while I don't consider 'cosmetics' - i.e. topical application of powder, spray, gels, etc., technically 'doping', I have to agree that the 'cloud of chemicals' that hovers over and wafts through the air circulatory systems at indoor shows can be stifling! Not to mention for the dogs -

There are breeds - the Havanese, for one, that are supposed to be shown, as you say, au natural - but recently they have started being scissored, trimmed, foofooed w/ all sorts of stuff. Most Judges wouldn't recognize an 'Au Natural' Bichon, ShihTzu or Westie -- and yet there is a move to eliminate ear cropping/tail docking - which serves as a health benefit for the dog - not just a cosmetic procedure. We need to educate the Judges, and the public as to what is and is not appropriate for the breed.

Judges are the culprits. They allow this phoneyness, despite prohibitions in the rules and the breed standards. They know what is going on because they've done it all themselves. But they also condone it because, otherwise, they would not be invited back to judge next year.

One cannot safely inhale around a poodle ring. I have witnessed hair spray being applied in the ring, even, while the judge is looking elsewhere. Poodles are among the worst, what with their hair piece inserts in addition to dyed coats, teasing, tail surgery (not docking, mind you), and hair spray. But that breed is not unique among breeds abused by their handlers. Any "champion" of any breed, which earned points with such phoneyness, truly is a fraud. Actually, the dog's owner and handlers are the frauds. And they are abundant.

While I agree with most of what the vet is saying about the dog show world,ie., the spraying , chalking, I NOT AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT THAT IN THE HORSE WORLD HE CAN UNDERSTAND THE MEDICAL IDEA OF THE DRUGGING , if the horses were allowed to mature at the natural rate of growth , then they wouldn't need to be drugged to sustain the levels of excersise that they are competed in race horses are raced way to young and not allowed to fully mature that is why there are so many injuries in the field . Now back to dogs in the show world how do you feel about vets who agree to perform corrective surgery for breeders to fix say nasal canals that have been bred to small and closed so the said dogs can breathe knowing the breeder is going to keep breeding this same bloodline again and again and show these dogs to get that special look. I'm not saying don't help the poor dog , but come on this is saying that you agree with the breeder and I think the vet should call AKC and let them know what this breeder is up to because the unsuspecting public is going to buy one of these pups and possible breed and wander why this is happening , so yes they could tone it down with the hairspray and such but I think there are far more serious problems than that right now in the animal world that need to be addressed first .

I think your headline is flagrant. There is no correlation between Furosemide or performance enhancing drugs and hairspray.

The judge comes to a decision by laying hands over the dog and observing their movement and temperament all in accordance of their breed standard.

My pure bred dog comes in contact with hairspray every time she accompanies me in the bathroom while I do my hair!

Maybe you have a substance abuse issue in regard to how you hook your readers!

Melody, why are you letting your dog be in the room where you use hairspray?

I stopped smoking 35+ years ago because I saw what the smoke was doing to a dog and cat I had at the time. Just the visible effect it was having on their eyes was bad enough to cause me not to light up again. And never would I allow pets to be in a room where aerosol sprays were being used, let alone some other cleaning chemicals.

Why would this type of exposure be OK at any time?

I wouldn't compare smoking cigarettes all day long, day in and day out to spritzing hair spray on myself once a day, or applying it to a dog before going into the conformation ring.

Neither woudl I, Melody. If that was meant as a jab at the fact that I once was silly enough to suck on pacifiers back when it was fashionable, then make yourself feel better, but to me, what I did 35 years ago, (and it wasn't all day and night like you tried to suggest), doesn't make what owners are doing to their companion animals any better.

If you are primping show pets with items such as hair spray and talc, you are much worse than I ever was because at least for me it registered that I was doing harm to others than myself and I stopped -- when are YOU going to stop, or has your companion animal turned into a possession to be used for your personal gain? Are you capable of not causing further damage to the airways and skin of your charges?

Your article is misleading. There is no correlation between steroids and hairspray or chalk. What you are doing is driving a bigger wedge between the pure-bred fancy and the rescue adopters.

For the record, I do not excessively apply hairspray.

I showed horses for years and even though I did not compete in halter (conformation classes) we did do a good deal of grooming and did use enhancers. I was never a fan of hoof polish (too drying) but I did use coat enhancers, mane and tail detanglers (I use that in my own hair) and would whiten socks and blazes, usually with baby powder. I also was a liberal user of fly repellent, because my horses were awful if a fly got near them! Using this stuff outdoors is not a big deal but I would not have wanted to apply most of it in a little room. (The detangler is not a spray and has no odor.)
Some of the stuff that was done could get a bit extreme. Sanding hooves with electric sanders until they were smooth so that the polish would make them extra shiny, clipping the hair off around the eyes and highlighting with vasiline or a special product made specifically for the job, clipping every last hair out of the ears and greasing them up...these all seemed crazy to me.
I won't go into what they do to get some breeds to move in an exaggerated fashion or how they "set" tails of some breeds...
I now show dogs in obedience and most of the dogs look perfectly natural. Poodles have their cuts, of course, but not the strange ones used in the breed ring. They just look nice and neat. My sheltie gets a good almost daily brushing, and occasional bath (in my bathtub) and that is that.
If the grooming products are not harmful, I do not see it as a big deal. If the sprays are smelly and possibly bad for lungs, skin, etc. then it IS a big deal. I prefer to see the dogs that are shown naturally, such as most herding breeds, with just a clean, well-brushed coat. Some dogs DO need clipping but the styles have gotten rather ridiculous.
A horse trainer in the Arab world once got into a good deal of trouble when it was found he was having his horses altered through plastic surgery! That was really bad!
Harmless cosmetics are no big deal. Plastic surgery IS a big deal. Miss America will always wear make-up but it is pretty bad when she also has breast implants, a nose job and liposuction...

