Julian,
Do you have gerbil wheels with a tachometers attached for "gerbil races" at
the shows? If not, it's just a thought! It really shouldn't be too
difficult for some amateur engineer to rig.
Whit
----- Original Message -----
From: Julian and Jackie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2000 4:34 PM
Subject: Re: Selling/Giving Away Gerbils...?
> Samantha Sly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>
>
> >Wow, I really started something by mentioning dog showing, didn't I?
> >(Hopefully no one is getting mad at all the OT stuff!) All I was trying
to
> >say in the first place was that I saw more sense in having a dog judged
by
> >how well it actually does what it was bred to do than how perfectly they
> >*APPEAR*(key word) to be able to do it. (Especially if they get to the
> >accepted colors point. I mean, if a yellow lab was, say, spotted
instead, it
> >would probably do its job just as well. ) I understand that dog shows
are a
> >wonderful thing--I just don't see how some of the supposed reasoning
behind
> >them is supposed to fit : 0-), Technically, if they were really, truly
> >looking for whether or not a dog could do the very best job possible at a
> >certain thing, they wouldn't just look at the conformation, they would
> >actually put the dog out in a field(or wherever) and see if they could
> >actually DO it : 0-), (And mutts would be able to try, too!) That
would
> >just make a lot more sense, IMBIO(in my biased ignorant opinion :
-), ).
> >Anyways, that's my 2 cents...
>
> Before you can judge you need to have an established set of criteria to
> judge against. This also helps the exhibitor as they know what is worth
> showing and what is not.
>
> It is difficult to have criteria without some mention of the appearance
> of the animal. And obviously, what are considered the most attractive
> shades or colour, or them most attractive markings, will be selected for
> by the people who are drawing up the criteria.
>
> If, however, you want to judge animals on their ability to do what they
> are bred to do, then what is the problem? In the UK there are regular
> sheepdog trials. What matters is whether the dog gets the sheep in the
> pen, not what it looks like. I have even seen Newfoundland Dogs, bred to
> assist fishermen, compete in water trials.
>
> Of course Greyhounds and Whippets get raced, and bloodhounds are even
> used on drag hunts.
>
> There are lots of different ways of meeting other pet owners and having
> fun. This is why we have things like chewing contests at our gerbil
> shows.
>
> As for contests that no dog has ever been bred for, in the Uk dog
> agility is very popular.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Julian
>
> ************************************************************************
> * Jackie and Julian *
> * [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
> * National Gerbil Society *
> * http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
> ************************************************************************
