More so, to some!! As a strictly pet poodle owner (not a dog show person) temperament/mental quality is much more important to me than physical traits (although my girl is calm, sweet, smart AND beautiful! Can't beat a combination like that!) :lol:... isn't temperament/mental quality just as important in the standard as the physical aspect?
Once again I have to say that I couldn't agree with you more. Temperament and health are the most important things (Nobody should have to undergo the heartbreak of losing a pet before they live to a ripe old age)! Beauty is wonderful but not at the expense of the other things.Could not agree more. Hopefully most breeders are doing it with both aspects in mind, but with all the pressure to have the perfect dog conformationally, I think a lot of times the disposition and sound mental qualities are forgotten along the way. Perfect head, perfect angulation, perfect chest, perfect feet, perfect ear set, perfect colour, perfect chest, perfect topline, perfect tail set....to me none of it matters a bit if the dog behaves like the tasmanian devil. For me, temperament and fabulous health are the priorities, and I have happened to be blessed with great looking dogs in the process. I know what I need to do to assure the conformation continually improves, but without health and temperament, what would be the point?
I think this sounds like an excuse to breed an ugly dog!From An Appeal to Dog Breeders "is a sad but undeniable fact that
breeding to a strict standard of physical points is incompatible with breeding for mental qualities..."
YES!!I feel personally temperament is one of the MOST important,along with Health and Conformation. What good is the most beautiful correct dog in the world when it is a nightmare to live with. All 3 components go together,for when you loose one you loose the soundness of your dog. MoxieI think if the dog is of sound body they are more likely to be of sound mind. Of course, I've never bred dogs, and probably never plan on it, but isn't temperament/mental quality just as important in the standard as the physical aspect?
I agree 100 % stars. Show folks do follow trends they tend to breed to what is "Winning", which is a shame it truly is.. I try to breed for the total dog Health, Temperment conformation and color in that order.... As most dogs DO go into pet homes and very few are being shown, this is just the law of averages... Health Temperment and are of the utmost importance and breeding sound dogs is a given....So stars is correct when the ring is full of incorrect dogs and the judges are NOT breeder judges and have no idea what they are looking at. So they put up who is behind the lead .. IMHO.. That isAs it states in Breed type "Unfortunately, type and (especially) style are vulnerable to fashion." Take a look at the poodle on the front cover of Poodle Variety's Stud issue. It has NO front!!! This is a very unstructurely sound dog, it would have problems with weaving polls because it has no chest.
Also stated in this article; "...these days, many Poodles which are successful in the breed ring do not adhere to the breed standard in a matter essential to soundness: they are "too straight in front"; judges' eyes have become so acclimatized to this great fault that it has become part of the style they're looking for." This is a shame that we have made an unstructurely sound dog just to get the "poodle-ly" quality.
The truly bad part of it all is that they win because the judges follow trends. So if it's the trend to have the perfect head and crappy front, that's what the breeders will follow to win. Some where along the way it became about winning instead of having a quality working poodle.I agree 100 % stars. Show folks do follow trends they tend to breed to what is "Winning", which is a shame it truly is.. I try to breed for the total dog Health, Temperment conformation and color in that order.... As most dogs DO go into pet homes and very few are being shown, this is just the law of averages... Health Temperment and are of the utmost importance and breeding sound dogs is a given....So stars is correct when the ring is full of incorrect dogs and the judges are NOT breeder judges and have no idea what they are looking at. So they put up who is behind the lead .. IMHO.. That is![]()
Absolutely. And so it goes. Someone that knows structure and the correct conformation of a dog is who you want to mentor with Kpoos...The truly bad part of it all is that they win because the judges follow trends. So if it's the trend to have the perfect head and crappy front, that's what the breeders will follow to win. Some where along the way it became about winning instead of having a quality working poodle.
Well, for one thing a poodle would sink like a weight to the bottom of a lake if it went into water in show coat. That hair would weigh it down and it wouldn't be able to swim. If you've read that article that Roxy posted about poodles' structure in agility (it basically compares to a border collie's structure) you can see that the dog that would be best in the show ring in a pretty coat is the worst dog for the agility ring and if I can remember correctly, it couldn't even swim. The dog that looks like it wouldn't win squat in a conformation ring is as fast and agile as the border collie in agility. The ideal is the overall dog but I am not sure that's always what's important to everyone. I can't lump everyone in the same catagory because some really do want that but often times it's about winning so breeds are changed so drastically for that. The border collie is a good example.Absolutely. And so it goes. Someone that knows structure and the correct conformation of a dog is who you want to mentor with Kpoos...
I personally saw the Irish Setter undergo a transformation right before my eyes , Ending up with with a very long giraffe neck and over extended (angulated if you will ) rear. the irish setter now has cottony coat with a silvery head and has to be hand stripped much like a cocker spaniel... All due to a trend. They have lost sight of a very important thing. The hunting dog aspect. Are we doing the same in poodles? I personally like a solid dog with no extremes.. So I guess that I am an exception to that rule... I like a good solid working dog that can go all day, and do what it was bred to do .. I liked it in Setters and would not compromise , and I like it in poodles and as before I will not compromise...
All in one or nothing ..From An Appeal to Dog Breeders "is a sad but undeniable fact that
breeding to a strict standard of physical points is incompatible with breeding for mental qualities..."