DOG CARTOONS – OCTOBER 2013

Here’s links & page numbers of cartoons in the October 2013 issues of Dog News (USA):

4th October 2013 (page 122) http://issuu.com/dognews/docs/100413 (Welsh Terrier)

11th October 2013 (page 75) http://issuu.com/dognews/docs/101113 (French Bulldog)

18th October 2013 (page 133) http://issuu.com/dognews/docs/101813 (Variety of Puppies)

25th October 2013 (page 100) http://issuu.com/dognews/docs/102513 (Yorkshire Terrier & Japanese Chin)

 

NO POLISH BUT PLENTY OF SPRAY-PAINT

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (11th September 2013) where I discuss the need for a common sense approach to the issue of dog fouling and litter in general.

 

It’s a subject guaranteed to provoke a storm of response, so it’s no great surprise to see the perennial problem of ‘dog turd’ once again raising its ugly head in the media.
Recently, Rochford Council announced that it was going to tackle the problem by giving the poo deposited on its streets ‘the Essex spray tan treatment’ by spraying it a tangerine shade of bright orange. It is hoped that the bizarre project will shock owners who fail to pick up after their pets into changing their bad habits. The press proclaimed it as a ‘novel experiment’ but, of course, dog owners know different.
A town near to where I live attempted a similar stunt back in 2010 but their colour of choice was a dark Phthalo green (which I thought was a rather strange choice for faeces deposited on parkland) and they also had high hopes that the ‘shock value’ would persuade errant dog owners to ‘pick up’.
On a recent trip to the town it was clearly evident that the headline-grabbing gimmick hadn’t worked as one had to assume moves that would make any ballet star envious simply to avoid stepping in the many doggy deposits.

ATTRACTING NEW FACES TO SHOWING

From my Dog World column ‘Crossing the headlines’ (7 August 2013) where I suggest ways to encourage the next generation of exhibitors.

 

As you must all be aware by now, Dog World has launched its readers’ survey asking what can be done to reinvigorate the show scene.
Along with its readers, DW columnists have also been asked for their views on the topic however, by the time my column is printed, I’m sure all the major concerns such as offering CCs to all eligible breeds, sliding scale of entry fees, benching and the perennial problem of face judging will have been fully and expertly explored.
So, I’ve decided to take a different approach – exploring the view of the beginners.
For a full reinvigoration to take place in our hobby surely we need to see new faces. Just a read through DW’s weekly obituary column shows the wealth of talent and knowledge we are losing and, as fewer people take up the sport, this expertise just isn’t being replaced. Obviously, if such a scenario is allowed to continue, our hobby could well face extinction in the very country that created it.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED TO LISTEN

From my Dog World column ‘Crossing the headlines’ (10th July 2013) where I look into the direction our UK Kennel Club appears to be heading in.

These are certainly turbulent times for the world of pedigree dogs. Hardly a week goes by without some edict being issued from Clarges Street that often results in the stirring up of simmering resentment! What with the reductions in CC allocation, the registration of ‘undesirable colours’ and now the talk of registering ‘cockerpoos’ and ‘doodles’. It’s certainly left a number of us scratching our heads in confusion questioning the direction in which our Kennel Club is heading?

Well it seems we need question no longer as a recent article by Ronnie Irving appears to shed light on the KC’s thinking. It appears that because 4,000 labradoodles were microchipped last year (through the KC’s microchipping system) it now feels compelled to “help and advise” the breeders of such dogs on how to breed healthy animals. One way of doing so, it claims, is to welcome them onto the Assured Breeder Scheme and encourage them to use the relevant health screening tests.