But this dog won the Nonsporting Group at Westminster last night.
If we’re celebrating purebred dogs, the best way is to shun the ol’ sourmug.
This is the breed that has pretty much everything wrong with it, except that it doesn’t get matted fur.
This is the most buggered up dog that “sound scientific breeding” ever produced, and the fact that people want to buy these–and spend a fortune on them– is just a sign that people still are suffering from having too much money and not enough sense.
When you get one of these dogs, you’re pretty much guaranteeing that the animal won’t live long and will have at least one or two emergencies that could have been prevented had the dog not had such an exaggerated conformation.
I was going to stay out of this nonsense this year, but the fates were not with me.
Let’s just hope this poor thing doesn’t wind up Best in Show.
If that happens, it will just be another sad day for dogs, and the American purebred dog establishment of this country continues on into irrelevancy.
I don’t have the piss and vinegar that I once possessed to attack the modern concept of a bulldog.
I’m just sad.
Keep it up, Scottie. I have been on and off all day, looking at the frumpys trot their dogs around the ring. One could almost guarantee the COI’s of most breeds are historically high, among several other things. I think when science becomes more prevalent in dog breeding, the sore thumbs will be immediately apparent.
My beautiful Golden Molly had a wonderful brother named Winston the bulldog. What a pair they were together. A complete blessing. Both of them….adorable, loving characters.
Glad to hear your comments. I smiled at the one good point that you found regarding the matted fur. I would have had a hard time coming up with that.
You are a jerk. English Bulldogs have been around for Centuries. What makes you think your retriever hasn’t been over bred and over hyped. You obviously have never had a bulldog and your head has been up your bum. Don’t knock it if you have no real knowledge of it. No “Retiever” in the Best in Show makes retrieverman/ Mr Westfall a sore loser!
Actually, you are quite wrong. Bulldogs, as in catching dogs, may have been around for centuries, but the Sourmug has only existed since about 1870. Fail. The original catching bulldogs were more like an Alano Espanol or a Dogo Argentino or a pit bull. I’ve done my homework on this, chief.
When the Sourmug replaced the Philo Kuon bulldog around 1890, there was a walking race between two of types, and the Sourmug got exhausted in less than a mile.
Bulldogs were the first breed ruined by conformation showing.
I don’t consider winning a conformation show that people watch on TV to be that awesome.
If you think that’s what motivates my criticism, you’re unqualified to comment here.
And I would be appalled if one of those squat little dumpy retrievers won BIS.
Thank you so much for having a brain. I have gotten to the point where I can’t even watch it. The fact that a real working Bulldog lost out to the sour mug kills me. They should have kept the original working variety and dumped the sour mug. So many Bulldogs could have been saved from a lifetime of pain.
Glad to see you posting on these subjects again. I’m with you on the sad state of this dog. These bulldogs, or bullfrogs, or what have you…. I see nothing remotely worth working with here. This is one breed that, if it disappeared, it would not upset me in the least. There are plenty of other dogs in that family tree out there closer to normal people can work with. This is the ultimate dead end in breeds, except perhaps for the Pekingese.
A lot of breeds have some pretty severe issues, or multiples. And for some I hold out hope, whether it makes sense or not, because of some redeeming qualities of servitude or usefulness. Not in this case. Lots of dogs are companionable, and even low energy if that’s what you really want. So there are other, less expensive options for people than this ultimate disaster of dogs if one is looking for the family doorstop. No need for this dog.
The Sourmug. What a moniker. Also, I like how some of the English Bulldog people photo-shop their dogs to be fighting bulls. A bull would kick, gore or just plain stomp an English Bulldog flat.