specialing or ranking a dog

Someone asked me if it really mattered who was #1 Borzoi of all time.



And it got me thinking, does it really matter if you have the #1 Borzoi for X year in whatever venue? What does it do? Why do you special a dog, whether to #1 show ring or #1 in the myriad of performance events.



It probably doesn't matter to anyone but the owner and/or breeder, and maybe clueless puppy buyers, yet people in every venue scramble to get that coveted 'win'. They plan on where to go, who to show or run under, if they're more devious, they devise who not to run or show against for fear of losing, and in some instances I've seen, the very last event of the year, stuff the entry with fillers just to INSURE their dog wins.(this more towards coursing than any of the other)



But by the next year, unless you're like one person I know who constantly threw it in people's face, very few people will remember who was #1 dog last year. .so why bother?



In my shoes, because it's fun, it's a nice bragging right. It means my dog(s) have the ability to run at a lot of events,run clean, run fast, run well. But then, i dont' do this stuff and pull bullsh*t either. Since a lot of borzoi do not run clean their entire career, knowing your dog ran well enough to reach a goal you've set means a lot to me, especially if they do it without a DQ. You don't have to look hard to see good dogs who's careers were cut short because as soon as they started getting beat, they started running dirty, or quit because the other dogs were able to take the lure away from them. It meant they were still able to run well enough that they continously placed so they could be ranked. ..



Granted, the last is only applicable to those who play the game fairly, too many play the run a crapload of a dogs and yank anything that might beat the dog you're tryign to campaign. I don't play those games. Thankfully, just about everyone who runs in the NE doesn't either, so you know when our dogs rank, they do it honestly: by truly beating their competition.

The other reason I like doing it in LGRA anyway, is the comraderie. .it's a close knit community because it's not a large number of us, and because we all have to help each other. When Carol lost her little Basenji guy, we all mourned for her, when Karen lost Mike, we all mourned with her, when I lost Obie, they all knew who he was, unlike with coursing and showing, you pretty much know every OB person in your area. And that's a big reason of why I keep coming out. . .as of right now,t here's not one vile person running. It makes for a great weekend with great people.

sportsmanship

Grins did me proud this weekend, picked up three points towards his SORC, pretty good for a boy who'll be 6 in a few months, now he's at 13.5 of the needed 30. . sadly, his competition pulled a crapload of her dogs when she saw me pull up. If she's that worried about my almost 6 yr old boy beating her younger dog, then she really needs to rethink her breeding program, don't ya think? I about peed my pants when I heard she'd told the race sec to tell me nobody be there, as she did NOT want me there. Poor sportsman anyone? Not like Grins runs dirty at all, he's just fast, damn fast. Doesn't want real competition, funny tho, it was two other dogs I thought she should be more concerned with, as I truly expected them to kick El Grinnies fuzzy grey butt, but alas, twas not to be, and Grins took the meet, with boy #1(Wizard) placing 2nd, and boy #2 (Lemans) placing 3rd. . . neither of them owned by me LOL Heck, bonnie's 9 yr old placed a very respectable 5th of 9. . .maybe we can get her last 3.5 points for her ORC.

But if I hear ONE more accusation that barking dogs is cause for DQ'al(hopefully not by the experienced judges) I'm going to scream. If your dog can't handle another dog barking AT THE LURE, then too bad so sad. GODS, the bitching and moaning I heard that poor poochie doesn't like muffy barking. Hell, I got it with Grins when he was young, he'd stand at the starting line whining and barking and throating a huge fit. OMG, you're scaring my dog, well, too bad, he's not attacking your dog, he's not doing it at your dog, if your dog can't handle it TOO DAMN BAD!!!

heading up to NY with the girls this weekend. . .and be able to see the evil peanut girl jezebel, wonder fi she remembers me?LOL And then on to NJ next weekend, sounds like it may be a nice meet, with Lemans maybe showing up too. .. i was wondering with it being the II if we'd be the only entry. Gossip's beat him before, but with her working on coming back into shape, it's a coin toss, but ya don't see me pulling my girl do you? LOL Not unless she comes up lame.