… 😉
I’m thinking to myself as I read through this with a migraine “Did this long post get more relevant after I got on topic, or less.” Hm.
Would I do it again if I knew? Would I have joined and dropped my Breed Club Membership on this discovery outlined today by Craig on latest Border Wars topic. Yes, I would. Would I have joined in the first place, No.
AKC Delegate representation apparently was and is only a position like a Supreme Court Judge. It is a lifetime position. Likewise, the very AKC representatives which are generally two at every Dog Show are hand picked as well. Thanks Craig for making this public.
No I wouldn’t do anything differently. I’ve bought dogs and taken over dogs and been given dogs as a child.
I’ve rescued quite a few too but never kept any of these as they came when I already had enough around me. I never kept or bought a dog on impulse.
I’ve loved all my dogs even the most cantankerous ornery hell on four feet dog.
Dogs are not my ticket to any kind of self promotion they are partners in life that I’ve been led to believe are a natural important part of life and living.
Most have been working dogs but all have been proper companions too.
Im looking for another dog I have been for a few years. Im not fussed where it comes from when I see it I will know, bought, given but less likely rescued. I might even import. It won’t have a pedigree as they don’t but it will be a definite type both in character, ability and look.
I once thought getting a pedigree dog meant a good healthy dog that lived up to it’s breeds reputation but that belief was dashed many many years ago. Besides we always had one or two mixes or rather more correctly the odd pedigree dogs amongst the rabble. Most were intentional crosses or mistakes that worked out rather well.
Same for horses.