Oh dear -- I'm sorry I mentioned that the majority of the dogs at Progressive were Pro handlers!! It was simply an observation and was not meant to demean the Pro handlers. They have an incredible stamina in what they do and many of them do it to perfection. Personally, I prefer to handle my own dog plus I am not wild about them living for weeks and months away from home -- but I compete in Agility Trials and have had to use a Pro handler over a weekend when the shows have coincided. I have also beaten Pro handlers many times, both with a Specials bitch and my other class dogs. The difficulty is when you get into the Groups. The dogs and their handlers (pro or not) have an unfair advantage in that they are advertised extensively and shown to each and every judge in the country. Those of us who show here and there and are not interested in continually supporting Dog News or other such publications with the advertising of our faces and our dogs, have a distinct disadvantage.
I believe that Michael's comment: > most of us would like to have our > dogs judged on their correctness and not on the relationship of the person on > the end of the lead to the judge. > is all people on this list were referring to. It would be nice if this were the case in the Groups too. There is no way that I would ever have the time or the inclination to attend 100 shows per year, nor would I want this for my dog -- but to each his own. In many cases the dogs have no choice in how many shows and how often they are made to perform. Some dogs have the attitude to withstand this rigorous schedule and others do not. It's the ones who do not that I feel sorry for. According to George Alston at one of his seminars, he states (and I quote) "I put four kids through college on professional handling". Obviously the successful pro handlers do pretty well. Anne [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > In a message dated 2/9/02 3:44:49 PM Eastern Standard Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > THE CONTROVERSY OVER BASHING > > PROFESSIONAL HANDLERS HAS ALWAYS BOTHERED US. I WOULD LOVE ONE OF THE > > PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUCH A CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER ON THIS SUBJECT TO TRAVEL WITH > > A HANDLER FOR ONE CIRCUIT AND SEE WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO IN A 24 HOUR DAY AND > > IT IS A 24 HOUR DAY BEGINING TO END. THE TRAVEL IS GRUELING, THE EXPENSES > > HIGH, THE COMPETITION KEEN. MOST HANDLERS ARE NOT WEALTHY DOING THIS AND > > THERE IS AN INNER LOVE FOR DOGS THAT KEEP THEM GOING. > > WE HAVE SPECIALED OUR CAVALIER BITCH AM., CAN., INT(UCI), MEX(FCM) > > INT .(FCI ) CHAMPION Y'CYMRY MAGDALENA AT FULL OF MALARKEY FOR THREE YEARS > > . SHE HAS DONE OVER 300 SHOWS ABOUT HALF BEING SHOWN BY WITH A > > PROFESSIONAL HANDLER THAT WE TRAVELED WITH AND ABOUT HALF OF WHICH MY > > HUSBAND PATRICK HAS SHOWN HER. > > > Not to be confrontational, but it sounds like you are professionals but not > paid by anyone else and instead are showing your own dogs. I assume you are > part of the show "scene" if you travel that extensively and stay in hotels > with the handlers and the judges. I don't know who has a chip on their > shoulder regarding handlers, I hear that most of us would like to have our > dogs judged on their correctness and not on the relationship of the person on > the end of the lead to the judge. > Michael > > ========================================================= > "Magic Commands": > to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL > to start it up gain click here: > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL > > E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. > Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html > > All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author. ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
