This month’s award is a bit special in that it goes to someone who professes to not only have expertise with dogs but to prioritise their welfare.
In this case, “idiot” is probably too polite word but I also acknowledge that this is possibly at the mild end of the scale under the circumstances.
This “idiot” judges at companion dog shows and is quite happy to tell a bulldog owner that the observable waist in his bulldog is a fault and that the dog, already overloaded on his stunted legs and breathing stentoriously through his flat face and narrow nares should be “fatter”. He is a very sweet dog and the owner is very caring, but nonetheless, he shows a dog that struggles to breathe, cannot cope with heat, has multiple allergies and distorted dentition. He is frequently told at KC Championship shows that his dog is too slim, but fortunately, at least in this respect, he puts his dog’s welfare first.
The same judge also told another bull dog owner that the dog should have his feet forced inward as he would look better if pigeon-toed. This is of course another dog with dreadful breathing, carrying too much weight and is also very timid. Not a notable bull dog trait. The owners also want to championship show. This advice was extended to the owner of a long dog who was told that she should walk her dog on a pebbled beach so that it would be forced to clench its toes and turn them inward.
Oh how I wish that I could force this judge to teeter in her high heels on cobbles all day until her toes were also forced inward – and of course make her wear a fat suit and limit her breathing to the same extent as the poor bull dogs.