 |
VORIE's Blog Vorie is a ‘Voice Of Reason In English Springers' and will be periodically sharing their thoughts with you about the world of dogs as we know it, through the medium of the ESSC Website. The ESSC feels extremely lucky to have VORIE's support especially in view of the many long standing commitments Vorie already undertakes in the literary world. Living in a multicultural environment and always trying to think outside of the box, with a true passion for justice and most importantly having the interest of our beloved breed at heart at all times - Vorie's musings are something that we, at the ESSC, very much look forward to reading. Due to life's commitments and of course the understandable desire to preserve their anonymity, VORIE is unable to answer any emails on a personal basis but would be happy to know the readers thoughts on the content of the Blog. Comments may be sent to Vorie's email Please Note: No. 3 - 28th January 2010 New Year, New Beginnings. We Brits are renowned for our obsession with the weather and believe me I am no exception and after the snow chaos it's not surprising really. How did I feel about it? On a good day it was a marvel, a wonderful white world with Nature flexing its muscles at us mere humans- on a bad day it was tiring, a nuisance and a worry about fuel lasting, bills and power cuts. The snow, of course, was just -snow!- it was I that imbued it with a life and personality of its own, sometimes inspiring, sometimes vindictive! For us doggy folk it presented a variety of joys and problems, but I have to say I'm not sorry it is over ( for this year at least I hope) and as light creeps steadily into the darkness of evening we can all look forward to the Spring, the signs are there in the garden already. With Spring's arrival comes the Crufts frenzied phenomena. There will be the usual flurry of activity in the canine world. No matter what your stance- ‘it's just another show' or ‘it's the showcase of the dog world'- no one can deny the style, spectacle and slick machine that it is. A new beginning with DFS sponsorship too, Even if I don't exhibit, I always feel distinctly peeved if for any reason I cannot attend, I feel a sense of exclusion which is magnified without TV coverage(my internet is far too slow!). Again, like Spring heralds new beginnings, so does Crufts for me. An end to the hinterland of Winter and Yuletide and on with the show! Crufts and the other Championship shows are indeed massive undertakings and become increasingly so as peoples expectations grow as indeed they do in all areas of life now. Along with this growth of expectation there has been an increase in intolerance I find. I'm not saying we should not expect a fair deal or accept poor management as this is definitely not a cheap hobby. but some things are just beyond human influence ( like the snow) and on those occasions we need to be more understanding. Most societies do work incredibly hard ( not to forget unpaid) to provide the best experiences for us that they can, how often do we say ‘Well done'???? Still on the theme of new beginnings, there are the puppies, nothing is like the excitement and anticipation that comes with new stock, I can't help but feel this as I watch the baby classes even when I don't have one myself, it is an indicator of the state and direction of the breed. Surely this is what keeps us all going , the ‘journey' that these youngsters are to make (pardon the TV cliché, I must get out more). Mmmmmm, new beginnings for newcomers and new judges too! A few thoughts to share with you on this, I'm sure you will have a few in response, which can only be good. You know those of us longer in tooth than we care to admit really have a role here, we need to be open and share readily experience and knowledge and not be covetous or feel threatened. I distinctly recall my mentors of the past being incredibly generous with both their time and advice. Today our society's forte is supposed to be communication, with all the IT etc etc. BUT true communication and exchange are still firmly based on speaking AND listening. Now, an awful lot of speaking goes on but my observations indicate very, very little listening happens! So that is my best advice to newcomers and new judges, just put your opinions on hold and listen more!, in fact: STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN!. Yes the old Green Cross Code holds good for many topics, especially this one. In fact, take it out there into other areas of your life, I guarantee you'll be amazed at the response! Accept the challenge.......( I think I should have gone into philosophy!!) Don't be afraid thinking is not harmful to your health! Well there you are, here endeth my missal for the New Year, my opportunity to wish you all health and happiness and success by your own measure. All the best for 2010, Vorie. No. 2 - 1st December 2009
Tempus fugit, time is a river, time for a story, time out of mind, tea time, Greenwich mean time, time and again........ I could go on and no doubt you could too now that particular seed is planted. Yes I've been pondering the ‘biggy', time and changes. From my last blog you may have reasonably concluded that I am firmly ensconced in the past. Not true - at least I hope not - it's just that I firmly believe that we should be always be open to change but at the same time be discerning. Change does not equal improvement nor does change equal disaster. Change is just that - change, it's up to us to decide how to model this in our impeccable and entirely fallible, human way. Good lord you may well think, what is this Vorie on? Well nothing - but that maybe more worrying still! Perhaps it would help if I gave you a little insight as to how I work and how this comes together. When I write it's a bit like making a soup, it swills about for a couple of weeks (no don't eat here) various things added, some things bob back to the surface and eventually it's ready. The original canine news ingredients are combined with current events and personal musings and there you are. Time, change and indeed mortality have sadly touched us recently, as I am sure you are all aware, and have certainly been there at the front of my mind. The final spur to get it all down was the 90th anniversary of Nancy Astor becoming the first woman MP - momentous indeed. It made me consider the other side too, how on earth did the rest of House deal with this? It made me think of parallels with the KC today, very much another ‘gentleman's club' of the past and both had to be dragged into their current times. Change again! I think that once we can accept that nothing can ever be truly reversed, and that we can indeed only move forward, we will be fine. We make mistakes, the Kennel Club makes mistakes, some bigger than others, but on the whole I have come to the conclusion that they are generally acting in good faith. Bless them they were hardly prepared for or equipped to deal with the fallout from Jemima Puddleduck's expose, but they have mustered and taken action, some inadequate and some brings sledgehammers and nuts to mind(sorry chaps!) but they are here, on a journey, and as breeders and exhibitors we are on that same road and we have to find a way through that is acceptable and reasonable to all (even the man on the Clapham omnibus). I don't think any of us could take issue with the essence of ‘that' programme, but then to a certain degree we are fortunate to have a breed, from its very breed standard, to be without exaggeration of any form. I'm not entirely sure how I would feel as a peke/ GSD breeder but I do hope common sense and animal welfare would prevail. In these breeds I am convinced there will be many may be even a majority who will heave a collective sigh of relief that it's ‘out' and change will come. Have we not all felt the pressures from time to time to make less than the best decision in the quest for wins and judge approval? Aaaah..... judges - yes another can of worms - training, experience, qualifications???..................please give it some thought, your views are welcome. As they say on the radio please get in touch, we are nothing without you ( I think that brings us back to the KC!!!!).
Whose idea was this anyway? I ponder as I sit here with pen in hand ( yes, pen - not biro even). This probably signifies my aged and Grumpy Old Person status, but rest assured this long hand will be transferred to the screen and wing its way through the ether for your perusal. I am not a technophobe BUT I do feel that technology should support and assist us and not rule and dominate us. I don't know about you but St Columba's cave and hermit existence can seem extremely attractive when being harangued in my own home by phone, text and email (how do they know so accurately when I'm in the bath, having dinner etc? or is that there is so many of them?) and people get so cross and indignant if they can't immediately communicate with you NOW! I think this is the culture of our time, I resist where I can. Where, you may rightly wonder, is this going? What has it to do with dogs, ESS or otherwise? Well it leads me directly to my beef about on line entries for shows. I was interested to see a letter in the dog press a couple of weeks ago making some of my points of dissatisfaction too. We save the societies a fortune in printing, postage, phone bills and not least of all - time and we are then charged extra for this privilege. Does that sound fair? I think not. All charges are significant in these costly days and a little coming back the other way wouldn't go amiss. My other main bone of contention is that I have never missed so many entries. Have societies ever considered this may be an element in falling numbers? Just a thought. Part of my showing enjoyment was the planning stage, going through the show ads in the dog press highlighting and marking shows, judges and dates and then phone for schedules, you can now complete the process with no human interaction whatsoever! Then on their arrival, they would sorted into closing date order in a pile in the office, closing dates written boldly on the top to serve as a reminder. In all the decades I missed only one using that method! There was no point in phoning secretaries with pleas of ignorance either. Dare I ask how one manages without a PC? Or not being computer literate or having bank and credit cards? Or a printer, heaven forbid? I feel strongly it should be choice and that the old entry system is discouraged by Societies for all the above mentioned reasons. Well that's that off my chest! However I must acknowledge that WWW can be an incredible aide to exchange news and information with our fellow dog people, here and all over the world, at the click of a button. Also now with so many having their own fantastic websites you can safely and discretely browse away, gleaning info as you go. Once upon a time all we had were our well thumbed Southern Year Books which are still the pride of the breed and a wonderful resource. I still harbour a few concerns about some chat rooms and blogs and the like ( I'm afraid as you may have guessed, I don't Twitter and can't face Facebook, a step too far I feel). I just have this niggle that they can foster a false impression of cosy intimacy and private chat but it most certainly is not private as it flies around the public domain and even the private ones can come back to bite you! There's many a slip that could cause anything from minor offence to major warfare in the dog world! I look forward to hearing any views you may have on this or any other dog related topic you feel you would like to air. Well, I'd better sign off now and get this on to that darn PC!!!!!!!!!! Yes there's an irony to get you all going.
|
