I should know better

We actually made it to another show yesterday, with a terminally excited Fidget and a surprisingly silent Merlin. Mostly dry, as we huddled out of the cold under a gloomy marquee. Out door shows in this country go on much later in the year than they should, and the later ones involve many layers of clothing and an intrepid nature.

Fidget, having shocked me by refusing honey roast ham as a titbit in the ring, was his usual bouncy self, wanted to play with all the other dogs, and amazingly was well placed. Merlin was delighted to be able to help him out with the ham....

I learned that someone who obviously encountered an unprepared judge, was told that her bitch, within the size limits in the standard, was "unfit for function" as she was at the small end of the range. My immediate thought was that there are quite a few judges out there who are "unfit for function". Then I wondered how you would really test a Papillon`s fitness for function.

What was the basic function they were bred and kept for? They were the lapdogs of the French nobility and royalty.

So in order to test that, you would require an authenticated descendant of French royal blood. Then I suppose, that person would have to be willing to provide a lap for a Papillon, and to rate said Papillon on how comfortable, agreeable and affectionate it was in that position.....perhaps on a scale of 1 to 10? Perhaps the KC could provide a certificate for this?

I asked Ella how fit for function she was. She informed me that her sole function was to consume cake and chicken, while in a position of supreme comfort.

She then offered to prove her fitness for function immediately, and was quite sulky when I told her I would take it on trust for now