“WHAT IS ACTUALLY AFFECTING THE ITALIAN GREYHOUND AND ITS DEVOTEES IS THAT for some reason very few
people are showing in the classes, even at the larger All Breed shows.”
champions under the La Scala kennel name. Most of them she showed and finished herself, after being a part of the dog fancy helped her to shake off her shyness and a tendency to be clumsy at any kind of sport. She was approved in 1989 to judge Italian Greyhounds and has judged specialties in Italy and Aus- tralia as well as in the United States, including the National Specialty in 2003 and 2010. She was invited to judge in Japan in 2013. She has written four books about the IG and one about her life with and without dogs, entitled “My Mother Never Taught Me Songs”. She has been the IG breed columnist for the AKC Gazette since 1977 as well as writing a regular column in The Italian Greyhound Magazine. She has served on the Judges’ Education Commit- tee for the Italian Greyhound Club of America, was one of the creators of the Illustrated Standard for the IG and is a past president of the IGCA, currently serving as corresponding secretary for that organization and as president of the Kennel Club of Palm Springs. Most of all, she says she is completely smitten with this breed and could not imagine ever again living without at least one or two of them.
is a breed specific column, however, in my not so humble opinion I think the biggest problem the breed is fac- ing is what is facing most breeds that don’t rank among the top in popular- ity. There are fewer and fewer people getting into the dog show world. Rea- sons for that would make a whole new article. What is actually affecting the Italian Greyhound and its devotees is that, although competition in Best of Breed and on the Group level is still quite viable, for some reason very few people are showing in the classes, even at the larger All Breed shows. This will eventually affect the quality of the breed. As for breed specific problems, my feeling is that too little attention is being paid to dentition and its accom- panying factor, lack of underjaw. In an effort to produce dogs with long, graceful muzzles it looks like good, strong teeth and sufficient underjaw have been neglected. Another fairly common problem is that, although front movement has received a great deal of attention, there are still quite a few hocky rears and rear movement lacking in strength and drive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lilian Barber was born in Germany and left that country under duress in 1939 with her parents and with only what they could wear and carry, just ahead of the Holocaust, spending a year in the London slums before being able to enter the United States in 1940. At some point during her early years she became consumed by an almost in- sane desire for the companionship of a dog but due to the family’s strained liv- ing conditions was not able to have one until she grew up and had a life of her own, acquiring her first Italian Grey- hound in 1966. She has lived with from one to 18 of them at any given time ever since and has bred nearly 100 AKC
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