Page 51 - ShowSight Presents The Golden Retriever
P. 51
WITH BARBARA ALDERMAN, PLUIS DAVERN, LINDA HURLEBAUS, GLORIA KERR, golden retrieverKATHY LORENTZEN, DR. DANA MASSEY, CONNIE GERSTNER MILLER, BARBARA PEPPER,
undercoat, nor the sculpting and scissoring so often seen. Nor the use of product! The Golden is not setter-like in outline, really, but all too often in the elaborate shaping of the coat. As to color, the standard would like to see “rich, lustrous golden” for the main coloring, with paler underparts and shadings quite allowable. Such are quite characteristic, actually. It does say that a body color that is “predominantly extremely pale or extremely dark” is undesirable, i.e., less than ideal, but the GRCA Judges’ Education Committee agrees that shade of gold is of far less consequence in judging than are structure, gait and other basic essentials. Setter-like—no, not in color, we see very few such really dark red dogs in the ring. But, setter-style trimming and sculpting, yes.
NT: Coat is of the utmost importance. I may sound like a broken record, but the proper Golden coat must be weath- er resistant, resilient and close to the body. Some length
of feathering is expected and called for in the standard, as opposed to sparse or complete lack of furnishings. How- ever, feathering that hangs almost to the ground, swishes as the dog comes toward you, or needs constant combing to look presentable, is not reasonable. Equally as faulty is coat that is brushed or blown open, or trimmed so that top coat is missing altogether. This cottony coat would be wet to the skin quickly and collect enough burrs to fill a bucket. I am often feeling coats that have a harsh guard coat texture, much like a Collie, with profuse undercoat and this is perplexing to me. Whether from over-grooming or genetic, it is aberrant. On the use of products, I will
say only this. If you are going to use it, use it correctly or do not use it at all! Never should a judge feel product in
a coat, whether sticky and gummy or powdery or slick. Nose dye—just don’t. And please, please, stop covering the wonderful gray faces of our dogs. Judges are told at seminars that Goldens often gray early, especially bitches. Breeder/judges already know that. Pancake make-up on a beautiful Golden face is tragic. Color—various shades of lustrous gold. There is no preference toward either end of that spectrum. There are currently dogs in the ring that are too pale (by the American standard, as this is accepted in almost every other country). There are currently dogs in the ring that are too dark (almost red). Most in the ring are within the range that Goldens naturally exhibit. One extreme is not more acceptable than the other. Ideally,
a medium gold that catches the sunlight and glistens is
my idea of perfection, but only if all else is equal in two dogs. That almost never happens, so color is the last thing that is a determining factor. One a last note, two favorite Peanuts cartoons are on my refrigerator and have been for probably 20 years. In one, Snoopy is sitting in the snow with Charlie Brown, clearly having a grand time together. Charlie Brown asks, “How could it get any better than this?” And Snoopy’s speech bubble answers, “If you were a Golden Retriever”. In the other cartoon, Snoopy is typing a story. “She had always been kind. Sometimes, how-
ever, she wondered if she was appreciated. ‘Even so,’ she thought, ‘I shall always smile and be kind.’ Once a Golden Retriever, always a Golden Retriever.” Indeed.
say that more that I’d like, I put my hands into a Golden Retriever’s coat and am totally turned off. Too much product on the coat is offensive, especially when it feels crackly and dry (like straw).
CGM: Color is not of major importance to me. The breed has a lot more to worry about than color. However, coat texture and length are very important to me. The coat is to be “dense with good undercoat”. It should not be silky. We are seeing excessive length and many open coats, which is “very undesirable”. To top it off, grooming is performed with mousse and other product with the coat then being blown backward. The dogs are trimmed and sculpted throughout the entire body, which goes against the standard completely. It should not take two or three hours to groom a Golden and with that being said, most of these dogs would not perform well in the field with these artificial coats!
BP: Correct coat is one of texture, with adequate undercoat and a good jacket. Yes, grooming and products are mak- ing it almost impossible to truly evaluate texture. Sculpt- ing, fluffing, back brushing, etc., all just make me shake my head and ask, “Why?” By the way, color is immaterial to me as long as it’s not Irish Setter red or literally white. It truly shouldn’t matter and given the structural issues we are dealing with, it becomes even less important. I have never had to base my choice on color and I would be happy to have dogs of such high quality structure that my color preference was an issue.
JP: So long as it falls within the parameters of the standard,
I don’t care at all about color. In all the years and all the countries that I’ve judged Goldens over the past 30 odd years, I have never made a decision on a winner based on the color of the dog’s coat. As far as texture, it’s almost impossible to judge whether a Golden as presented by the vast majority of exhibitors (owner/handlers and professionals alike) is nearly impossible. The addition
of silicone and other products takes away all texture. Unfortunately, there are also those that turn to using coat dye and artificial chemicals to change the color of coat and pigment. In nearly every case, I can guess what has been done. It rarely fools me. Regarding trimming,
I really don’t like the scissoring of top coat to create the appearance of correct structure beneath the coat. Cutting the guard hairs is just wrong and the trimming rarely fools a knowledgeable judge. Read the standard and groom as the standard asks and you’ll make many judges very happy!
MS: Proper coat quality (not merely quantity) is an essential to correct breed-type. Texture should be firm, never soft nor silky. An earlier standard described is as “not as hard as a short-haired dog, nor as silky as a setter”. We see
far too much of excess length and quantity and far too often there is a notable absence of the desired undercoat. And that is an essential for the retriever. It should be remembered that wavy coats are equally acceptable as are straight coats and wavy coats are much more likely to be correct in texture! All this grooming to straighten coats is not improving them—nor the stripping out of
Q&A
JEFFREY PEPPER, MARCIA SCHLEHR & NANCY TALBOTT
