RE: [RC] [RC-Digest] Vol: 03.5665 - Natalie Herman
<<<I'm equally appalled at the way many breeds of dogs have gone when
bred only for the show ring. I just pray that one of my favorite
breeds, the Border Collie, is never bred to look cutesy in the show
ring. They are far too intelligent to waste on the show ring, unless
it involves doing their real job. They are, however, very obsessed and
sometimes that's enough to drive a person nuts. I always figure if you
want a Border Collie, you'd better have a real job ready for him to do,
routinely, or he will be a very unhappy dog.>>>
I second that..my first "non-pound" puppy was a border collie. Mainly cause a friend bred her and I fell in love with the puppies (will go through a BC rescue for my next dog as I LOVE BCs, but want to also "save" an animal too :) ). Just after I got her, several other friends were SO excited that BCs are "now being accepted into AKC, so they can now show their dogs...ICK! was all I had to say to that. My girl is ABC registered and will NEVER be AKC registered and I wish AKC had NEVER accepted them. Because now, the breed that comes in every color (brown, black, merles and white mixed in many combos) and all sizes (though no real huge ones) and all different coats (long, med, short) will most likely become one size, all black/white, long flowing coat and no herding ability whatsoever. That will be a sorry day. But they will sell for thousands and be "oh so cute"....sigh..... Nat (who has an excellent horse watching dog that loves to play "Lassie" and tell me about all the things the horses are getting into....yes, they can be neurotic, but if given a job, they are awesome dogs and make GREAT endurance/horse dogs that can run on training rides for miles on end)
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... 'Wow! What a ride!' "
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