Oppose the Breed Standard changes!!!

VOTE NO 

TO PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE VIZSLA  BREED STANDARDS

Vizsla Canada Inc. has submitted proposed amendments to the CKC breed standard for both the Smooth and Wirehaired Vizslas.  Unfortunately only members of the Canadian Kennel Club can vote on these proposed changes.  To vote, go to www.ckc.ca and under Membership Services, select Publish for Comment to open the documents.  The deadline for voting and for comments is October 1, 2012.

I urge everyone to vote against the proposed changes which  are summarized below (additions are shown in bold and deletions shown in strikeout).

VIZSLA (SMOOTH)

FOREQUARTERS Dewclaws should be removed if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg.

TAIL A portion is may be docked, approximately 1/3 so that the tip of the shortened tail is level with the juncture of the upper and lower thigh. Full length tails are not to be penalized.

FAULTS
7. Dewclaws not removed.

VIZSLA (WIREHAIRED)

FOREQUARTERS Dewclaws should be removed if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg.

TAIL The tail is of moderate thickness and may be docked to 2/3 of its original length. Full length tails are not to be penalized.

FAULTS Dewclaws.

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Why?   

These standards have been in place for decades.  They were developed by people who had a lot of experience in Hungary.  Tails are docked and dewclaws are removed for good reasons. A breed standard is supposed to give you a clear picture of the ideal dog.  By stating something "may be done" or "if not done, should be . . . "  doesn't give a clear picture.  Should I or shouldn't I dock the tails or remove dewclaws?  The parent club, Vizsla Canada, is bending to the whims of the eastern Canada veterinary colleges which had adopted the policy that these are unecessary surgeries and may subject veterians to professional misconduct.

Many pet owners and veterinarians simply don't understand the history and function of our breed and operate under the misconception that these procedures are cruel and done only for cosmetic reasons.  They are NOT!!  Check out the case for docking on the Council of Docked Breeds website as well as other information and cases on the website of the Council of Docked Breeds.  In some  breeds, cases may be made that some procedures are cosmetic such as ear cropping but in an active dog such as the Vizsla, they are necessary for the safety of our breed.

The Vizsla's tail is very thin at the tip and is just as likely to be damaged inside one's house as outdoors in the field.  I am personally familiar with an undocked import from Australia, which had to have its tail amputated as an adult due to numerous injuries from hitting its tail against the walls of the house.  This was Ozzie, who sired my 2008 litter.  Amputation of a limb when an adult dog is much more serious and painful than when done as a 2-3 day old whelp.  Likewise with dewclaws.  Yes, there is pain when these procedures are done at 2-3 days but it is over very quickly and within a couple of minutes the whelps are asleep. Our standard should continue to advocate for tail docking and dewclaw removal.  The proposed wording changes water down the requirements for docking and adds confusion to the interpretation of the standard.   By not stating that a tail should be docked or that dews should be removed, it leaves things open.

In particular I find the statement about dewclaws "if not removed, should be held tightly against the leg" totally absurd!   I've been in Vizslas since 1978.  In those 34 years, I've seen thousands of Vizslas throughout Canada and the US. Of those thousands of Vizslas, I may have seen 1 dog with dewclaws.  How on earth can a breeder breed for "tight dewclaws" when virtually all Vizslas have had them removed as puppies????  This proposed amendment is absolutely ridiculous!!

So let's imagine I don't remove the dewclaws of a litter of puppies but when they grow up to be six months of age, I want to show one or more of them.  And now I find the dewclaws don't like close to their legs.  If approved, the breed standard no longer says they are a fault but the standard says they should lie close to the leg but they don't.  Now I am confused!! They don't conform to the standard so should I have them removed? Well, surgery is now going to be a lot more expensive and harder on an older dog so I have to think carefully about whether I want to do this to the dog.  However, the dog is a nice specimen except for the dews.  Can you understand where I'm coming from?

I would prefer this wording:

TAILS:

A tail docked one-third is recommended to avoid injury.  When docked, the tip of the shortened tail should be level with the juncture of the upper and lower thigh.  Tails that are somewhat shorter or full-length should not be penalized. 

