Dog News, July 13, 2012

Dog News The Digest Volume 28, Issue 28

of American Dogs $5.00

July 13, 2012

Best In Show Judge Mrs. Karen Wilson

The Number Nine* Terrier & Number One* Skye Terrier

B’Dazzled Multiple All Breed Best In Show Winner

National Specialty Best of Breed Winner American, Finnish, Estonian, Russian International Champion Of Skyeline Captain Hook

Owned by Victor Malzoni, Jr. Hampton Court bred by Kirsi Sainio Helsinki, Finland Handled By Larry Cornelius Marcelo Veras

*The Dog News Top Ten List - All Breed

BARRIE

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GCh.Oakley’s Pamir presents:

B’Dazzled “Dazzle”

Snake River Canyon Kennel Club Group First Judge Mrs. Michele Billings Breed Judge Mr. Norman Patton

Pocatello Kennel Club

Group First Judge Mr. Eugene Blake Breed Judge Mr. Jon Cole Watch for Tara handling Dazzle while Bruce recuperates.

“Dazzle” is Handled by Bruce & Tara Schultz www.campschultz.net Bred By Jim Jannard & Paula Dempsey Owned By Donald & Georjean Jensen Pamir, Reg. Erik & Jennifer Strickland

BA RIE

contents JUly 13, 2012

10 editorial

14 irving’s impressions / ronnie irving

18 the lighter side of judging / michael faulkner

98 handlers directory

22 question of the week / matthew h. stander

102 classified advertising

26 the upside of the seesaw / sharon anderson 30 obedience and rally musings / minta “mike” williquette 34 bests of the week

38 ten questions asked of leslie simis

100 subscription rates 104 advertising rates

All advertisements are copyrighted and owned by DOG NEWS, Harris Publications, unless received camera-ready.

Permission to reprint must be requested in writing.

42 heelwork to music: back to italy / richard curtis 44 a victorian rarity / nick waters

46 the gentlemen’s hunting dog: the clumber spaniel / mj nelson 50 great western terrier association of southern california / desmond j. murphy 52 from a field-show judge’s perspective: just a show dog: part II / george bell 54 off the leash / shaun coen

56 can dogs smell death? / yossi guy 58

summerfest in ventura and more / matthew h. stander

64

rare breeds of the world: bhutia sheepdog/ agnes buchwald

70

american rottweiler club national / jackie skeels & jackie payne

DOG NEWS (ISSN 0886-2133) is published weekly except the last two weeks in December by Harris Publications, 1115 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Periodical Postage paid at New York.

74 the gossip column / eugene z. zaphiris 80 click - summerfest / eugene z. zaphiris

86 click - the way we were / eugene z. zaphiris

4 Dog News

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DOG NEWS, 1115 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10010

contents JUly 13, 2012

10 editorial

14 irving’s impressions / ronnie irving

18 the lighter side of judging / michael faulkner

98 handlers directory

22 question of the week / matthew h. stander

102 classified advertising

26 the upside of the seesaw / sharon anderson 30 obedience and rally musings / minta “mike” williquette 34 bests of the week

38 ten questions asked of leslie simis

100 subscription rates 104 advertising rates

All advertisements are copyrighted and owned by DOG NEWS, Harris Publications, unless received camera-ready.

Permission to reprint must be requested in writing.

42 heelwork to music: back to italy / richard curtis 44 a victorian rarity / nick waters

46 the gentlemen’s hunting dog: the clumber spaniel / mj nelson 50 great western terrier association of southern california / desmond j. murphy 52 from a field-show judge’s perspective: just a show dog: part II / george bell 54 off the leash / shaun coen

56 can dogs smell death? / yossi guy 58

summerfest in ventura and more / matthew h. stander

64

rare breeds of the world: bhutia sheepdog/ agnes buchwald

70

american rottweiler club national / jackie skeels & jackie payne

DOG NEWS (ISSN 0886-2133) is published weekly except the last two weeks in December by Harris Publications, 1115 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Periodical Postage paid at New York.

