Nukualofa's Viola won Junior Bitch and Reserve Best Bitch. Now, she is only 16 months old - too young for her to be fully-wrinkled yet - and most of the others in the class were shockers. But I'm not going to publish them because this dog gives us some hope for the future and deserves some unadulterated celebration.
I was genuinely delighted to have these pictures drop into my inbox this morning.
This is what I have meant all along... a dog that I hope the breed stalwarts will consider typey enough, without burdening the poor beast with life-compromising excess flesh.
Well done. Really. Well done.
Gosh, never thought I'd say this but what a stunning neo that bitch is!
ReplyDeleteReally well done to the breeders, and it fills me with hope for the future of this breed!
Was also pleasantly surprised with the Shar-Pei dog that won BOB too. Just goes to show that there are plenty of breeders producing fit and healthy dogs. They are the ones that need to be rewarded and encouraged!
Please, I don´t understand - will somebody from the Neo folks explain? This young bitch looks good! She is pleasant to the eye. She doesn´t look as if some bit or other of her bodily equipment was going be a trouble her. She looks as if she can move, and breathe, and enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteWhy can´t you go for dogs like her? What´s wrong with being normal?
Wonderful looking!
ReplyDeleteWow! Now that's a pretty Neo and you can see her eyes!
ReplyDeleteVery impressive.
Louise.
Wow, she looks like a dog, and not a melted gargoyle!
ReplyDeleteBest Neo I have seen! So, WHY was she not put through to BOB!!!
ReplyDeleteBecause she did not win the CC
Deleteok,so WHY did she NOT win the CC (bitch) and BOB?
DeleteSurly the judge should have sent this girl through to the group!
Probably because judges have been, and continue to be, part of the problem. It's easy to beat up on breeders, but what about judges that reward these exaggerated features?
DeleteSo she hasn't matured and fully wrinkled up yet, but what a healthy and beautiful looking dog. Looks every inch as though she could do what she was bred for. So - why not change the breed standard to reflect an ADULT dog that looks like this? I could weep at some of the adult neo's I really could. One of them looks like it has a skin disease. What part of someone's brain tells them that a)this looks good b) this is healthy and c)this could be remotely functional. Not to mention what a trial it must be for a dog to live in such a body. Breed blindness doesn't begin to cover it. Then look at this youngster. Why would you not want every adult Neo to look this way?
ReplyDeleteWell Done Kim on your wins with this lovely bitch. I wish you every sucess with her in the future!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Jemima for giving credit where it is due as well.
Agreed, well done Kim, thank you for practicing what you preach. Beautiful dog!
ReplyDeleteThats such great looking bitch, congratulations Kim
ReplyDeleteFinally ... a positive step in the right direction. No face lift needed for this little beauty.
ReplyDeleteH
fabulous bitch and exactly what other neo breeders should be striving for, what a shame the judge didnt have the forsight to give this bitch the BOB and then we might have got to see the neo's being represented in the group judging!
ReplyDeleteDon't wrinkles get less as they grow (shar peis) or is it different for different breeds.
ReplyDeleteJust a question. Is it the same dog on all pictures? If you look at pic nr one and pic nr 4 her left eye is different. On nr one her left eye is a little dropped down and you can see some redness http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eTr5X1Z_A1I/T2CXcdwwzgI/AAAAAAAAAxg/9MeylmjzyyI/s1600/Crufts-796.jpg but on pic nr four the eye looks great http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aakpGaQNUiw/T2CXW4E5g_I/AAAAAAAAAxY/Z75SFPpVa7E/s1600/Crufts-748.jpg. For me a bit confusing. But agree with you all that she looks better then any neo I´ve seen in a long time.
ReplyDeleteHanna, The left eye on pic no 1 on here is definitely different to the same pic 1 on the link you posted. The left eye on pic 4 on here looks the same as the one on your link and the eye looks good but it does not look as though it could be the same eye as pic 1 on your link… Lovely bitch but there seems to be something rather odd going on with her pics…..
DeleteThis bitch does have ectropion and if you look closely there is a little droop, but it is not excessive, her eyes look clear and, more importantly, the overall package is good. Also, from all reports ringside, she moves well.
DeleteIn fact, from an email I received yesterday, it's clear her owner believes she may well have failed the vet check on account of the ectropion. That would have been a great shame given what she represents in so many other ways.
Thinking cap is currently on re how to make independent scrutiny fair and to not unncessarily penalise breeds which are tackling problems.
Jemima
AnonymousMar 14, 2012 05:33 PM
DeleteIt´s the exact same pictures as Jemima posted. The only thing I´ve done is to show the pic in a new tab and that way get a directlink and full size.
What a lovely bitch! Everything less exaggerated and her feet aren't flat to the floor like most of the others (something that really offends me in every breed!)... This bitch should have won BOB and gone through to the Group Ring. If only judges would start to reward dogs that are fit for function....the breed would change very quickly. A year of winning top honours in the Neo and this bitch could be the catalyst for change in the conformation of the breed. Before I started reading and had looked at the pics I thought this was the BOB and wondered why it hadn't passed the vet checks...but now I realise I was wrong! There is hope!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Kim, on your win with a very nice looking bitch. This is a dog that deserved a prize, as does her breeder.
ReplyDeleteShe looks like an improvement but these dogs can take another 2 years to develop the excessive 'typey' look so desired by these people. Let's see how she develops...
ReplyDeleteLovely young bitch, just gorgeous! She makes me want to just sit and stare at her, not recoil in disgust and confusion. Id love to see more like this!
ReplyDeleteYou wait and see what the young bitch will look like when she is matured at 3 years of age......And not every mastino has entropion/ectropion!! All mastinos look like they have "skin-problems" when they are changing fur. And yes, I have had a mastino.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that this bitch is an improvement on many examples of her breed she is still too lose skinned for my liking. I haven’t seen pictures of pre show examples of this bread but I suspect they were a bit more athletic looking. This seems to be a problem with very large show breeds .They all have drifted to the sumo look. For example the working Spanish mastiffs that I see in the mountains around me in Spain look nothing like the show versions on google images. There seems to be one picture of some unspoiled gogs on google imiges ,if you scroll down there is a picture of four leading some sheep.ps lots of wrongly tagged pics of other breeds on the page. Also a good example on the cover of Hancocks Heritage of the Dog
ReplyDelete