Crufts Dog Show has announced that before entering the Group Ring, all Best of Breed (BOB) entries will be examined by a show official and a veterinarian.
The Crufts Kennel Club Press media website page announced on February 10, 2017 that:
A basic final check of each Best of Breed will be undertaken in the collecting ring at Crufts by officials from the show management and vet teams.
The Crufts Committee is mindful that it has a duty of care to all dogs entered at the show and particularly those competing in the arena at Crufts, which is a very different experience to competing in the group at other general championship shows and can be overwhelming for both dog and handler.
Therefore to protect the welfare of the dog, all Best of Breeds will be requested to undergo a basic low-key observation to ensure each dog is ready to compete in the group. The observation will focus on obvious visible conditions which could compromise the dog’s performance in the group competition (KC Regulation F(1)15b refers).
Gerald King, Crufts Chairman, said: “For those who are preparing for competition in the collecting ring it is a very exciting and special time, so we want to be sure that both dog and handler are as ready as they can be to compete and that the dog is sound and not in distress in any way.
“The check will be basic and will simply involve the show official and vet team observing the dog move, to ensure that the dog and handler are both ready to enjoy themselves in the ring.”
In other words, they want to make certain that any dog who enters the ring during the televised competition is not spooked, shy or nervous -- just several concerning behaviors that may be witnessed by a million or more people such as what occurred at the 2017 Westminster Kennel Club (WKC) Dog Show.
For those watching the WKC Group Judging, we saw a few BOB dog entries that were nervous and startled, memorably the Pointer during her examination and gait pattern. So, if Crufts rules were in place at Westminster, then at least a few BOB entries might have been prevented from entering the Group ring for competition. However, wait a minute, let's look at what I believe is just one extenuating circumstance why one or more of these dogs were reactive.
The damn cameras were everywhere. They were in the tunnel most likely on a track system; they were on the floor as the dogs were led out of the tunnel into the open group ring, and they were disguised over by the judging examination area, and so on. Didn't everyone notice the Bulldog as he kept an intense, hard stare at the camera which was moving the length of the tunnel with him until he opened into the arena? All the while the crowd and the camera operator thought it was amusing?! Let me assure you that I did not find it entertaining and those people who know me can attest to the certainty that I would have made sure the cameraman and the WKC show officials knew how I felt -- on camera or off.
My Irish Wolfhounds are true sighthounds with hereditary prey drive. They are neither couch potatoes, dullards or slugs that appear perpetually stoned. They are sensitive, curious hunters who would have reacted to a disguised or hooded, large shape zooming along the tunnel's length seemingly pursuing them as they were led out. True sighthounds are quick to detect or respond to the slightest movement or changes which make them ideal hunters. Interestingly, though, we saw various breeds act in response to the tunnel intrusion, so there may have been more interference than the viewer could see.
Why do these dogs have to be subjected to that -- just for the publicity? Why can't the televising begin with cameras zooming in on each entry after they come out of the tunnel -- not while in the tunnel. THESE ARE ANIMALS damn it -- they are living, breathing creatures, they are not statues. No matter the amount of anthropomorphizing, they remain animals who can frighten, startle, get stressed and they will react.
I felt bad for the Pointer bitch during Group Judging as she grew increasingly overtaxed and alarmed, so I went back and reviewed portions of her breed competition. She seemed to be sound from what I was able to ascertain via video during the breed competition. One could speculate that she became spooked by the hooded camera that was adjacent to the Judges examination area as she was not the only dog reacting to something in that direction. I saw one or more other dogs, such as the Border Terrier, give long, hard looks at this area as the Handlers were trying to get their attention back to the business of showing.
I think WKC needs to thoroughly review the positioning of the television cameras and insist that they ought not to be so close so that they are disturbing the dogs competing. More competitors need to speak up and make their concerns heard, especially those exhibitors whose dogs were somewhat or clearly affected by the presence of the cameras. I say this though with 'tongue in cheek' because the majority of exhibitors today are women and the irony is that Westminster is an 'old-boys' club. They do not allow women members so if the majority of female exhibitors are not going to complain about this offense then they most likely will not complain about their dogs being made to feel visibly uncomfortable. That is until, perhaps one day, a similar vet check will be implemented at Westminster dog show, and then their dog is deemed "considered not in a fit state to be shown" during the televised Group competition.
After watching WKC, it appears that the dogs' physical ease is sacrificed for televising rights, but, it does not seem to have worked out for WKC this time. If memory serves me well, I do not recall in previous years this many dogs reacting to the TV cameras. Perhaps the standard operating procedures have changed with the new televising broadcast company Fox Sports (FS1) and their TV coverage methods? I do think that the agitated behavioral demonstrations we witnessed only provides ammunition to the animal rights extremists (ARE) who argue that conformation dog shows are intimidating, sometimes tormenting experiences for these unfortunate dogs but also that today's breeds are so inbred that they no longer are of sound mind and body.
Returning to the new, additional inspections at Crufts Dog Show -- we are to assume that any low-key observances (their words -- not mine) would eliminate instances such as what we observed at WKC show this week. However, lest we forget, first and foremost, all breeds have diverse temperament and sensitivity levels, and I feel that such an inspection could be biased against the unique genre of sighthounds who can and will respond to their environment, with hair-trigger reactions as their hereditary traits dictate. Sighthounds have many unusual characteristics; for example, the proper way to approach is with your hand under their chin and not over their skull while covering their eyes as nearly all will flinch, duck their head down or pull away. Sighthounds do not like to run towards a solid wall, and for this reason, knowledgeable show superintendents will not assign sighthound breeds to an indoor ring bounded by one or more walls. Many, such as Afghan Hounds, do not like to be approached from behind rather we approach from the shoulder. I could go on and on. The fact is that most galloping sighthounds react to stimuli and while in close quarters with numerous other dogs are stressed -- at least internally -- while others may also be visibly agitated. However, once they reach an open area, many typically calm down. But, the very possibility that an inspection at the highest point of activity and tension just before Group judging commences could eliminate them from group competition is both real and discriminatory.
I can only speculate that Cruft implemented this new review based on animal rights extremists fallout as to what I discussed previously. It seems I am not far off the mark as Dog World UK reported on February 10, 2017, the following:
"It is assumed this move is to avoid the clamour caused last year by the demeanour of the German Shepherd best of breed who appeared spooked and nervous in the ring...The KC said it wanted to ensure the dogs were ‘comfortable and showing no signs of distress’, and that the check will focus on ‘obvious visible conditions which could compromise the dog’s performance in the group competition.’ If the KC perceives there to be a problem the dog will be reviewed by one of the show’s vets who will ask for it to be moved again. All of this will be done as discreetly as possible, a spokesman said. If the vet considers the dog is compromised in some way – movement or temperament – he will discuss his concerns with the handler who it is hoped will accept that their dog is not ‘going well’ or is too agitated to perform well in the group and will readily withdraw their dog. If the dog is not withdrawn voluntarily the KC will insist it is."
All of this is why Westminster Kennel Club show officials should get with their new television broadcast partner and work out a camera procedure with necessary and proper boundaries to ensure that the dogs do not appear distressed (even though often it is not the dog's fault.) No more tunnel camera alongside the dogs and the camera station set up by the examination area needs reassessment.