DEWCLAWS

The removal of dewclaws, if any, on front and rear feet, is strongly recommended in order to avoid injury when running in the field. (This is the wording of the AKC Vizsla Breed Standard.)

I agree with removing dewclaws as a fault in both instances.

If you are a CKC member, PLEASE OPPOSE the proposed amendments to our breed standard.  We need more time to develop better wording if we really need to change the standards.

Failure

Failure is an opportunity to be introspective and reflective and learn from one's errors, omissions or less than stellar performances.  After last night's agility trials, I sure need to do a whole lot of learning!  I had hoped  expected to come home with 4 Q's (qualifying scores) and two completed titles in CKC Intermediate Standard.  Instead, the count was 1 Q.  What went so wrong?

Well, I'm not sure because I don't have any video of my dogs' runs to review and that's a big omission.  I didn't even bring my camera and I don't know how well it would have worked with the lighting anyway.  Without videos, I am simply not going to know what I need to do to improve.

Agility is all about handling and timing.  Clearly I must have done things which resulted in their screwing up.

Here's how things went.

Earlier in the day . . .

• Miska got stung by an insect on her tail and it bothered her for a while.
• Diva had been diagnosed with a bladder infection and was on her second day of treatment. If you've had a bladder infection before, you know how painful they can be.
• During agility training in the morning, there was one tunnel that Miska kept entering but not exiting & Diva was reluctant to jump over some of the jumps set at 22". Nevertheless, I finally had success with both dogs before we left class.

At the trial . . .

• It was an evening, indoor trial and neither dog has trained or competed indoors. They had been to this venue before but at outdoor trials.  However, the rings were nicely matted and very clean.  My dogs have done obedience training indoors on mats and trained in agility on grass, artificial turf and fine gravel and done well with the transitions.
• The courses were easy!!  There were only 18 obstacles and  6 weaves in each trial. There was one call-off and a discrimination. They flowed nicely.  In fact, I actually thought they were too easy compared to most of the courses we've been running recently at Companion Dog Training.
• I didn't get lost on the courses!!! 
• I warmed up my dogs and we played tug before going into the ring.
• Miska was the first to run and her first run was PERFECT!  She had a clean run! I was pumped and figured we were on a roll.
• Diva ran and had 1 off-course.  She does this quite a lot and I KNOW I need to work on her attention to me. This resulted in an NQ.

From that point, it really went down hill.  In Trial 2, Miska chose the wrong tunnel entrance even though I (thought) I gestured it clearly to her.  She doesn't work well at too far a distance (results from obedience training & competition) so I stay close to her.  Why she chose the wrong entrance is beyond me.  And in the second tunnel, she failed to exit (just like the morning) and came back out the entrance (another refusal). Then she went past the weaves which is considered a refusal. She ended up with 3 refusals, 1 wrong course and a fault (she knocked the last bar down).  Plus she had time faults because of all the mistakes.  SIGH!

I thought Diva would be redeemed in her second trial but she also went off course (I can't recall what she did) plus she had a refusal somewhere (can't remember where) and together these resulted in time faults too.  Big fat NQ!  She just needed 1 Q for her title and I was certain she would get it.  WRONG!!!

So I was very disappointed and lay awake thinking about our runs well into the early hours of the morning.  I clearly need to ask someone to video my runs because without my ability to analyze my handling, my dogs' performance will not improve to where I want it and they (WE) will continue to waste MY money and time.

Body language

Playing or fighting? Or play fighting? There's quite a difference in body language in dogs that are actually fighting and those which are playing. Here younger half-sister Elsie is beating up on her older half-sis Diva. In this case, it's all playing or play fighting since the barred fangs and the "dueling jaws" never go past a certain boundary.  Four-year Diva is being particularly tolerant of her younger sister's (15 months) antics.

[No dogs were harmed in the taking of these photos.]

A look

Sometimes, a look just says it all!

Diva (L) to little sister Elsie, "You are soooo unimportant!"

How do you plead?

The charge?