74 the gossip column / eugene z. zaphiris 80 click - summerfest / eugene z. zaphiris

86 click - the way we were / eugene z. zaphiris

4 Dog News

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DOG NEWS, 1115 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10010

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Dog News 5

Dog News Cover Story - JULY 13, 2012 PUBLISHER

STANLEY R. HARRIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EUGENE Z. ZAPHIRIS CREATIVE DIRECTOR

SEAN K. GAFFNEY ADVERTISING MANAGERS

SHAUN COEN Y. CHRISTOPHER KING ACCOUNTING

STEPHANIE BONILLA GENERAL TELEPHONE

212 462.9588 FAX NUMBER

212 675.5994 EMAIL ADDRESS

dognews@harris-pub.com WEB ADDRESS: www.dognews.com SUBSCRIPTIONS

Ian Miller 212 462.9624 Contributing Editors Sharon Anderson George Bell Lesley Boyes Andrew Brace Agnes Buchwald Patricia Gail Burnham Shaun Coen Carlotta Cooper Geoff Corish Michael Faulkner Geir Flyckt - Pedersen Allison Foley Yossi Guy Ronnie Irving John Mandeville Desmond J. Murphy M. J. Nelson Sharon Pflaumer Kim Silva Matthew H. Stander Sari Brewster Tietjen Patricia Trotter Connie Vanacore Carla Viggiano Nick Waters Seymour Weiss Minta (Mike) Williquette Dog News Photographers Chet Jezierski Perry Phillips Kitten Rodwell Leslie Simis

DOG NEWS is sent to all AKC approved Conformation Judges every week on a complimentary basis. No part of this publication can be reproduced in any form without written permission from the editor. The opinions expressed by this publication do not necessarily express the opinions of the publisher. The editor reserves the right to edit all copy submitted.

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JUly 13, 2012

THE NAMED NOMINATING COMMITTEE For the first time in the history of AKC the Board of Directors has named an all female nominating committee. (There is however a man nominated as an Alternative). This will not be the last time this happens for sure since the number of women Delegates continues to rise in growing numbers monthly while the sport becomes

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the editorial

THE ‘INVITE’ POLICY FOR JUDGES There seems to be some confusion about both the administration of the new invite policy for judges as well as to whom this policy may or may not apply. It is our understanding that when the Board originally approved this concept five people were to sit on the Committee.

The individuals to be chosen were from “title” and not as individuals. In other words the COO and Vice-President of Judging Operations are two of the titled positions named. With special dispensation from the Board the number has been reduced to four individuals since the position of Vice-President of Judging Operations has not been filled since the retirement of Darrell Hayes. This leaves an even number to make the decisions, which has some people wondering not only what happens in the case of a tie vote but how can the input from the VicePresident of Judging Operations be ignored in these instances? In fact of course the present head of judging operations, while not a Vice-President, does submit names to the approving committee but does he do so directly or through his superior who is on the Committee, the COO John Lyons? And then one may legitimately inquire whether in fact Mr. Lyons has the background and knowledge in this area to assume proportions of that extent. One would think however that of all the present sitting committee members the Vice President of Judging Operations would be if not the most important member a key person in making such decisions.

Without this input isn’t there a major opinion missing? It would further appear that there is confusion as to how people are granted and/or nominated for a large number of breeds and or full groups themselves. The nominations to qualify for these special nominations come in basically from members of the Fancy itself based one would reasonably presume upon the request of the person seeking this recognition. The purpose being to fill meritoriously judging slots for people who were reluctant to apply under the old procedures. And here is where many questions arise. Did the Board intend to cover all meritorious situations or limit the situations to that which was discussed on the Board level—limited individuals for a breed or two? Who determines who is meritorious? Everyone seems to think they fit that bill.

There is talk that perhaps the Committee has overextended what the Board originally intended to accomplish in this so-called ‘invitational’ experiment but that is really being unfair to the Committee. The Board left the procedure wide open—if they did not mean to do this they should qualify and rewrite the policy. If they meant for this to be a broad open policy for everyone then they should scotch the rumors, which imply acceptance of a nominating procedure, which is open to anyone in the Fancy!

more and more female oriented as the participants too become more sexually female oriented. No problem with this that’s for sure as far as these pages are concerned. What these pages do question however are the backgrounds of both some of those nominated as well as at least one Alternate. So long as there is a Constitutional barrier barring certain occupations from serving as Delegates one would have thought that closer attention would have been given by the Board about how certain of these Delegates may or may not make their living from dogs. Furthermore, to include as a potential Board nominee-alternate a person who was dismissed from a position within AKC is questionable at the very least. How in the world the Board could have approved this individual totally confounds reasonable operation of the corporation.

