Handler Fraud?  Surely Not!

Dog Handlers hate repeating why a dog didn’t win, owners want to be called, same old story but Little Bird heard there were $ thousands in fraud and that another top handler got suspended for screeching at a lady judge.

Little Bird © TheDogPress 05|09 - You people are suddenly squawking about dog handlers and clients. Sometimes it is the handlers talking about clients that think they own the handler, expecting to be called after every show, wanting to know if they won. Top handlers have a pretty tough schedule you know, handling so many dogs. By the end of a long day of grabbing dogs from an assistant and running to yet another ring, they are just too tired to talk to owners.

Handlers aren’t parrots! They don’t like to keep repeating why “the dog didn’t win today.” I heard that some handlers will call only when the dog has “done something” which I think means it won, not that it dirtied the carpet.

But sometimes it is about clients who are paying top dollar, miss their dog, worry about their dog, and just want to know that he’s eating and feeling okay even if he didn’t win. Those owners won’t go out to dinner because “the handler might call.” They get all in a flutter even though the handler said not to expect a call until the circuit was over. It must be like sending your fledgling off to college. The only time mom gets a call is when the kid needs more money. Makes me glad I’m just a bird!

So now people are chirping about this novice being taken for a lot of money in what many have said is outright fraud.  The handler got seed money up front and because handlers need to get an advance for handling fees, entry fees, travel expenses, and other out-of-pocket expenses but this one got thousands and then the dog was hardly shown.

I heard the owner finally managed to get the handler to ship the dog home but the poor little thing was awful sick and had to go straight to the vet.  I hear these stories are common enough.  Someone new to the sport gets ripped off. The dog comes back from a handler wrecked and the owner is disillusioned or worse. But people say this is a well known handler who works for a well respected company and is very visible at the shows. So I think I’ll light out for California and see if I can get the rest of this story.

While I’m there, I’ll hang out on a few shoulders because people are gathering up out there, like Purple Martins do before they migrate. It might be that a big enough flock can scare off the buzzards that are always fluttering around things that smell rotten to others. I stay as far away from carrion-eaters as I can but I’m learning that, like buzzards, some people just can’t resist rotten meat and dirty deals.

It will be a good trip and I know how the currents go so I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more news.  And I'll try to get someone to tell me about the top handler who is by a top handler but doesn't have his dad's coolness.  Can't verify it yet but someone said it was in that magazine called the Gazette.  The problem is that I can't read!  Oh well, I can fly.