No beauty product is harmless. Some products just take longer to noticably affect us or our pets. You must be quite young not to have already noted the effects of ingredients in mascara, lipsticks, etc., to be suggesting that there is much difference between beauty pageant contestants wearing makeup and having transplants.

Whatever beautifying methods one uses on any animals, other than just plain water creating a swirl pattern on a horses rump, as an example, is going to have more and more of an effect the longer it is used, and/or the more potent the chemicals involved.

Anyone suggesting otherwise has their heads in the sand -- which can also cause damage to face and hair after a time, just as commercial soaps do.

I am absoulutly laughing hysterically right now. I am 51. I rarely wear make-up, I am a work-out fanatic, and I am fitter and stronger that most women half my age. There are harmless "beauty products" that one may use on horses and even on people. Cowboy Magic makes excellent products...I use them in my own hair and when I had horses, I used them for the horses. I used the Miss America analogy simply to show that there IS a difference between surgical enhancement and cosmetic enhancement. I seriously doubt those women wear the same sort of cosmetics for every day that they do on stage and I doubt it harms them.

A "swirl of water" on a horse's rump will not remove deep dirt and scurf. If you do not keep your horse clean he will be itchy and likely to rub out his mane and develop skin problems. My horses always had beautiful skin and coats.

Dogs do not sweat and should not be bathed as often as horses. My dog is a sheltie and totally natural, as am I. But I doubt a little makeup would kill me, either.

Yes, you are right. Your assumptions ARE very funny when you don't get clarification before trying to make someone else out to be wrong.

First, *decorating* a horse for a show with a "swirl of water" can hardly be equated with keeping a horse clean: http://www.northumberlandnews.com/print/1493268

As you yourself pointed out, Lucy G., foreign substances on skin do irritate: "If you do not keep your horse clean he will be itchy and likely to rub out his mane and develop skin problems."

It doesn't matter what animal you are grooming, if you use commercial grooming aids they will eventually have an effect. AND that includes the makeup used in beauty pageants.

As Dr Tudor was pointing out, the hair spray and talc, just for starters, will likely cause resiratory ailments down the road, depending upon the sensitivity of the animal's immune system to these substances, and to how often they are used. If these things are not affecting you, then you don't have a very good immune system reacting well, so I don't think it would be a good indicator of what might or might not affect your pets.

westcoastsyrinx obviously has a comment for all of us. Enough said...it's become boring.

It is known as "waking-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed syndrome" and for some people it is a daily condition.

I am glad "Westcoastsyrinx" knows that I have a weak immune system, considering that I NEVER get sick and have more energy than, well, almost anyone I know.
All I can say is, my 84 year old mother, who has not been seen without makeup in 70 years, still works as an attorney and takes NO medications except for her favorite...chocolate. I do not use makeup because when I am not working at a feed store loading hay and other heavy things, I am working out or taking care of horses and dogs. I'd rather be sweaty than pretty. But, for some people, my mother, for example, who grew up in New York City in an era when women ALWAYS wore make-up, it is a must for their mental well-being. I would guess if you smoke, drink, eat fatty, sugary foods all the time and do not exercise, you are unhealthy. I doubt a bit of makeup would cause too much trouble.
As for my horses, they never itched, always looked beautiful and I did use "products" on them. Never, in my 30 years of horse ownership, did I have any skin conditions, which I credit to clean stalls and clean horses. I did NOT use hoof polish because it WILL dry out hooves which is always a problem here in California during the summer anyway.
My sheltie, of course, does not need the bathing horses do and it would not be good for his skin. Gave him a good brushing this morning after my workout, and think it may be time for a bath...maybe after obedience class this afternoon...oh well, time to give my bathroom a good cleaning anyway!
Have a good day everyone, and if you want to wear a little lipstick, or put some detangler in your horse's tail, I doubt either of you will be the worse for it!

Lucy G.: Sadly for you, Westcoastsyrinx knows much, much more about all of us than any of us think or know about ourselves. She is, at least in her mind, all-knowing. So, don't bother to defend yourself. Whatever you say, you would be wrong in her mind.

And you, Rod, have just spoken out of both sides of your mouth, dependent upon what will send sniper attacks my way because clearly you want me to be wrong more than yu want to be right.

Above you were agreeing about grooming aids and now you are defending someone who has to be right and perfect, no matter what other opinions are being expressed. The rest of the world, if they don't agree, is bad.

Not only are we, and our companion animals breathing aerosols and talc out of the air, as Dr Tudor was originally discussing on this thread, but our companion animals ALSO ingest these chemicals as they later groom themselves, and AS YOU STATED, this type of practice should be stopped at the level where the competitions are organized -- or was that NOT what you were saying???

See what I mean, Lucy G.?

I'd be curious to hear/read comments about show cats. I can't imagine that people don't do unusual things to Persians.

As for Persians with an inverted face, I blame the show judges. If that flat face wasn't winning awards, surely breeders would work toward letting cats look like cats. I believe that many years ago Persians actually had a nose!