then received a barrage of nasty comments from “overseas exhibitors.” IMHO, Much Ado About Nothing!!!! I feel that the judge’s sign was very appropriate on many levels. The first is that it is a new amendment to the breed standard by the Kennel Club in the UK. Secondly, as a very longtime exhibitor, I appreciate knowing the preferences of the judge before entering the ring. If she preferred “no bows,” that would have been fine for me and I would have taken advan- tage of the “heads-up.” In November 2016, The Kennel Club sent a letter to all Shih Tzu Clubs, advising of an amendment to the Shih Tzu Breed Standard that “…it is strongly recommended that the hair on head is tied-up without adornment.” Matthew Russell, Chairman of the Shih Tzu Club in the UK, said his club had been lobbying for this recommendation on bows because they are part of a “trend in recent years” to regard the dog as a “designer or hand-bag dog,” which is “as much a status symbol as it is a pet and companion.” He said this is of “great concern” to the vast majority of breeders and ex- hibitors in the UK. For me, personally, I do not have a grave concern about this. However, I feel it was not anything that “needed” to be included in the standard. The danger I see is that this has been amended in the FCI standard, and many countries around the world respect the standard of the country of origin. China is the country of “origin,” but the United Kingdom is “the country of development.” This may cause some confusion in countries that use the FCI stan- dard, as the use of a bow in many FCI countries is wide- spread and entrenched in the grooming and presentation traditions of exhibitors—and many do not want to give up the right to use a bow. As I judge, we judge by the standard used by the country we are judging in. Exhibitors in countries that traditionally use a bow (such as most Asian countries and Russia, for ex- ample) may be asked by judges to remove the bows. Thank heavens it is only a recommendation that no adornment be
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Since 1971, Richard Paquette and Wendy Paquette have been Shih Tzu owners and breeders under the kennel name “Wenrick.” They have presented seminars and judged Shih Tzu Specialties around the world, including the American Shih Tzu Club Na- tional on numerous occasions. The Paquettes are Canadian Kennel Club All-Breed Judges. It is most likely that the AKC or CKC breed standards will never be changed to reflect “no bows” because the tradition is entrenched in our countries and is used to draw attention and importance to our beautifully headed breed, and not as a mechanism to “hide faults” as is the impression of some. The strongest point we would like to stress with this article is that whether a dog is shown with an inappropriate top- knot—with or without a bow—is of very little importance when judging, as it should not hinder the proper assess- ment of our affectionate, sturdy, and beautiful breed: THE SHIH TZU!!! used, and not mandatory that there be no adornment. Will they be forced to adhere to a requirement that was primar- ily intended for shows in the UK, or does the UK want all countries around the world to adhere to this policy? The high-level presentation, including bows, as seen in York- shire Terriers and Maltese in the UK, has never been a focus of UK Shih Tzu breeders. We can appreciate and re- spect this, though we fail to understand The Kennel Club discouraging bows in Shih Tzu while condoning them in Maltese and Yorkshire Terriers.
T op N otch T oys , N ovember 2022 • 51
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