DOGS KEEPING BABIES HEALTHY A newly published study contained in the journal PEDIATRICS finds that children who lived with dogs or cats during their first year of life got sick less frequently than kids from pet-free zones.

It provides evidence for the counterintuitive notion that an overly clean environment may not be ideal for babies. Sharing a home with a dog may be an early form of cross training for the body’s defense system. Studies also suggest that the dirt and microbes brought indoors by pets could bolster communities of helpful bacteria, yeast and other microscopic creatures that live in a developing child’s body. For the new study researchers tracked the health of 397 Finnish children born between September 2002 and May 2005. When the infants were 9 weeks old, parents began keeping weekly diaries to document indicators of their children’s health, including runny noses, coughs and ear infections. Parents noted when their babies were given antibiotics. The researchers found that cats and dogs were linked to a reduced incidence of various types of illness. The effect was stronger for dogs than cats: Babies who lived with dogs were 31 per cent more likely to be in good health than their counterparts who did not. Interesting read and quite contrary to what so many think today.

ON A TEAR AGAIN For a change the Internet publication Global Animal, which calls itself a “daily news magazine, from pets to wildlife” has totally misrepresented both the role of AKC as a registering agency and writes of the need to adopt animals rather than to buy from a breeder. The spurious argument that the majority of AKC registered dogs come from puppy mills is ridiculous, The writer of the article, Eilsabeth Torres, is so biased and inaccurate about her AKC facts as to push adoption of shelter animals over AKC registered dogs as though shelter animals do not come from puppy mills at all! Perhaps if Ms. Torres redirected her argument and supported the concerned purebred breeder instead of making an argument to go to shelters only to get a puppy her Global Animal magazine would present a more objective and truer version of who really is supporting the puppy mills. It’s the shelters and not AKC, that’s a certainty.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK The problem of conflict of interest is too often ignored on the Board level. There have been a number of such incidents within the past five or ten years many of which revolved round Board Members getting additional breeds while others had to do with directly voting on parent club problems which affected clubs represented by Board Members.

Now comes a thornier problem of personal involvements with people of talent being nominated for positions within AKC. At the very least anyone so involved should recuse his or herself from voting on such matters. This was unhappily not the case at the last Board meeting. Mr. Kalter as Board Chair should have at the very least demanded that such action be taken. No one on the Board spoke out in this matter to the overall shame of the Board itself.

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Dog News 13

BY RONNIE IRVING

T

Irving’s

MORE OFFICIAL ENQUIRIES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT

hese days if it’s not an enquiry into the press or into bankers or into the health service or education or social services – it’s an enquiry of one kind or another into dog breeding and dog showing. Here in the UK there seem to be more enquiries, reviews and reports into all sorts of issues than you can shake a stick at! The mind boggles as to just how much time, money and management effort has to be put into servicing all of these enquiries.

The most recent report here in the UK affecting us in the dog fancy, is that of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare (APGAW) entitled “A Healthier Future for Pedigree Dogs - Update Report.” I should explain that APGAW is an all-party group made up of Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords (our second legislative chamber) and associate animal welfare organisations or groups with a specific interest in animal welfare.

Its secretariat is provided by the RSPCA, which is the organization that was the first to pull out of Crufts in 2008. The aim of the Group is said to be “To promote and further the case of animal welfare by all means available to the Parliaments at Westminster and in Europe.

It seeks to influence the development and introduction of effective wide-ranging legislation to improve welfare and also acts as a discussion forum of politicians and welfare experts to looks at areas of concern.” So I guess this is roughly the nearest UK equivalent of your bipartisan Congressional Animal Protection Caucus (CAPC) organization? I am not sure whether you can afford to ignore CAPC

Impressions findings in the USA but dog people in the UK would be silly to be totally dismissive of the findings of APGAW here in Britain.

