Posted on 07/30/2009
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Perspective
Mark Threlfall

When someone talks about perspective, it means the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance. Of course, it has other meanings as well, but for the purpose of this article, I’m sticking with this one.

Perspective is one of those things you either have or you don’t. It’s also something that is missing in a number of people who show dogs. Too many people in the sport allow a loss in the ring to ruin their whole day. I know this is true because we get the complaints. People start off their letters by saying what a great atmosphere the smaller, friendlier shows have, how they made friends, are glad we discourage excessive grooming in favor of a more “natural” look and many other differences that separate UKC from other registries. Then, they lower the boom. They lost. They lost and they are mad about it. They are so mad they’re never coming back. I guess making new friends and enjoying a more relaxed day doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if you lose.

What amazes me is that these people have chosen to participate in a competition where the judging is admittedly subjective, based on the judge’s interpretation of the standard, and then let it ruin their day if they don’t win. Look at any other sport. Does every losing team or player write nasty letters to the Commissioner of the sport if they lose a game? Do they claim they lost because of poor referees or because of something bad that another player did to them? No. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s just the way it is. To some dog folks, it’s never the fault of their dog or their own ability to present it; it’s always someone else’s fault they lost.

Last week I watched Tiger Woods fail to qualify at the British Open. The person considered by most people to be the greatest golfer on the planet didn’t even make the cut. When he was interviewed, did he blame the weather, the clubs, the pin placements, the officials or anything else? No; he blamed himself. He just said you can’t play the way (he) did and make the cut. He simply wasn’t on his game. End of story. Does anyone think less of him for admittedly having a bad outing? Quite the contrary; people respect him more when he takes responsibility for his own loss, lets the weight rest on his own shoulders and did not try to blame other factors for his loss.

We are seeing better quality dogs at our conformation events every weekend. More people are enjoying showing their own dogs in UKC events, so winning isn’t quite as easy as it used to be. Gone are the days when you could pretty much count on a win just by virtue of showing up. This portends well for the future of the sport and of UKC. As a registry, it is gratifying to see such quality animals competing week in and week out.

I understand that we put a lot of time and effort into our dogs. I also understand that it is no fun to lose. I was pretty successful in my “other life” in the show rings. At the end of my career, I found I was doing a lot more winning than I did when I first started. Was this because of “politics”? I don’t think so. I know that I was a lot smarter about who I showed my dogs to at the end of my career than I was at the beginning. But I still did my share of losing. That’s simply part of competition. I will say I learned more about showing dogs from a loss than I ever did from a win. And after you learn enough, you start winning more.

The larger point here is to enjoy what you are doing. If the success of the day is predicated on a win, most people are going to go home disappointed. If a successful day is determined by the fun you have, the friends you see and the companionship of your dog, then we’ll all be going home happy.