Do you know what just happened to me? I was just outside our local shop waiting with Lucy and Penny for my mum to come out. So along comes this man who then starts to yell abuse at me about Penny. And do you know about waht he was yellin at me for? Here is a small quote of what he said " That is a revolting English Setter, if one of my setters gave birth to a B*****d dog like that I would kill both the mother and puppy. I hope you got that dog for free because he is worth s***t." As you can imagine I was raging so I told him Penny is not a Irish Setter she is a Gordon Setter. At that he just turned around and walked away. He actually used much worse language. How can people do things like this.

Because they are ignorant! Just feel smug with yourself that you clearly know more than him when it comes to setters!

Jesse

Because he's ignorant and rude. :( Try not to let the idiot upset you.
:)

May be the poor man had that terrible disease 'Tiraetts' can't spell it. Sounds as if he may have had some mental problem and more to be pitted, after all even the stupid would not confuse an English with a Gordon

A dog's worth is more than his/her pedigree IMHO, and his mother kept the wrong bit!

Jackie - I think you mean Tourettes Syndrome, and I don't agree that people with "mental problems" should be pitied. I think it is more the case that this man was totally ignorant and inconsiderate - traits that can be far more easily rectified that mental illness. Please don't confuse bad behaviour with an illness - he sounds just down right rude.

Yes that is what I meant, find it hard to understand why someone would walk up to a total stranger and swear at them so put it down to some sort of illness. And yes pitied is the wrong word but I do feel sorrow rather than anger. People in their right mind don't behave like that, do they?

Don't let it worry you you. Feel happy in the fact that you're a better person than he is.......;)

Sounda about right, at ring craft the other night I got told my German Spitz had a terrible coat problem and why was I bothering to teach them to show and who the hell sold me such awful stock?? This from a German spitz breeder and exhbitor, his language was more colourful too ------ told him they're SCHIPPERKES with tails my dear they don't need masses of coat and this one's father only needs 1 more ticket to make him up!

There are times I wonder whether some people actually like dogs ( all dogs,any dogs, with a fondness for a partucluar breed) or use them as a one up manship accessory.

Sounds like the endearing nature of many customers have coming through the door hurling abuse at me.

I used to show Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen's a few years back and at a Championship show one day, we had a pack of the hairy hooligans with us and lady came up and suggested we remove our mongrels from the show ground!! You just gotta laugh sometimes at people...

I probably have had someone talk this way about me OOPS!! I could have crawled under a rock after my faux-pas! I was new to showing and I had never seen a border terrier before (back home in Canada a lot of crossbreeds look very similar to a border). We were at an exemption show, Savannah was a puppy and we were in the Pedigree Puppy class. I could hear someone hissing at a young girl beside me saying 'not this class' and the girl was confused as to why. In my helpful way I said 'probably because it's a pedigree class'. Well she turned at me shocked and said 'But this IS a pedigree' and was rightfully ticked at me. Turned out the dog wasn't supposed to be in puppy.

I just keep my mouth shut now LOL. And I have never again mistaken a border terrier for a cross breed!

Wendy

Well, once had a judge tell me she loved my Keeshond's conformation and the way she moved but could not give her a place as she did not have spectacles and her coat was very poor. I own Elkhounds. Thank goodness it was at a match, would have worried me had it been at an open show.

Jackie - do you live anywhere near Poole/Bournemouth? I only ask because this exact same thing happened last year at one of our matches!

Wendy

Hi Wendy, I live in Lincs. now but at the time I was in Bedfordshire and was a good 8 years ago said bitch is heading toward 10 years and she still does not have spectacles or a long coat ;) Think the judge was a bit strange, sweet but strange, she told someone else that their bitches testicals had not descended and wanted me to put my hound on the table. Think she was well meaning but a trifle confused.

Pretty scary then that the exact same breed mix-up happened LOL. To be fair the judges have no idea what's turning up at a match, but they'd be sooo much better off if they just asked the person rather than assume and then end up looking like an idiot.

Wendy

If you own a breed like mine you get used to it being called all sorts of things, the most common is a GSD, think people see the prick ears but fail to notice the tail.

Have a worse case of judges error, was in an Open Hound class and the judge was a Championship group judge. The judge called out the first placed hound, can't remember what it was, then said bring out the Greyhound and then the Elkhound, I moved forward into the line looking round for the greyhound, there was not one in the class. What the judge meant was the Sloughi.

Now I did not mind being placed third, but behind a Sloughi who the judge thought was a Greyhound, and from someone in the highest level of the showing world. The judge had not looked through the list they no doubt had of the breeds entered under them, now that’s misplaced confidence for you.

I have a black working cocker with a tail, he has been called everything under the sun, including a long discussion from a woman who thought he was a flat coat retriever puppy and did not belive me when I told her otherwise. Others think he is a setter, even though he is a quarter of the size. Tails must confuse people, it is very feathery like a setter so I understand.

Yes you may have a point about tails, when you are used to looking for a certain profile it may throw you when the dog looks different to what the eye has come to expect of that particular breed.

I have a blue roan working cocker and someone came up to me and commented on what a lovely puppy setter she was, he bred setters apparently!! He soon went away red faced when I told him he had never bred one like this one!

To Crazyspaniel

I have a black rescue cocker who is half show, half working with a full tail. He looks very different from show cockers (much leaner, longer nose, etc.) and different from most pictures I've seen of full working cockers. I've been asked a few times if he is a setter - although what sort of setter he could be, I don't know!

i think some people just dont have anything better to do then say somthing nasty it just makes there day, let them there very sad people if thats what they enjoy ,
now i cant see this man walking up to every mongral he see's and shouting at there owner so its obviouse he knew it was some kind of breed he knew it wasent a red just fancied a moan,
alot of people say daft things about dogs guessing what breeds they are.
once i had a woman arguing with me about my last golden cocker. she kept telling me my dog was young a year or something, when really she was 10 years old.
I just laff at these things , at the end of the day it wont effect me i wont have to see the person again so just ignore his childish behavour.