First of all, I want to tell everyone that Shade is doing fabulous! I can't believe how well she has recovered! Again, I thank you all for sending us good thoughts and prayers. In September, there's a Weim speciality show in the Atlanta area. If they offer Veteran Bitches as a non-regular class, I do believe we'll enter. Oh, our "up-and-back" and "go around, please" will be a lot slower, but I know from watching veteran classes before, it brought tears to my eyes seeing the old troopers strut their stuff. And when that crowd clapped as they went round, you could see their eyes light up and maybe those chests puff out a little more. Perhaps one last hoorah for the old lady, eh? Which brings me to the second part of this novel. Last night, I was looking on the Internet at a puppy finder site. I was horrified at the description of a Weimaraner given by the Webmaster. Could the standard have changed so much? Shade is, after all, 15 now, so it's been a while. So, I checked. Nope. I wrote the Webmaster and corrected the misinformation . Whether it gets changed or not, we shall see. Then, I started looking at the breeders advertisements . I was shocked. It amazes me that a "reputable" breeder would represent this wonderful breed in such a way...treating "long hair," "blue coat color," "green eyes" etc. as though these traits were badges of honor for the breed when, in fact, they are disqualifying faults. Now, I realize that everyone doesn't want a "show dog," but every pup born in a litter isn't "show potential" so there are lots of opportunities for nice, pet-quality Weims. Maybe that shoulder lay back isn't just what it should be for the ring but doesn't prevent that pup from being a wonderful companion. Sharing my home with Weims for most of the past 30 years, I feel it's my obligation to the breed to keep it true AND to educate potential Weim owners to the best of my ability, which doesn't include promoting undesirable (recessive?) traits. We have BREED STANDARDS for a reason. It alarms me that when folks read about "blue" Weims, they may think this is really fine. I'm sure all our favorite breeds have such things happen. It just really shocked me. It's been a long time since I thought about a puppy...Course, when I found Shade, that was before "the Internet" was such a popular medium. I resorted to spending weekends at dog shows and finally finding a male that I thought was awesome. He was to be bred in a few months to a nice bitch. So, I waited for my Shade to be conceived; waited until the pups were born; waited until the litter was graded, and finally had the pleasure of driving 3 hours to find my Shade. Anyway, again, I know it's not just in Weims that this happens...and now folks, I'll stop venting.Â
