03/13/2025
*Note: I wrote this over ten years ago & new people have come and gone since then.....putting it back out there for the newbys to the St. Bernard breed, because I feel like it is worth repeating:
*For my dog show friends, who win some, lose some and
get few rained out........they know who they are! This was
on my heart & I wanted to share it with you!
Remember:
It always comes back to just a few words on the judges
& 'their opinion on any given day....what dog wins'!
After you are in showing Saints for a little while we all realize
that it is a good thing the same dog doesn't always win! For
if he did, there would be no more dog shows. Who
would show his dog if he knew in advance the same dog
would win every single time? No one but the winner - and
he wouldn't show for long if he was always alone.
In looking at Saints which are doing a lot of winning, or
at dogs which have beaten our dogs for example, I
don't look for faults. There never was and there
never will be a perfect St. Bernard....there is always a
spot or two that could be improved. I have noticed
with some people as soon as they are able to recognize
a fault in a Saint without first being told by an expert that it
exists....they have to talk about it constantly. After reading
de la' Rie's book years ago....I determined I was *NOT*
going to look for just the faults in a Saint....instead I was
going to look for and be able to recognize the good points
...no matter who owned it, bred it or what kennel it was out of.
I have also determined if a dog is a constant winner, he must
be a pretty darn good dog whether I personally think so or not.
All of the judges who put him up couldn't be wrong...could they??
All kidding aside.... I do try to look for the good in all Saints,
because I love this breed......I try real hard to see one as a whole
instead of a lot of little bits and pieces.....held together by
a piece of rope.
As far as has been insuinated on facebook of late
about judges being crooked, or the shows being fixed..or politics - or the best dog not winning etc. this is
what I think about that.....the dog show game is 90%
on the square. Not that the other 10% does not exist....
because we all know it does (if we are honest).
In speaking with some judges over the years...I have
determined that some are convinced that the beauty
traits of a breed, all of them taken as a whole, are the
thing that make one breed different from another....&
they are more important than the structural soundness
of a breed & just as many are convinced that the reverse
is true. The advocates of both sides are convinced
they are right, and when they judge, their sincereity impels
them to follow what they believe to be correct which some
do not agree with. This is the reason we get some
movement dogs (balanced dogs)....and the dogs that
are bigger boned/typier if you will being put up at shows.
Different looks, or style if you will.....
I have seen Saints that have had poor movement, yes, I have
seen some movement dogs that I thought were just horrendous
examples of the breed and had absolutely nothing going for them
but that. I have seen some weight pulling dogs that were strong
and determined to pull & that was as as far as I could go with
anything positive to say about them. What I love is a good typey, big boned....lovely headed, good moving Saint - they are
out there, are they always found in the ring, unfortunately no, but they are still most everyone's ideal & we show and keep on keeping on because that is where our passion lies. Win ... lose or draw, we need to acknowledge that we are not going to win all the time,
no matter what we have in our kennel.
I am also of the opinion....if you have enough time and money
you can finish anything....but....you have to ask yourself...what
have you accomplished if you do that? Are people beating your
door down to breed to your dog or to buy puppies? If not, take
a good look at just why you are doing what you are doing would
be my thinking about it.
You show people.....keep on keeping on....because that is what you enjoy doing....show those Saints off to their best & continue to make the breed proud!
OK...off my soap box on this subject.....next??????