A Diatribe Against Purebred Dogs The first full report into dog breeding by APGAW was produced in November 2009, in direct response to the public furore cause by an anti Kennel Club, anti purebred dog TV show aired in 2008. That first report was virtually a diatribe against both purebred dogs and the Kennel Club.

It was so biased that it even deplored the fact that a Crufts Show TV program was going to be aired in 2010 and it gave the Kennel Club twelve months to put its house in order – or else!

The latest report is not quite so bad but it is, sadly, based on a questionnaire which was badly designed and was circulated to just a few selected welfare organisations.

When in February the latest report was announced as being imminent, OUR DOGS the UK weekly canine magazine said of it and the questionnaire “The answers, if they can be said to mean anything at all, will merely represent the preconceptions and prejudices of a small group of people who have chosen to become members of APGAW because of some interest that they already have in the 14 Dog News

subject.” The paper then went on to say that it believed “that a body with the influential parliamentary connections of APGAW should surely have made a better job of doing its homework and should have come up with a much better and more fairly designed list of questions. We do not expect our readers to be impressed by the answers resulting from this shoddily designed document.”

As an example of the bias shown in the questionnaire, a question which asked “Which body has the most relevance and ability to solve the welfare issues surrounding dog breeding “ didn’t even list TKC as an option in the list of possible answers!

Fears Not Misplaced As it turns out the fears of responsible dog breeders about the outcome of this review were not misplaced. The report does list a good number of positive achievements made by the Kennel Club and by the breed clubs and responsible breeders with which TKC works. However is seems to call for a number of requirements and controls which will not be appreciated by most people in the dog fancy.

Amongst other things the APGAW report suggests the following Continued on page 60

Thank You To Judge Mr. Houston Clark 16 Dog News

Thank You To Judge Mr. Bruce E. Voran

and r G

Ch. Derby’s Toast With Gusto “Gus” Does It Again (And Again)!

NEWS FLASH: GUS GETS A GROUP THIRD AT OKLAHOMA CITY KENNEL CLUB! Thanks to Judge Mrs. Donna J. Buxton

Thank You To Judge Mr. Garry K. Newton Sire: Best In Specialty Show Winning Ch. Derby’s Academy Award (Two-Time Westminster Kennel Club Best of Breed Winner) Dam: Ch. Derby’s Toast To Belline

Raise A Glass To More In 2012!

GUS’S HIPS O.F.A. EXCELLENT! (Eyes & Elbows Normal) Bred By: Kristin Kleeman Robyn & Kenneth Toth

Owned By: Rick & Sue Copeland Richmond, Texas

Presented By: Scott Sommer Assisted by Alfonso Escobedo & Ashlie Whitmore Dog News 17

The

BY Michael Faulkner

Lighter Side of Judging Fashion Police

D

og Show Judging Outfit Day One: Charcoal colored summer lightweight slacks...brown belt...blue dress shirt (not button down)...tan sports coat with subtle blue and orange plaid pattern orange necktie---adorned with light blue and dark blue small paisley print…blue socks with fine light blue stripes---finished with brown leather oxfords.

Dog Show Judging Outfit Day Two: Clean underwear...clean V-neck t-shirt...white dress shirt (again, no button down collar) with a subtle herring bone fabric weave...black slacks---no cuffs---multiple earth-toned colored summer weight wool blazer---enhanced by delicate deep gold stripes…complimented by a yellow / gold / blue necktie…black diamond-patterned socks and black dress shoes.

Oh, and…also…a black belt.

Dog Show Judging Outfit Day Three: Judging Best in Show---Need to look and feel the part. Summer weight wool tan / taupe travelers suit...blue and white pin-striped dress shirt (button downed collar) ...pink tie with alternating dark blue and light blue squares...dark blue socks with refined pink stripes... brown oxfords…brown belt…clean underwear and a clean V-neck undershirt.

Packed and “ready to roll”, I depart Thursday afternoon…in the sweltering heat…for Richmond International Airport (RIC) for the start of a three-day dog show judging weekend in Wisconsin. With the temperature outside already in the high eighties and expected to reach over one hundred over the weekend, I choose loose-fitting, casual clothes for the trip…tan cargo shorts…no belt (hate the hassle with TSA)…green plaid cotton short-sleeved shirt... clean underwear (jockeys)…and leather closed-toe sandals with light weight ankle-high sport socks. (I cannot tolerate the thought of walking through the screening process in bare feet.)

