This Was No Dog and Pony Show

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada

This past weekend saw more than 1000 fancy dogs and their owners converge on the fair grounds at Beban Park for a major show.  Big dogs and little dogs mixed and mingled at the beauty pageant(best of breeds) and obedience trials.

While most of us dog owners are content with a mixed breed pet, these people are in the search for perfection in their breed.  For some breeds the dogs get off pretty easily with just major grooming and fussing over -- no stinky rolling.  Others endure cosmetic surgery to approach perfection.  Cutting off puppies' tails is slowly losing favour, but many breeds still have their ears cropped to achieve that alert expression. Dogs use their ears and tails to communicate with others. When you see a doberman with small, perky, upright ears, know that it has suffered greatly.  For more information on this cruel practice, check out doggiesparadise.com/earcropping .