Dexis Maximus - His "Not Show Quality" Story

Dexis Maximus is his registered name, he is better known as Dexter. A purebred AKC registered Papillon with champions in his pedigree -- NEUTERED

I purchased Dexter from a breeder, she was not a show breeder, but she had healthy dogs with good pedigrees. His parent's were never shown, but the "show" blood was there. As Dexter grew I watched closely hoping that he'd be the show dog I wanted. As he got older little things started to come up that suggested otherwise. He was less than half an inch over the fault height, the stop of his muzzle was not as pronounced as it should, his muzzle was bit too long, his markings were not symmetrical, he didn't have the preferred white blaze on his face, and probably his worse fault is that his front feet pointed slightly outwards sometimes. I'm no Papillon expert but I learned this simply by reading the AKC standard. I've been told MANY times by people to show him, but if people read the standard they'd know better. These little things matter in the show ring.

At one and a half years old Dexter was fixed and his possible show career was forever ended. Although Dexter was 100% healthy and had his joints tested by a vet, I NEVER even thought that he should have sired a pointless litter of puppies. I don't regret that decision. Dexter's behavior also greatly improved. He no longer marked and he no longer mounted other dogs. He was able to enjoy the dog park again.

Since then Dexter has been attending formal Agility classes and being trained at home for obedience trials. He starts agility competitions in October and formal Obedience in November. He has also gotten his CGC certification and I plan to get his therapy certification. Flyball is also a possibly once we get word back from the teams we contacted. His life is rich and full of things to keep him working and busy.

I'm so tired of people breeding these pointless litters by parents that are not health checked or DNA tested. I've seen someone claim their dog to be a perfect example of the breed when the dog had a curled tail when the standard clearly states that they should have a sickle tail. Not to mentioned this dog had already been bred twice and the owner failed to know about this obvious fualt or get the dog health checked.

My point of all this ramble is this: You don't have to breed your dog. You don't need a perfect show dog. Your dog entered your life for a specific reason. Enjoy your dog for who it is, don't try to make them into something you /should/ know they are not. Enjoy your dog now. Join some dog sports and clubs. There are so many things out there to try. Flyball, obedience, tracking, dock diving, weight pulling, and agility are some examples.

Don't bring anymore dogs intro this already overpopulated world. People, just love your dogs.