Pita, I wouldn’t argue against anyone having the right to do as they see fit but I think that the point you made with the analogy between removing dogs' 'whiskers' and humans shaving armpits and legs, was that there was no real difference.

My posted link and Brundog's comments (as I see them) were simply disagreeing with this.

i did notice that on Sunday ...............I though they were there for a reason ...balance as well

That is the point, is there any real difference, there has not been any acceptable research on the matter, as far as I know, and to make statements based on ones own beliefs is fine providing one is not telling others that what they are in the habit of doing is either cruel or ridiculous. I just do not think we have the right to dictate how others conduct their lives unless we have cast iron proof that what they are doing is illegal, cruel or insane.

BTW I am not suggesting you did, but remarks suggesting that to trim ones dogs whiskers is cruel or ridiculous has been made and I am concerned that is going from expressing ones opinion and behaving in a dictatorial manner.

You've obviously read a lot more into the comments that I have

Well I only show dals who dont have very obvious whiskers at all so I don't know but I love the minimal grooming required for a good looking dal!

Takara never seems to use her whiskers because she gets stuck in all sorts but then, I wouldn't remove them either!

A lot of rottweiler show folk do trim face,back of legs and so on but I do not I dont think ( this is just my thoughts though) that a few wiskers will cost my dog a place in the ring. The judge will like him, or not, a couple of hairs here or there will not sway her/him. I do get a few folk saying things like "oh has he not been trimmed" my reply is " oh sorry he's a rotty not a poodle" not being offensive to poodle owners they are supposed to be trimmed ( i think ) again its all down to individual taste but I feel its alot of fuffing around for nothing :smt102 Do any other rottie owners think I should?

Can't imagine it makes the slightest difference in the show ring, would be interested to know if any breed standard calls of the whiskers to be removed, some how I doubt is, but may be some of the clipped breed do have 'clean faces'. I am inclined to think that over long or wayward hair is removed because it looks ugly or is a problem to the dog; my OH has the same problem with his eyebrows

Pita - I read Basi's post to mean that trimming whiskers is what is generally done in the States. Unless i missed it, she never said that it was in the breed standard that the whiskers MUST be trimmed. I can only talk about the breeds i own, but tollers in particular are shown very differently in the states, they're stacked instead of free standing, and are fluffed up with mousse to make the coat look very similar to an Elkhound!! That is the done thing there, theres no rules stating it has to be done, thats just how exhibitors present their tollers there. I think thats just what Basi was trying to say in regards to Basenjis

As for the argument of whether it causes problems to the dogs, i dont know any facts about that, but it is a fact that it causes cats a lot of problems to lose whiskers, and to me it would seem that dogs have the same use for their whiskers, so i wouldn't trim my dogs. They're walked in the countryside, going down holes, through hedges etc etc so i wouldn't want to take away something which has evolved naturally to help them hunt.

But all breeds are different. All people are different, and its everyones personal opinions i think.

I don't think cutting whiskers off would be based on the comfort of the dog? and I don't think that alot of show dogs are groomed in a way that is primarily for comfort because you then have the contrast of those breeds where they have really long head hair all brushed down in to their eyes which obviously doesn't benifit the dogs?

I just think people might think that it shows the dogs lines off better and that being the only reason they do it (in my opinion) but honestly how much could a few thin hairs that you hardly notice change anything?

Whiskers just seems a funny thing to do anything with.

In some ways dog people are easily led, they read or are told that some thing is good or bad and they dismiss it or try it. It is the same in the show ring if the seasons winning dog has its face shaved or it is stood looking like a rocking horse, others follow suit and cut the whiskers or stand their dog with the legs stretched out fore and aft.

Reminds me of the time I raced slot cars competitively, if at a meeting the winning owner used some sort of substance on his cars tyres we all rushed out the next day to buy it, to no avail, he had a better faster car and no amount of ‘stuff’ to make the tyres stick would produce a winning car if the car was not built to win. Same applies to dogs, most judges are looking at the construction and fitness and no amount of ‘trimming' can change that a ‘trimmed' dog may win despite it’s trimming, but a dog with poor conformation or lack of tone will not win no matter how much it’s owner used the scissors.