I park “Jeep” in long-term parking, collect one piece of ballistic nylon luggage on wheels from the back, grab my leather man-bag and head to ticketing.

First to board the EMB – 145 to Charlotte, North Carolina, I place my man-bag in the overhead compartment and take seat 2A. 2A is, as you might guess, immediately behind 1A on the single-seat side of the small regional aircraft. Directly across from my seat is a small galley prep-area, followed by two bulkhead seats, 3B and 3C. I find great comfort in knowing no one will be sitting on my lap during the flight and I enjoy the virtual Jet Stream of cool air, shooting like a pistol, directly onto the top of my bald head. I marvel and mentally construct whimsi-

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cal stories about each passenger, as they board the plane and pass my seat. The scene polarizes. Suddenly, I concentrate on FLIGHT ATTENDANT EBONY (FAE). Several passengers slip through without a thorough appraisal. FAE sports the typical attendant’s uniform. But, her dark skirt is way too short.

When welcoming the guests as they board, FAE bobs her head from side to side in an attempt to simulate sultry hair-action. However, the obviously inexpensive and very poorly placed weave on top of her head does not cooperate, leaving her resembling a Gumby Bobble Head. Striking out with her hair, I focus more intently. I take notice of her lovely hands and her beautifully manicured nails, adorned with shocking florescent pink nail polish.

I transition back to mentally welcoming the remaining passengers who are boarding the EMB-145. Simultaneously, I also notice the EMG145’s interior structure---consisting of lines, grids, shapes, curves and textures. I especially take note of the industrial flooring in the entrance area: thick blue rubber flooring, decorated with a series of slightly raised circles (also meaning round for those who need geometrical reinforcing). Each individual round / circle joins the one next to it, forming a pattern of optical electricity--not unlike the pink tie I packed for Dog Show Judging Day number three.

The last couple board EMB-145 for Milwaukee. I welcome them aboard through the kind expression in my eyes and through a gentle nod of my head. I immediately assess them---dumb as $)($%)(*#---pretentious---hot and agitated.

The man is smartly dressed in wool (not summer weight) slacks…white dress shirt (button downed collar)…navy sweater vest and a dark blue blazer.

The woman, following closely behind him, whom I assume to be his wife, is also dressed for the autumn hunt-club scene. She sports a fitted, below the knee wool tan skirt, white blouse, yellow sweater and a dark blue wool blazer. My personal internal temperature shoots to an all-time high as the visually-torrid couple passes my seat. Thankful that I do not have to sit near them and witness their visual display of sweltering heat, I re-focus my eyes around the EMB-145 and take notice of the protective cockpit door---comprised of more lines, circles, squares, triangles and ovals.

During the oxygen mask demonstration, FAE--unknowingly, but ever so gently---caresses my right cheek with two of her hot pink nails. After which, she returns to her seat, straps herself in and faces the passengers. Half of FAE’s face is hid-

den behind the small bulkhead directly in front of seat 1A. She stares directly into my eyes with her one left eye. I take notice of her dark pigment, her slightly oval eye, and her full-expression while also sensing that FAE is trying to figure out why I am staring directly her way.

The gentleman, sitting in seat 3B directly behind me and to my right, stretches his long left leg forward into the aisle-way resting his large foot at my side. I break free from my connection with FAE, drawn downward to the largest neon pink athletic shoe I have ever seen. I ask myself, “What grown man would wear neon pink athletic shoes?” Turning my head slowly downward and to my right, I conjure an artificial sneeze in order to sneak a peek. Caucasian…approximately fortyfour to forty-seven years old, blue jeans, sporting a green t-shirt with the question, “Ask me what’s for dinner?” emblazoned across his chest. Almost certain that his reply would not be a four course, light summer meal to my liking, I refrain from asking.

Seated next to “Ask me what’s for dinner?” is one whom I perceive to be his wife. She is also wearing blue jeans, a blue tank top and yes, you guessed it – light grey Nike running shoes with hot pink soles and hot pink laces. “Thank God they are not traveling with children!” I quietly chortle to myself in fear of jeopardizing my visual capacity prior to my Three Day Dog Show Judging Weekend.

