Responsible breed clubs have codes of ethics and try diligently to weed out the unscrupulous. You can also talk to event reps, speaking out against poor sportsmanship in and around the ring. In supporting show ring vulgarity in all of it's forms, you are cheering on the decline and decay of the sport of purebred dogs. It is imperative that we begin to investigate the scruples of those we deal with in dogs as regimentally as we would a dog we were considering for use in our breeding programs. If we as dog people, do not put a stop to a lack of ethics and refinement in the sport, the enemy, the animal rights groups will have more grist for their own mills.
Good manners are invaluable and have always been in style.
If we believe our dogs are of fine quality, we do them no justice by having a sour attitude, miserable manners and a lack of ethics. There is a vast seperation between a quality, purebred show dog and a purebred product of a puppy mill. The separation in charecter between those who would produce and promote one type over another should be as great. Kerrin Winter is a photojournalist specializing in dogs. She lives and works in Dallas, Texas and shares her life, home and business with Millicent, an English Cocker Spaniel and her photographic partner Dale Churchill.