I agree, but isn't this the case in most things. I personally don't like to see dogs stacked, and then moved around the ring with their heads held high. Surely that is not natural movement. But that is only my opinion and I'm sure it doesn't count for much. I showed my Vizslak for a while years ago but always showed them free standing and moved them on a loose lead. Showing wasn't for me though, I felt my time was better spent at home with all of my dogs instead of spending most of the day out with just one or two of them. If I remember rightly many exhibitors trimmed their Vizsla's whiskers, I just never bothered. Like you I didn't think it detracted from the dog, after all it doesn't affect the dogs soundness.

show folk seem very easily led, as someone who occasionaly shows.
I over the few years of attending confirmation shows noticed that there seems to be fashions in breeding, you only have to look at the veteran class, then limit class to see that the size, head shape, angulation , colour can be changed in a few years.
its very bizzare i think:smt107 :smt002

we take the whiskers off welshies because they tend to grow thick and look dreadful. my friend works and shows hers without whiskers. I think you have to do it when there a pup though so they get used to being without them (please correct me if im wrong)

Not really, the whole idea is to breed the next generation with better health and better conformation than the one before. Noticeable changes are bound to take place, think one look at the disappearing wrinkles on the Shar Pei to understand what I mean, the breeders have deliberately breed for less wrinkle for the health of the breed.

What does worry me, particularly in a breed of small number, is when a popular and stunning male is over used particularly if that dog is an imported one, one can never be sure what he may be carrying and the breed as a whole could be storing up trouble for the future.

I agree pita, stud dogs which do well and we have a couple in rotts,. tend to in a few short years, :smt079 sire an outstanding amount of pups and soon there in most lines, some may prove to be a huge bonus to the breed. Then there are some we shall have to wait and see.
I guess this is all part of trial and error.

in english bull terriers the whiskers are off it gives a cleaner line to the muzzle
carolann

Poppy (CKCS) has a couple of whiskers that curl up and get in her eyes from time to time, I just damp them down and hold them down for a few minutes. I thought that cutting them would hurt her?

Think there is a good deal of misunderstanding about whiskers in dog, no proper research has ever shown that they are in any way connected to the sensory system or that if removed they cause the dog any problems, at least that is my understanding of the facts.

If it suits you to remove any hair that is causing a problem the you should do so, the hair of the eyebrows and the whiskers are particularly thick and sometimes curly, damping them down will not really work, it is a matter of fact that correct and frequent grooming is the best thing for your dog, so if it’s facial hair is causing problems to you or your dog then go ahead and sort it.

The ‘whiskers’ form part of the sensory system in that they work as a lever to stimulate nerves, and the dog’s don’t seem to be any different to other species in this respect, though no doubt less developed than some that rely on them more heavily eg cats, rodents and seals.

You may be right Pod, can you point me to the papers written after the research done to prove this fact, have always been told they can be removed or trimmed with no side effects what so ever. All hair will give a sensation in the skin if it is tweaked or pulled but there is no sensation in the hair it’s self, it carries no nerves or blood vessel, it is made of the same material as our nails, so unless a hair is yanked out the dog should not be worried. I see no reason to cut them if they are causing no problem and as far as I know no KC standard calls for their removal but if they are bothering the dog there is, in my belief, any reason what so ever for not trimming them.