Dismemberment of a stuffed toy, better known as "Gumby". 

 

Elsie - "NOT GUILTY!!"

The charge?

Theft of silverware from the dishwasher.

Miska - "NOT GUILTY!!"

MORE new titles!

I'm very proud to announce more new title earners!

 NEW CHAMPION!

BIS CH Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban FDJ URO1 CGN
proudly handled by breeder/co-owner Sylvia Dorosh

Bodi born May 31/11 from our Miska-Brick breeding is now a Canadian CHAMPION! He finished his title at the Kilbride Kennel Club show in Milton ON on August 10.  This is his fourth title at 14.5 months of age.  His mother Miska is now the dam of 7 champions.  Bodi's title means Varazs-bred and owned dogs have earned 36 CKC champion titles to date!

NEW OBEDIENCE TITLE!

Stella who is a littermate to Bodi earned her CKC Pre-Novice Obedience title on August 10 so she can add PCD behind her name.  This is Stella's third title!  Way to go Stella and owner/hander Teri!!  (Sorry, no pic is available of their title)!

NEW CHAMPION

CH Vitali Intrepid Murphy proudly handled by her breeder, Chrissie Diron

Murphy (CH Vitali Intrepid Murphy) is a descendent of  my dogs.  I bred Murphy's mom - and by the way, Murphy is actually a female - who is Shandy from my 2003 litter between our Sasha and Nova.  This makes Murphy a grand-daughter to Sasha and Nova.  Yes it can get very confusing when we start to talk about pedigrees and who's who and who's related to whom.   Anyhoodle - Murphy just finished her Canadian Champion title with two Sporting Group placements (Group 3rd and 4th) on Vancouver Island, BC earlier this month (August 2012).

More agility pics

Thanks to Staurolite Photography for all these photos taken at last weekend's agility trials. The pictures belie the fact that it was brutally hot and humid on Saturday. You wouldn't know it from looking at my dogs which sincerely look like they are enjoying themselves. It was great for me to be back competing in agility after a hiatus of 8 years.

9-yr old Miska doing agility

 

4-yr old Diva doing agility

More new titles!

Varazs-bred dogs have been busy lately. Four of them earned titles recently and I salute and congratulate their owners! (Well, 2 of the dogs happen to be mine but nonetheless. . . )

New Rally Novice Title!

On July 18 Stella (Miska's daughter from our 2011 litter) and her owner Teri Martin completed their CKC Rally Novice title with a High in Class!  Their scores were 96, 95 and 93 / 100!  This is Stella's second title just after turning 1 year of age.  Stella's name is now Varazs Kedvesem Final Dance RN CGN.   This is quite an accomplishment for such a young dog.  Way to go!

Stella and owner Teri

 

New Rally Excellent Title! 

Shandy (from our 2003 litter and sister to my Miska) and her owner Chrissie Diron earned their final CKC Rally Excellent leg for their title, also with a High in Class! Their scores were 86, 95 and 87. Congratulations!  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of Shandy in this event.  This is Shandy's 11th title.

2 New Agility Titles!

Miska  finished her Novice Agility Standard title (Selected class) with a clean run at the Barrie Kennel and Obedience agility trials on August 4 under brutally hot and humid conditions.  Her daughter, Diva, also finished her Novice Jumpers title with 1 fault and a score of 95.  This was Miska's 24th title and Diva's 8th.

Neither had a clean run in Intermediate jumpers on Saturday.  I felt like I was going to die out there especially since I was very jetlagged, had a bad head cold and had done something to my lower back.  The weather really fried my brain and I messed up badly on Saturday missing obstacles which resulted in NQ's for my dogs in trial 2 (Jumpers).  Great dogs - too bad about the handler!! Sunday was better for everyone although we did get rain but it wasn't as hot.  Miska earned her first Intermediate Standard leg with a clean run and a slightly faster time than her daughter!! Diva earned 2 Intermediate Standard legs with scores of 100 and 95.  Now I can't wait to finish their Intermediate titles!

Thanks to Shelley at Staurolite Photography for these agility photos. 

Diva weaving

Miska in the tire jump