Monday, March 15, 2010

Dogs -MAKE up- and....

Great post on Pawnation

Judges at Crufts, the world's largest dog show, are on high alert this year for canine competitors whose looks have been enhanced with cosmetics, reports the (U.K.) Telegraph. We're not talking blue eyeshadow or contouring blush, but the use of products such as hair removal creams and color dyes.

"Although competition rules do not specifically ban the use of cosmetics and other beauty treatments on dogs, they do forbid anything that alters an animal's appearance during dog shows, to gain extra marks from judges, who award prizes for entries that best match the 'ideal' characteristics of each breed," reports the Telegraph. Dog owners who show hairless Chinese crested dogs have been suspected of using "female depilatory creams" to rid their champion canines of excess hair. Owners of other breeds have been suspected of using lipstick, eyeliner and Clearasil acne cream.

The notion of using makeup on dogs is so strange that it's led one British veterinarian, Peter Wedderburn, to wonder, "What's next, dope testing?" "It seems bizarre to me that it happens at all: if showing dogs is about celebrating the health and vigor of animals, what does it matter if there's an occasional tuft of hair in the wrong place?" Wedderburn asks.

It's admittedly a "grey area" according to the British Kennel Club. At the Westminster Dog Show, the most prestigious canine competition in America, this reporter witnessed a Chinese crested dog getting a last minute shave and having the rims of her eyes touched up with white powder to "get the red out." Not too far away, corn starch was being used to brighten the legs on a gray-and-white schnauzer and all around, dogs were being shampooed, blown dry with hair dryers and coiffed with hair spray. None of it was done in secret.

Caroline Kisko of the British Kennel Club, tells the Telegraph that they are trying to be "particularly vigilant this year" about dogs in makeup. But with nearly 28,000 dogs anticipated to participate in this year's event, the task can be daunting, if not impossible. "We do carry out spot checks, including hair samples, but while it is easy to find colour dye it can be very hard to prove that removal cream has been used on a hairless dog," Kisko admitted to the Telegraph.

The Crufts dog show began yesterday in Birmingham, England, and continues through Sunday.

My own 25 cents:
Seriously world????
Is there no boundary to human greed?? Shame on you!!! What next? Tummy tucks, lipo, hair graft, caps... extensions...implants...latisse??? How utterly sad and corrupt. If you allow that... change the standards. Not best of breed... best of enhanced! You can hold a plastic surgeon contest at the same time! [rolling my eyes]

On a better note- congratulations go to Yogi, the Hungarian Vizsla who won Best in Show.

Keep it real!!
'vie

4 comments:

rocky-dog said...

Well you do have to consider the breed. After all we Bichons are pretty much perfect au natural! others . . . hmm, maybe they might need a bit of help. But I do find it quite off-putting that some 2leggeds feel that in order to "win" they must puff up the looks of their 4leggeds. For goodness sake -- judge us on our own unique merits!

Kind of weirded out at the thought of needing makeup!

Rocky

silvieon4 said...

I know! Have you seen what they do to their eyelashes????? OMG. That torture device... The goo. And I have seen caterpillars that stick on their eyes and they pretend they are eyelashes...I pass.
Of course, for Bichons, 'tis all about the bootie. God's best expression of that body part- bar none. Wiggle wiggle...

rocky-dog said...

I know -- there is really nothing quite like a nicely groomed bichon tail! R

bichonpawz said...

We LOVE our bichon booties!!! Keep it real indeed!! And you 'vie deserve an award for humor....hahahahaha....caterpillars on eyes! :)