h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I enjoyed this entry, Eco!

When i lived in Qatar, we had two Dalmations, one was a rescue dog (the owners got it as a Xmas gift for the kids, discoved large boisterous dogs & valuable carpets & ornaments don't mix); the other was a deaf dally, around 9 months old. Kennel Club rules dictate that any Dalmation pup suspected to be deaf OR (get this!) "having wrongly placed spots or patches" should be euthanased (ie: murdered) If by some chance, the pup lives, under no circumstances can they be "shown" in public "This will dilute the purity of the breed in the Public Eye"

So; there was a dog show, various classes, we had a nice day out; it's good to dogs to socialise & i decided to enter Meg (the pup) in a class for "older pups: all breeds" & also for the "Obstacle course" Archie wouldn't have been into any sort of class, being neurotic & inclined to take off into the middle distance!

Meg had been trained to respond to my eye contact & hand signals & was the most beautiful little lady there & of course she won "best pup"! She didn't get placed in the Obstacle race 'cos she couldn't quite understand what Mum wanted her to do, unless Mum did it first, which must have beeen hilarious for the audience!

I chatted to the judge afterwards, he's an official on the Crufts circuit. I asked him why he'd placed her first "Well, obviously she is perfectly spotted & meets all the breed requirements, plus is exceptionally responsive to your commands, you didn't even need to speak to her did you?"

"Nope. No use trying. She's stone deaf."

His face was a picture!!!!!

zdt

Awww, bless! Thanks for sharing that - I know that there are lots of breeds that sometimes have pups they MURDER! You never see a white boxer - because they aren't part of the 'show world'. Those that aren't euthanased are often neutuered before being sold.

It's funny the way judges are so insistant on voice commands. Even the 'chief instructor' at my training club often tells us we should ask our dogs to do something 'with voice command only', when dogs respond so much better to hand signals and gestures! Sometimes I think deaf dogs are the lucky ones!

Indeed! I also had a deaf spaniel & blind Siamese cat, all coped perfectly well; i was discussing this tonight with my mate, who is French/Algerian/ Irish; as he said "it's just racism by another name, these people live in their own little boxes; poor, poor them, what the hell they gonna do when the oil runs out & the aliens finally arrive?"

zdt