FAE enters the small galley area, closing the curtain from behind. I am left wondering why the need for extreme secrecy, when placing aluminum cans and ice onto a metal rolling cart. Falling into a mini Wizard-of-Oz out of body experience (OBE – for some reason I often recall the multitude of pleasures this film has provided me throughout my life) I mentally restrain myself from reaching over, ripping the curtain asunder, exposing FAE for whom she really is. “May I get you something to drink?” FAE politely inquires. “Diet Coke – no ice,” I respond. FAE gently hands me a small glass of Diet Coke, no ice. Continuing to be intrigued by her shockingly long pink nails, I also take notice of an interesting bracelet encircling her right wrist. A thick, dark, silver chain…accented with a heart bearing the initials AR. The bracelet does not move on her wrist, while she serves beverages. I look closer. The bracelet and FAE’s skin are one. “It’s a tattoo, OMG it’s really a tattoo. How absolutely marvelous,” I mumble to myself as FAE moves to serve Pink Neon Man in seat 3B. EMB-145 lands on time in Charlotte, NC. The Continued on page 62

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JULY 13, 2012

question week

BY MATTHEW H. STANDER

How do you think the Reserve Best in Show worked out this past weekend?

the

of the

COREY BENEDICT It’s just not effective. There are no points available, plus after the judge gives BIS giving the BIS reserve get’s lost in the shuffle.

ALICE LAWRENCE This is a question best evaluated by those who received the award, in my opinion. Until AKC decides to award points to this honor, it really doesn’t make much sense and to some may be a disappointment. The awards seemed to be bestowed a bit awkwardly in some instances. The recipients seemed embarrassed and the ribbons minimalistic. All in all, I wasn’t impressed with the process.

Hans Kabel I never saw it myself this weekend, I did hear about the reserve BIS. For me it is an award with no value.

Andy Linton If it is worth taking a picture of Reserve BIS, then I suppose there is value in the award. lesley boyes I don’t think anyone even knew it was happening!

Lorene Hogan It seemed to go well. But a little bit like kissing your sister.

DARYL MARTIN In our game we our getting used to many changes as is in life. I think it should be done before the best in show like all the other world shows or even Miss USA or pageants. As I told our reserve winner, it will keep some Handlers from telling their clients, “I think we almost won!” Of course handlers are all discussing how they will charge for it as well. I do think it takes away from the best in show winner, as in other sports they don’t have a reserve winner of the leagues, the winner is the winner.

SUE CAPONE I thought all shows after July 1, 2012 had to award a Res. BIS. I did not know that points were to be given for this award. Starting this in the middle of the year is like changing the rules at a football game at halftime. What about a national specialty? This is considered a best in show is a reserve with points going to be offered there also. This will lower the prestige of a best in show and the ratings are going to be worthless.

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Georjean Jensen The Saturday show in Ventura was the first I saw the Reserve BIS being awarded. It is just another ribbon that does not mean much to me. You are either BIS or not. You get points in the ranking for Best in Show. You get a ribbon for being second best.

TAMMIE WILCOX The reserve best in show was a placement that I didn’t even remember until a second dog was pointed to at the Friday show. It was not memorable. I understand that at this time it does not influence your all breed standings, so for many of us it does not have significance.

None of our clients have mentioned it at this time. I would be curious to know from those that were awarded the reserve best in show what they thought of the award.

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he statistics for agility have been positive since the day the new program was started. Not many events in AKC history can boast the achievement of being profitable early in the sport. The biggest concern, as the retired Director of Agility, is that this achievement remains the future of the sport. The suggestion of some that the agility clubs should have a delegate voice has been very gratifying but also a worry. For one thing, there would not be many if any existing eligible agility clubs that would apply to have a delegate. Secondly, this would then mean if agility came under the jurisdicContinued on page 68

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BY SHARON ANDERSON

The

Upside OF The Seesaw

“MAEVE”

The #1 Colored Bull Terrier All Breed!* She continues to catch the eye of judges and fanciers wherever she goes!

