The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2011

[PapSett]

@Marley23

That’s what you think. It sounds more like your dog roped you into chaffeuring him around without paying you a salary.

Well, yeah… there IS that too…

About the short life expectancy, it is a gereral rule of thumb, the larger the dog, the shorter the life span. It has nothing to do with them being ‘show dogs’ But yeah, I could never have one of the giant breeds, tho I LOVE Great Danes, and really like what I’ve seen of Leonbergers. I couldn’t deal with that heartbreak.

[JohnT]

@AuntiePam

I’m partial to cuddly hairy dogs but I thought the Weimeraner (sp?) should have made the cut. Loved the way he moved, and he really had a presence.

A couple things surprised me – that so many of the dogs are “just dogs”, like the ones that are working when they’re not showing – and that some of the dogs are older. One was eight and a half years old! I’ve always thought show dogs were like race horses – your career is over at the age of two or three.

In 2009, the BIS was 10 years old.

[curlcoat]

@Novelty_Bobble

Words fail me. At least those that can be used outside of the pit.

Unless you know of humans purposefully selecting close relatives as breeding partners in order to enhance a purely arbitrary, physical attribute for the purpose of glory and cold hard cash and vanity, your example doesn’t work.

See the pit thread on this for my answer…