Why Show Gordons ain't Field Gordons

I ran across this article from an old issue of Time Magazine, from February 1997, after the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show had concluded.
As everyone I'm sure is aware, Westminster is the AKC's annual showcase of the state of the art of dogdom, or at least as the AKC sees it. The once a year Bacchanalia of canine elitism, for dogs that cannot perform the tasks that they were bred for. The cornucopia of useless doggie ideals that serve the ego's of fanciers rather than the usefulness of their overly furry friends..
As one can readily tell, these farces of canine bigotry raise the hackles on the back of my neck, as did the following article...



STEVE WULF, TIME's sportswriter, usually covers pampered, overpaid athletes. At last week's Westminster Kennel Club show, however, he found himself covering some pampered athletes of another species. As Wulf watched a Gordon setter and a Brittany spaniel finish one-two among sporting dogs, he found himself reliving childhood memories of Troy, New York, where his family kept two dogs--a Gordon setter named Beau and a Brittany named Brill. "They were like George and Lennie from Of Mice and Men," remembers Wulf. "Brill was a small but brilliant hunting dog. Beau was big and not very bright; he always seemed to be asking Brill to tell him about the rabbits." Like the Westminster winner, Wulf's report on the show is both handsome and smart.



This report is "handsome and smart?" I leave that for the readers here to decide... And BTW, would you ask an 85 or 90 lb. Gordon like the one pictured here to work a full day in the field???