Some years past, I read an interview with a well-known dog breeder in which, and I am mostly paraphrasing here, she was asked what she had learned over her many decades. She responded that unfortunately, there is a downside to the sport, referring to the "dark side" of people's personalities. She was refreshingly candid, as, in fact, there are dark sides to individuals as well as bad-natured characters in this sport, and at one time or another, you will encounter them both.
Experienced fanciers are well-informed about "the dark side," or at the very least, conscious of it. As, unfortunately, a large number of us in this sport have been the target of anger, hatred and aggression. Amazingly, everyone seems resigned to the dark side's ubiquity but on the other hand, we cannot legislate morality.
A person's dark side is equaled only by their amorality. How many times have you been the victim of targeted slander or the recipient of someone's warfare? Have you had an individual or individuals campaign aggressively against yourself stopping at nothing to tear you down? Has your dogs' safety been jeopardized? Perhaps, while exhibiting, you experienced menacing behavior? The dark side reveals itself in various forms and degrees of which at times can be tedious and other times, frightening.
I suffered an abusive "dark side" attack many years ago. One that many people believed to be considerably threatening and most certainly was intended to shut me up. A fellow breeder judge filed, in bad faith and with malice, an AKC complaint against me containing fabricated and falsified accusations. This complainant went so far as even to collect my personal electronic mail (email) sent to the secretary of our regional specialty club. As an active member, we were permitted to email our future Specialty Judge nominations, and this correspondence contained my confidential judge selections. The complainant acquired these emails and then attempted to persuade the AKC that I was soliciting judging assignments for myself with my votes! She then concocted fictitious meetings and telephone conversations accusing me of solicitation and additionally, charged me with intimidation. She invented incidents that while my handler was showing my hounds, I intimidated judges from outside the ring. Only for her to find out that I was and still am an Owner/Handler. It suffices to say that the AKC, after a brief investigation, dismissed all charges explaining that I was, "a victim of someone’s target." How very disturbed people are and shocking to witness the lengths in which a bad-natured dog fancier will go to hurt another person.
Once again I recalled this old interview just recently when I experienced yet another run-in with the dark side. Though dissimilar in comparison, nevertheless it was another character strike. A foreign breeder judge had posted a statement on Facebook regarding a well-received, three-part article I wrote which was published in The Canine Chronicle magazine while I was a regular, monthly contributor. This 2012 piece, "Hounds, Toplines & Underlines" has been circulating on the Internet, in particular among the sighthound breeds. In a very public, worldwide declaration, this active dog show judge stated,
"I sometimes read articles like this and wish the authors had bred sufficiently wonderful hounds themselves for me to be able to resonate -- without remembering back to certain judging assignments."
This was followed-up by praise from at least one Facebook friend via the "grin emoticon." Emoticons are communication icons in the faceless Facebook social community which itself is a remote and impersonal environment that often cultivates shamelessness, as many people do not have the courage of their convictions in a one-on-one confrontation.
Oh, the dark side has reared its hideous head, again. Notably absent were any valid disagreements on canine anatomy or debates on toplines and underlines. Fueled by aggression and resentment, the only avenue left for this passive aggressor was to impugn my breeding program and my abilities as a breeder. While it is the aggressor's prerogative not to like my bloodlines, as an international dog show judge, they have no exemption to forever conducting themselves in a sportsmanlike manner. How disgracefully conceited and foolish they, as a judge, must be to make outstandingly bad, public commentary about an active breeder, owner/handler, journalist, and fellow dog show judge? By her volition, and in writing no less, she announced her opinion of a contemporary's breeding program and by doing so, any semblance of neutrality went out the window, especially if she were assigned to judge the breed again.
Unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong, during a past American specialty assignment, this same judge awarded Winners to a dog who she previously co-owned, having removed her name from co-ownership prior to the specialty show. Of course, the cloud of impropriety was so dense and unmistakable that the American Kennel Club administratively disallowed the award.
Yes, people behave deplorably in just about any social association or community. It certainly is not exclusive to purebred dog sports. One only has to take a look at the political arena to learn about the dark side. It is also true that various dog breeds attract different types of people. So, it is likely that there are varied levels of quality of character amongst fanciers in other dog breeds.
Thankfully, on the flip side, I have had the opportunity to make many delightful acquaintances in many breeds of our sport over these decades. These are fanciers, though dedicated to their passion, who have maintained healthy, stable perspectives in their lives. For us sane people who find ourselves as targets, we shake our heads and take deep breaths to ground ourselves as the disbelief is often overpowering -- and often, we are forced to deliver a proportional response to the attack. Still, some fanciers seemingly do not have a grip on reality and to a degree, I pity them. They are so wrapped up in the sport of dogs rather, their compulsion is so enormous, that they no longer think rationally. Rather, for some it is hard to separate reality from passion as their level of consumption is at the least, decidedly unhealthy, and ominous on the extreme. I think it is sad how many people have lost themselves, so obsessed that they live, eat, and breathe dogs.
For those interested, I included the links to the three-part article below.
Hounds, Toplines & Underlines, Part One
