Quote Originally Posted by rodburner View Post
outstanding EWO. THE ONE THING I MITE WOULD ADD IS THAT THE MAJORITY OFF FOLKS IN IT NOWADAYS DONT HAVE THE LOVE OF THE DOG THAT THE OLD HEADS OF YESTERDAY HAD...SOME FOLKS DO TODAY BUT I WOULD THINK IT'S A MINORITY NOW... AND IT'S BROUGHT ON BY THE THINGS THAT YOU MENTIONED...

MY FOLKS ALWAYS MADE SURE THE DOGS BEST INTEREST WAS FIRST.... I STILL FEEL THAT WAY AND I'M SURE THEY'RE OTHERS.. GONE ARE THE DAYS WHERE A LOSS WAS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE! THE TRU TO THE BREED FOLKS COULD TELL IF IT WAS THE CONDITION OR THE HANDLE...OR IT JUST WAS'NT THE DOGS DAY...

OL TOM TOLD ME ONCE.WHEN I WAS FIRST CUT LOOSE AND IT'S BURNED IN MY HEAD..''SON YOU DID THE RITE THING BY PICKING THAT ONE UP! STAND BY YOUR DECISION.. HE'LL BE A WINNER! JUST NOT TONITE''

THEM WORDS SEEMED TO BE REPLACED BY THINGS LIKE PLUG IT IN OR LEAVE IT THERE! WHEN IT VERY WELL COULD'VE BEEN THE HANDLE OR THE CONDITIONER..
THIS IS NOT JUST MY OPINION BUT THE WAY I FEEL ALSO...ONCE AGAIN GOOD POST EWO...
I met many what you call "old heads" that didn't have any love for the dog in the sense you speak. Most people don't do what's right for their dogs 100% of the time. I know I haven't. People that do that kind of thing 100% of the time have always been in the minority. Sadly, it's not usually brought on by things mentioned in the thread.

The days of picking up simply are not gone unless that's the type of man someone deals with regularly. I've seen more picking up by people the last 10 years than I ever saw in the first 10+ years. Picking up a dog opens up another conversation that I'm sure has been hashed and rehashed.

People have always left dogs down too long for various reasons just like they've "plugged them in" afterwards if the dog didn't perform as expected or for whatever reason said owner needed.

I agree with EWO's sentiment on what's changed in the sport overall.