Flo writes <<<I had a dog with four teeth out of scissor who did nothing until I managed to correct it using Heath Robinson type methods.>>>> <<<I took him out of competition for 3 months while I worked on his mouth.>>>>>> I find these revelations astonishing - not funny but a real cause for concern. There are 2 issues here - firstly the fact that you have altered a dogs mouth by artificial means, "Heath Robinson type methods" whatever they are. This is directly against the rules and regulations certainly in England and in fact, in almost every country. The only instance of the KC in UK allowing "altered" dogs to be shown is if the owner seeks permission to show after castrating or spaying. Some years ago a Leonburger which had a tiny umbilical hernia stitched as a puppy was banned from being shown for life. The correctness or otherwise of a dogs "bite" is rightly an important part of a judges consideration in deciding on the relative merits of the dogs in front of them and on their decision in what order they will place those dogs. To artificially change a dogs bite is to "cheat" - the dog you are presenting to the judge is not displaying his true genetic makeup so judgments on him will be done on the basis of false information. If you had waited and given the bite time, it may very well have come right of its own accord - that is its genetic makeup will eventually be expressed. But if it had been left alone and never came right, then it is carrying the genes for this. By tampering with the mouth, you will never know the true genetic makeup of this dog. He will always be a "wildcard" in the pedigree of his offspring. You may not have got bad bites in the first generation, but you should have considered future generations. <<<<< After getting the mouth right he became a fairly popular stud, fathering not only progeny for my own programme, but also other show people. >>>>> Secondly it would be interesting to know if the people who used your dog at stud were aware that he originally had a bad bite and that you had altered it?? If they knew and were taking that into consideration when they used the dog, that is fine - I have used dogs with less than perfect bites myself, not altered bites.) But if they were unaware that the bite had been changed by artificial means, then they were using the dog under false pretences and quite aside from the moral implications, if you took money for stud fees you should look to your conscience.
<<<<<Considering that I bred for compact dogs with small heads I think I did the right thing, although I am not sure that the British KC would agree if they knew.>>>>> Firstly why breed for small heads? The head should be in balance with the body. I am certain that the KC would not approve. That being the case, I am astounded that you would put onto a public list the fact that you have altered a dog. Jeanie Montford Elvenhome Cavaliers Sydney, Australia [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================================= "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.
