We often hear people say how different life or events were in yesteryear. Often we reflect on things or people that we miss, our nostalgic memories vivid as if it were just yesterday. I frequently find myself doing so as I reminisce about how our breed society once was and the stark contrast to what it is today. The consequences of such disparities are substantial being that today we now have the lowest standards of acceptability and accountability within our organization and society. The 2017 IWCA National Specialty recently provided several instances that aroused my sentimentalism.
My husband and I very much looked forward to the National held in Geneva, New York. Despite my having attended many, many Nationals over these 33 years, I have only been able to attend, due to their location, just five in recent times. However, this relative absence provided a unique perspective on the changes that have occurred within the Club, in the hounds, as well as the personal character of some fanciers. Allow me to first preface my thoughts by extending my appreciation and respect for the effort, toil, and convictions of Show Chairpersons. I know first-hand the work involved as I have chaired a double-header in 1997 and 1998. Chairpersons do the absolute best to make certain that the event runs as if it were a well-oiled machine. However, mere mortals cannot control the weather which, once again, was uncooperative at this Specialty location with copious rain showers on the first day that sabatoged the grounds for the remainder of the four-day show. The Grounds Chairman, David Milne, was faced with a mud bog and attempted to find solutions. The show ring and surrounding grounds were mostly ruined requiring scores of hay bales spread everywhere for navigability, though cedar shavings would have been a better resolution. Unfortunately, the hay did very little as our shoes sunk in 3-inches of mud and worse, while gaiting, in many areas it was thick enough to suck the shoes off the back of your heel.
This experience leads me to a story, told by a good friend, who had learned of the conditions at this show and felt compelled to describe a similar incident that occurred decades past at a previous IWCA National. The year was 1978, and Miss Noreen Twyman was adjudicating. The weather was terribly uncooperative, with significant rain creating mud bogs in the show ring. As was told to me, Miss Twyman decided not to gait her entries in the show ring but rather to move them under the tent. She explained later at an informal "get-together" that running hounds in such treacherous conditions could injure the hound's tendons and or ligaments. Similar to post holing, if one is an experienced hiker.
Oh, how I miss those good old days where we had knowledgeable, wisened advisors such as Miss Twyman, who was not only a breed authority but a skilled large and small animal veterinarian. Genuine sportspeople who were experts in animal husbandry who could quickly size up a situation and determine the best course of action for the Hounds.
Even more significant and disturbing divergences from years gone by were observed at this past IWCA National Specialty. I witnessed a female wolfhound wearing a Prong obedience/training collar! Wolfhounds should not wear prong obedience/training collars. Period -- no ifs, ands or buts about it. These are not Doberman Pinchers, Rottweilers or Staffordshire Terriers. The woman was not disabled nor handicapped; she was not elderly, small or frail. The Wolfhound was not hard to handle, spooky or skittish. In fact, the Wolfhound appeared well-mannered as she was being towed along by this woman. I immediately and quickly sought out and spoke with a show official about the fact that a prong collar was being used on the show grounds, and even though they commiserated with me as to the unacceptability of the collar -- to my knowledge, nothing was done about it.
Oh, if this were the only disturbing incident, but alas, it was not. My husband and I were walking our hounds through the headquarters hotel parking lot when we walked past the open rear doors of a large utility trailer/hauler hitched to a pick-up truck. Much to our dismay, there were Wolfhounds bedded in hay within the hauler. How shocking but unsurprising all at the same time leaving the both of us with a bad taste in our mouths.
Regrettably, the reality is that, more than ever, the moral reasoning and development of character is stymied within many of today's breed fanciers. In years past, neither one of these offenses would have been tolerated at a National or Regional Specialty. As a matter of fact, at the 1990 Columbia, South Carolina IWCA National Specialty, a breeder/exhibitor had arrived with his wolfhounds in a trailer. I still remember to this day that one or more IWCA representatives took the gentleman aside and declared that Irish Wolfhounds were not livestock and therefore, using that form of transportation was completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated on the official show grounds. The matter was handled with grace and civility but make no mistake; the issue was addressed. At the same time, having known many of these old-standing fanciers, I am confident that the mere sight of a prong obedience collar on a Wolfhound would never have been overlooked or condoned.
Presently, it appears that the IWCA and regional club memberships are considered open season for enrollment. Memberships are wide open to highly reprehensible individuals whose primary motivation is profit and focus only on meeting supply and demand. Why are these people members at all? The IWCA, as well as one or more Regional Specialty clubs, chose to accept these highly controversial applicants. They did so despite having performed background checks with local, conscientious breeders as to the morality, ethics, and operations of the candidates. They did so notwithstanding the established Standards of Ethical Conduct for Members of the IWCA, and the Standard of Behavior for Breeders of the IWCA that requires these new members adherence. Let us be clear, according to the United States District Court Minnesota Sixth Division, in Avenson v. Zegart 1984; a puppy mill was defined as a "dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits." So, are we being led to believe that these individuals are going to modify their business plans abruptly because they are now members of the IWCA? Of course not!
What is the reason for permitting membership to substandard amateur breeders and commercial puppy farms? As was explained to me -- one of the motives for allowing these dog brokers membership was to educate them. This explanation is outrageous as these hateful, inhumane persons seek only to gain credibility through our association so they can increase the sales price of their merchandise and expand their market. Now they have the ideal vehicle to do so with the backing of the IWCA and regional clubs.
It is so pitiful that the once revered guidelines, the merits, the excellence of our once upstanding association have plunged to such abject levels. Take for example new puppy owners attending a specialty with a 9-week old puppy in tow. Setting aside the offense of placing a wolfhound puppy at 8-9 weeks of age; let us add insult to injury by adding that this poor waif did not resemble any nine-week-old puppy on the Ambleside or Alfred de Quoy Growth Charts with minimum and maximum weights of 23 to 37 pounds. No, this 9-week old pup could not possibly top the scales at 20 pounds -- if that. To my eye, he looked to weigh 15 pounds. Oh yes, long gone are the ole days of principled fanciers. Read more on the placement of underage puppies in my earlier Blog Post titled, "Caveat Emptor."
Permit me to share one more memory that is in direct contrast with today's reality. I recall a time when the IWCA National Specialty Auction dinner event was a suit & tie or at least sports coat affair. Many of us remember the numerous items of excellent quality with unique and incomparable goods, such as an original bronze statue donated by the luminary artist, Dan Ostermiller fetching, if my memory serves me correctly, $1,000.00 or more. Gone now are those uncommon goods and extensive selections which once filled every nook and cranny of the room or outdoor tents such as in Newport and Lake Placid. Long ago, our society affairs were gracious, festive, and very well-attended held with and in stylish decorum. While attending this recent Auction Dinner, I was dismayed and saddened at the unconcerned casualness, humbleness, and smallness of what was once a celebrated affair.
Times have indeed changed. As it concerns our passion and hobby, the resulting developments are extraordinarily worrisome. It is a mystery as to how much of our breed society, as well as our parent organization, have debased themselves while setting new lows. Are we even capable of restoring the previous state of moralistic and respectable community that once was? Pitifully no, not if we were to consider current and continuous actions to form a conclusion. Look at the breeding model that has been followed around the globe resulting in the nearly complete loss of genetic diversity in our breed. According to the data contained on Dr. Silvan Urfer's website, 93% of the wolfhounds, worldwide, are affected by the current Population Bottleneck.
As for we bellwethers, we are blithely ignored.