Page 50 - ShowSight Presents The Golden Retriever
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WITH BARBARA ALDERMAN, PLUIS DAVERN, LINDA HURLEBAUS, GLORIA KERR, golden retrieverKATHY LORENTZEN, DR. DANA MASSEY, CONNIE GERSTNER MILLER, BARBARA PEPPER,
but pushed to move at a speed that causes him to break gait or have poor foot timing. Slow down, everyone. It really is not a race.
11. How do you prioritize correct Golden coat and color when considering Golden breed type? Is grooming getting in the way of evaluating correct coat texture and color? Is the breed becoming too Setter-like in color and outline?
BA: Grooming is another man made deal. A good judge can see through what grooming does, as long as one can ascertain coat quality. I know exhibitors love to
overly groom.
PD: Coat color is immaterial as long as it conforms to the standard. Unfortunately grooming is very much an issue. Sculpting is wrong. Back blowing a coat only opens it up to all the vagaries of weather and does nothing to protect the dog. How sad is that!
LH: I don’t prioritize color at all. The standard calls for vari- ous shades of gold. Our education PowerPoint has a slide that shows the range. Color is not type, it’s just color. You can’t control what product they use or the trimming. Judge the structure of the dog. I would never classify any Golden I saw in the ring as being setter-like.
GK: Color is my last priority in judging. The grooming,
e.g. product, blowing up coats, stripping and scissor-
ing are all getting in the way of assessing a “jacket” the breed is supposed to have. Golden coats should be water repellant, can/should be with a wave, but not the open, profuse coats we see a lot in the ring.
KL: Color is immaterial as long as it falls within the parameters of the standard. Coats are very problematic. Soft, open, too long, too profuse and very incorrectly prepared in so many instances. There should be no cutting, clipping, scissoring of body coat whatsoever. Instead we are seeing these dogs sculpted like topiaries. This is so incorrect, renders the coat useless for work
and protection. Please, new judges, do not reward dogs presented in this manner in your ring. These coats are barbered to the point that you cannot assess the true quality of the coat. No, I don’t find current Goldens setter-like at all. A long time ago the breed went through a stage where they were getting too tall, too settery, which was why the statement about leg length was added to the standard. That statement was put in the same time that the size DQ was added. It was meant to modify the size of the breed, not to suggest that the breed should
be short legged. Far too many people misinterpret that statement because they don’t understand the history behind it.
DM: I like to see a proper presentation of the topline of a Golden. When it is stacked with an extremely sloping topline, like a setter, it loses type in the silhouette. When it moves with a sloping topline, it becomes too setter- looking. The color from cream, golden and red is not a consideration for me. We all have preferences in types and the color does go with some types it seems, but I have rewarded every extreme in the color ranges. I will
get, easy to lose) I have not seen as much improvement in correcting fronts as I would like. I’d rather see a dog with less angulation on both ends (it’s better balanced) than one with forequarters lacking in correct angulation and layback combined with a well angled or over angulated rear. Balance is key here. Perfect movement in a Golden is an effortless, athletic and steady gait that lets the dog look like it could maintain that gait for hours at a time without tiring. This includes the balance and harmony of all parts of the dog working together from the head (car- ried forward of the body, not over the neck) to the steady, level backline to the tail carried out behind the dog and used as a rudder in turns and when swimming. Getting all this to work together is very hard to find but easy to see when you find it. It’s the kind of gait that gives you goose bumps when you see it.
MS: Movement is best observed at moderate speed, “tre- mendous reach and drive” is a myth. “Adequate” is more often preferable to extreme. Better to have the ease of movement and efficiency with minimal effort: this will enhance endurance in this breed which often must work for extended periods in rough terrain and heavy cover.
It is not the speed at which the legs move (and shorter legs can move faster) nor the extreme extension at either end that makes for efficiency. Yes, poorly made fronts can affect movement and endurance, as well as agility. But the dog standing with head elevated and looking at atten- tion is often rewarded anyway.
NT: A description of correct movement in a Golden: clean coming at you, elbows held close to the body, single track as speed increases. Clean going away, hip to ground forming a “V”, single track as speed increases. Smooth and effortless from the side, with feet just rising above the level of the ground, reach and drive not extreme but equal front and rear. Sound stifle and hock joints which open completely, giving powerful drive (essential in a dog that trots and runs for hours at a time in the field). Head and tail carried just above the level of the topline, not lifted high. Minimum footsteps to get around the ring, no grabbing or pounding, no quick-stepping. A waltz, not hip-hop. Loose lead. No, really: a loose lead. There should be a slight dip in the lead between the dog’s head and your hand, not a tight, straight line. Dogs moving on a loose lead can move in a straight line, or should (if a dog cannot move in a straight line on a loose lead, well, re-evaluate that dog’s show career or train- ing). Puppies can be a challenge, absolutely, and a tighter lead for the babies makes sense, but as soon as they can get the idea—loose lead. Focus on better fronts is only
of benefit if the corresponding hindquarter is equally as proper. Speed is not bad in and of itself; if a dog covers ground quickly, but smoothly and with no wasted effort, that is fine. A dog who covers ground more methodically, but also smoothly and without wasted effort, should not be penalized. On the contrary, a dog that races around the ring with bouncing or rolling topline, high steps and high head carriage, is not going to last long on a pheasant hunt. It is frustrating as a judge to watch a dog built well,
Q&A
JEFFREY PEPPER, MARCIA SCHLEHR & NANCY TALBOTT
