SOS Dog: The Purebred Dog Hobby Re-Examined - Tapa blanda

Johan and Edith Gallant have been actively involved in national and international canine matters since 1975. Their participation with the dog as a species actually defined their path of life. Moreover, they were in it together. Their entire life with dogs was a joint and harmonizing effort.The first twenty years of this participation essentially dealt with the discovery and exploration of the pure-bred dog and the complex ramifications of organizations by which the fancy of the pure-bred dog is practiced. Their participation ranged from exhibiting at shows, articipating in obedience and working trials, dedicated breeding and eventually judging in various aspects of the hobby.These experiences together with their responsibilities as members of different task committees of national and international canine organizations exposed them to the world of the pure-bred dog. The authors came to the conclusion that the hobby was not always aimed at the welfare of the dog but sometimes served the feeling of self-importance by certain fanciers.As from 1994, during travels through the southern African hinterland,and in their quest for the essence of the dog, they discovered the humble and rural life of the native African dogs. They realized that all those years, as ill-informed bystanders, they had looked at these dogs with contempt. The western worship for the ‘pure’ breeds of dogs had veiled their vision. They soon were faced with the fact that these rural dogs represent an ancient land race. They are certainly not ‘improved’ or streamlined into fashionable homogeneity. But their behavior is so intense and uniform, their physical prowess and health condition so remarkable that they inspired the authors to engage in an in depth research.The urge to write this book emerged from the apprehension that Canis familiaris or the domestic dog as a whole has been badly understood. The modern world, in respect of the western culture, has idolized and romanticized the artificial selection of dogs. At the same time aboriginal land races are disregarded and this despise is passed on to their traditional custodians. In this regard the authors intend to be the dog’s mouthpiece.