Blogging Westminster: sporting dogs part II - South Bay Pets

Blogging Westminster: sporting dogs part II

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By Donna Littlejohn on February 10, 2009 8:28 PM | | Comments (0) |
OK, now all the spaniels. Cockers, springers, the others. So many dogs. And it's only like 8:30. (If we didn't already tell you, the show is on USA, from 8-11 tonight.) 

My dad almost said we could have a cocker spaniel when I was growing up (what I really wanted was a collie but I'd have settled for any kind of dog). Alas, I was 15 before we got our first dog, a stray who galloped into our yard one day when we were putting out Christmas decorations. Sort of a cock-a-poo, I guess, he was such a cute dog. Not quite a collie, though. 

Cocker spaniels come in a lot of different colors. The grooming jobs are something to behold, look at all that glossy fur just swinging below hem. Like a Breck commercial, for those of you old enough to remember those.

Now it's the English cocker spaniel. There are water and land varieties, apparently. Sheesh. Do these dogs really do any hunting or swimming or herding though? I've always wondered about that. 

I remember a woman coming to the Long Beach dog park with her dog who was starring in a local dog show. She and her husband were all gussied up, nylons and everything (on her, not her husband). They wound up having to stand on one of the picnic tables so they wouldn't get dirty. They had to go back to the show ring and the dog was just there on a break. They worried about him getting dirty with all our "regular" dogs, which he did of course. I'm sure he probably would have rather stayed at the dog park and rolled around in the dirt with us. But after about 30 minutes, he was leashed up and hauled off, back to the dog show.

More spaniels. Now the irish water spaniel. Who knew? A waterfall retriever? No, that must be water "fowl" retriever. Ewww, and a rat-like tail. Sorta gross. But then I have an unpleasant history with rats.

Sussex spaniel -- a gun dog from England.

Oh, there's a Viszla, we had one of those at the dog park but I haven't seen him in a while. 







 

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Donna Littlejohn published on February 10, 2009 8:28 PM.

These dogs are real sports was the previous entry in this blog.

Sporting group winner is...... is the next entry in this blog.

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About the Bloggers

Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.

E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.

Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.

E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.

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