I've had this thought for quite a while, and several weeks ago during a desert-walk conversation with a delightful young gentleman this topic came up again. So here goes: my thoughts on what the use of pronouns reveals about the speaker.
"I've bred five Champions."Compare that to this:
"I got six MACH's on two dogs."
"I have put twelve different titles on Rover in three sports."
"He finished his Championship this weekend!"What do these sentences reveal about the speakers? Well, from my perspective, a couple of things. One, all are proud of the accomplishments discussed. Two, some people think they earned the titles, while others think the dog did something wonderful.
"She picked up her second ADCH in Phoenix."
"He's a three-way performance champion, with points toward five more."*
A human taking credit for a dog's accomplishments is petty, and very little makes a person look smaller to me than this use of language. That's like taking credit for a sixth-grader's spelling test result because you helped the kid study. Now, if one is a professional handler and is describing one's qualifications to a prospective client, that's different. But for people that own, train, and handle their own dogs, well... And I'll grant you, I am completely aware that some things are team sports (e.g., agility, obedience, rally) but get real, people... taking credit for a dog's accomplishments is absurd.
And regardless of team sport or not, the judges are judging the dog's performance, so I stand by this: the credit goes to the dog. Last time I checked, only a couple of venues award titles to handlers (CPE and USDAA), and to JUNIOR handlers only.
The proof is in the pronoun; perhaps grown up's should consider how revealing the use of I vs. s/he is.
*the dog is mine, but the titles are his ;-)
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