Elaine
05-16-2009, 09:12 AM
Someone asked, " What is a special?”
A SPECIAL is a dog (of either sex) that is a champion being campaigned for Breed, Group or All Breed rankings. It is often a bit older than 2 years of age at the beginning of its special career. Specialing a dog is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for people without deep pockets. To be competitive, the special must have a good advertising campaign (which costs $$$), he/she is usually double entered and often flies around the country following judging panels and/or entries.
There will typically be a significant advertising budget (at the high end Specials Like the Toy Poodle Vicky (Ch. Smash JP Win A Victory) have well over $200K in advertising spent on them). Top handlers are not cheap either. It is rumored that Taffy got a $100K bonus for making the Giant All Breed Top #1 last year. Also, there is usually some political power behind the dog to boost the show career along, e.g., either the owner has really really deep pockets or some connection to the dog controls a significant number of judging assignments.
Historically you will find that top specials are seldom the top producers in the breed. Kafka (a.k.a. Ch. Brunswig’s Cryptonite) is THE most notable exception to this rule, and conversely, Ch. Toledobes Serenghetti proves the rule (i.e., For all her winning, what genetic contribution did Sera make to the breed? Answer: None what-so-ever.) Generally speaking the top specials are not top producers. Consider that Eddie was not a special, much less a competitive special, yet no one can deny his tremendous contribution to the Doberman breed.
Sometimes the top specials are truly disliked by breed experts, but loved by All Rounder judges who make the dog's career. I think knowledgeable breeders seldom look to a dog’s rankings as a special to make breeding decisions. It is unusual for the offspring of a top special to also be a top special. Chris Terrell’s great Afghan Hound Ch. Kabik’s The Challenger (who went BIS at Westminster in 1986) is an exception to this.
Also, there is a marked difference between the quality of the dogs in the All - Breed Top Ten and the Breed Top Ten. To be All Breed Top Ten you really must have the complete package of quality dog, great dog/handler team and a significant budget. In some breeds you can be in the Breed's Top Ten by default, i.e. you got one Gr III and you have a Breed that is just not shown much.
In every area of the country there is the local Big Fish, who tends to dominate the local ring, and not necessarily because of the quality of their dogs (often it is because of their contorl of juging panels in the area). These kinds of people can pull off Top Ten in their Breed with a rather average (even sub-par) quality dog and lots of political connections in the area… but you will find that these kinds of "Specials" are never truly competitive at the bigger shows or the All Breed level.
Not every Special is actually SPECIAL.
Also, there are not many professional handlers around that have the proven ability to repeatedly produce an All Breed Top Ten Dog. Peter Green was one; in their day, the Forsyth’s could be counted on to be competitive dog-after-dog-after-dog. If Arthur and I won the lottery, we’d be running to Bill and Taffy McFadden, they are pretty much in a league of their own these days, no one else even comes close. We would have loved to see Bill with Warkant.
A SPECIAL is a dog (of either sex) that is a champion being campaigned for Breed, Group or All Breed rankings. It is often a bit older than 2 years of age at the beginning of its special career. Specialing a dog is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for people without deep pockets. To be competitive, the special must have a good advertising campaign (which costs $$$), he/she is usually double entered and often flies around the country following judging panels and/or entries.
There will typically be a significant advertising budget (at the high end Specials Like the Toy Poodle Vicky (Ch. Smash JP Win A Victory) have well over $200K in advertising spent on them). Top handlers are not cheap either. It is rumored that Taffy got a $100K bonus for making the Giant All Breed Top #1 last year. Also, there is usually some political power behind the dog to boost the show career along, e.g., either the owner has really really deep pockets or some connection to the dog controls a significant number of judging assignments.
Historically you will find that top specials are seldom the top producers in the breed. Kafka (a.k.a. Ch. Brunswig’s Cryptonite) is THE most notable exception to this rule, and conversely, Ch. Toledobes Serenghetti proves the rule (i.e., For all her winning, what genetic contribution did Sera make to the breed? Answer: None what-so-ever.) Generally speaking the top specials are not top producers. Consider that Eddie was not a special, much less a competitive special, yet no one can deny his tremendous contribution to the Doberman breed.
Sometimes the top specials are truly disliked by breed experts, but loved by All Rounder judges who make the dog's career. I think knowledgeable breeders seldom look to a dog’s rankings as a special to make breeding decisions. It is unusual for the offspring of a top special to also be a top special. Chris Terrell’s great Afghan Hound Ch. Kabik’s The Challenger (who went BIS at Westminster in 1986) is an exception to this.
Also, there is a marked difference between the quality of the dogs in the All - Breed Top Ten and the Breed Top Ten. To be All Breed Top Ten you really must have the complete package of quality dog, great dog/handler team and a significant budget. In some breeds you can be in the Breed's Top Ten by default, i.e. you got one Gr III and you have a Breed that is just not shown much.
In every area of the country there is the local Big Fish, who tends to dominate the local ring, and not necessarily because of the quality of their dogs (often it is because of their contorl of juging panels in the area). These kinds of people can pull off Top Ten in their Breed with a rather average (even sub-par) quality dog and lots of political connections in the area… but you will find that these kinds of "Specials" are never truly competitive at the bigger shows or the All Breed level.
Not every Special is actually SPECIAL.
Also, there are not many professional handlers around that have the proven ability to repeatedly produce an All Breed Top Ten Dog. Peter Green was one; in their day, the Forsyth’s could be counted on to be competitive dog-after-dog-after-dog. If Arthur and I won the lottery, we’d be running to Bill and Taffy McFadden, they are pretty much in a league of their own these days, no one else even comes close. We would have loved to see Bill with Warkant.