I found out this morning that an SCC judge called Pierre Nau passed on. He was one of the few "older" judges who knew what a Barbet was. He worked very closely with Philippe Seguéla ( Barbet.Free.fr) and they started a club:
les Amis du Barbet, at the time Jean Claude Hermans had decided to re-incarnate the Barbet by crossing poodles, and saying he was the father of the modern Barbet.
Pierre Nau confirmed my Coccolina a couple of weeks before the standard modification in 2006.A judge had refused to confirm her in January. I had driven round trip the 2 200 kms to his house in Tarbes. I can't even imagine what would have happened if Coccolina had not been able to reproduce. It's a sad day for the Barbet because there are less and less judges who have a clue what a Barbet is and the newcomers are not a gift to the breed. That's 2 for this year. He had stopped judging about 3 years ago and I sent him Xmas cards just to say hi.
A sad day for the breed.
With him you didn't have to have sterile discussions about how a poodle coat could form strands when it was long. He could tell you that it was not possible. It was nice to be able to converse with people who could teach you something.
Can someone tell me how this dog below's coat can form strands? Not in a million years.It becomes one big un-groomable mat of tangles, like the webs some weave.Then you have to shave it.
What is the difference between the 2 dogs? None. The tail can be cropped on both.It is at 12:10.It will never have a crochet at the end.Neither of these 2 coats will ever form strands, which is an essential characteristic of the Barbet who has a long coat.
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