Dog Shows in Alaska

21 March 2012
7:43 PM

Sunrise at	7:45 AM	in direction	87°	East
Sunset at	8:12 PM	in direction	274°	West

Duration of day: 12 hours, 26 minutes (6 minutes, 43 seconds longer than yesterday)

You know, there are not many of us - in a state of not many of us - that participate in the AKC Dog Show world.  I am not sure why I got sucked into this, but I was and am still sucked up into it.  At first, you think it's just a beauty show - nothing to do with a dog's worth.  Well, that is true in a sense, but you can't imagine how hard it is to get a dog to "look pretty".  They must be trained to show their best features and some dogs carry that off more easily than others.  Some flat out refuse to do it.  They have no interest in strutting their stuff and let you know in all sorts of ways.

We have Doberman Pinschers.  They are wonderful animals with or without conformation to the Doberman breed standard, but it so happens that the Doberman breed standard is one that has changed very little since it's first definition - something of which Doberman owners are very proud.  So, a "judge" evaluates the dog on its bearing and how closely it follows the standard. 

Right now we have a very nice bitch whose grand sire was rated as top doberman and whose sire has produced innumerable champions.  She is solid, well-poised, graceful and strong, but she tends to relax her back.  Not because she has a deformity but because she simply likes relaxing that way.  It takes a very careful and clever handler to be sure she doesn't choose to relax while in the show ring.

Alas, I am not that clever person in any way.  We do not have many dog shows in Alaska and so we don't have many opportunities to gain championship points, especially when 5 bitches are needed to make a major and there are only 4 showing in the state.  Points are awarded based on population for region and each animals must have taken two "major" events and a total of 15 points. 

We are driving our bitch to Anchorage this weekend to show in one of our local events.  If she takes winners bitch, she will earn at most two points, not a major because only those bitches who are local are attending.  We will possibly have majors in the spring, but that is usually because those from Outside bring their dogs in for finishing.  If they have a hot shot handler and wonderful animals, they take the major points instead of our dogs.  It's a conundrum, but it is the way it is and there is nothing to be done about it .. unless you want to find a handler Outside and let the dog live away from you.

We have not opted for that choice.  She is our sweetheart and baby.  That choice is low, low, low on the priority list.  But I would like her to finish.  Why?  I have no idea why .. other than that breeding usually occurs between champions.  We would like to breed our girl - not because we want to raise dobermans.  I want to have puppies.  I want babies in our house.  I want new life and the joy of watching new life grow.

Why Dobermans?  I like them.  Having lived with them since 1997, I can't imagine being without one.