FLASH Group First Judge Mr. Edd E. Bivin Kennel Club of Texarkana I Group Second Judge Mrs. Michele Billings Kennel Club of Texarkana II Group Fourth Judge Mrs. Mildred K. Bryant Oklahoma City Kennel Club II Group Third Judge Mr. Jon Cole Big Spring Kennel Club I Group Fourth Judge Mr. Stephen Hubbell Big Spring Kennel Club II

GCh. Glentom’s You Were Mint For Me, ROM Our deepest gratitude for this Group Second placement to Judge Mr. Roger Hartinger for your appreciation of our girl at the Northlake Kennel Club show and the Group Fourth at the Mid-Continent Kennel Club of Tulsa show!

Owned by: Susan B. Lybrand, Mike and Terri Cournoyer, and Glenna Wright Bred by: Tom and Glenna Wright, Glentom Professionally presented by: Jill Bell • Assisted by: Chase Waddell *The Dog News Top Ten List

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Obedience

Rally Musings

and A

KC is a changing in the Companion Events Department. Starting in 2013 there will be TWO tournament type events. The National Obedience Championship (formerly NOI) will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 15-17, 2013. This event will be held in conjunction with a Rally competition, and the AKC Agility Championship.

The rules for the Obedience part of the triple event weekend will be the same as previously used for the NOI. The qualifying period will be December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2012. The entries are not limited for this event. As before, if 125 dogs aren’t entered by the closing date, the next tier of dogs will be invited and be eligible to enter. AKC estimates now that the event is being held in the central area of the country there will be two hundred dogs entered.

The Rally part of this trifecta is a competition not a championship as there isn’t a championship in Rally. Being a new venue by AKC standards, Rally has not evolved enough to offer a championship.

The entries are limited to the first 100 in each class. The classes are Novice, Advanced, Excellent, and RAE. Again the qualification period is December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2102.

To be eligible to compete the dog must meet the following requirements for each of the classes. For Novice, Advanced and Excellent a dog must have earned a title in the class entered during the qualifying period plus have earned three more qualifying scores of 90 points or more during the qualifying period. I don’t believe this is difficult to achieve so an early entry will be paramount to be able to participate.

The requirements for the RAE class are more challenging. The dog must have earned a Rally Advance Excellent title. In addition, the dog must also have earned three scores of one hundred points, and at least five double qualifying scores from Advance B and Excellent B during the qualifying period.

In addition to these events, AKC will hold an Obedience Classic in conjunction with the Eukanuba shows in December 2013.

This event will be in a new format and is open to dogs competing in Novice, Open and Utility. However, Obedience Champions will not be allowed to compete. The qualifying period for

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by Minta “Mike” Williquette this event will be July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

To qualify for the Novice and Open Classes the dog must have earned a title in the class entered during the qualification period. After earning the title, the dog must earn three more scores in the class (either A or B), or one High in Trial award, and the dog must have placed two times in their respective class during this period.

To enter Utility the dog must have a UD or UDX, and earned six qualifying scores in Utility A or B during the qualification period. The dog may not have an OTCH title.

There does not appear to be an entry limit on this event.

A new puppy is a learning experience once again.

It’s been ten years since we have had a fifteen week old puppy in the pack. In the three weeks she has lived with us, at the time of this writing, she has caused havoc and provided entertainment for the humans, but the canines aren’t as enamored.

The ability to learn at this age is amazing. As she will be in the conformation ring first we are working on gaiting and if I may brag, at class folks were in awe of her trucking around the ring like a special. A little bit of obedience is being introduced along with puppy tracking. Of course “no” and “leave it” were taught immediately. Being a hound the independent nature is showing very early. She goes off on her own exploring the woods and garden in our backyard.

Hopes are high for this little PBGV girl named Glee.

Exercised Finished.

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Dog News 33

July 13, 2012

Greater DeKalb Kennel Club - Saturday Pug GCh. Hill Country’s Tag I’m It Judge Mr. David Bolus Owner Carolyn Koch Handler Barry Clothier Santa Maria Kennel Club - Saturday & Sunday Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Afterall Painting the Sky Judge Mrs. Judith V. Daniels Judge Mr. Carl J. Anderson Owners Victor Malzoni Jr. & Torie Steele, Mary & Scott Olund & Diane Ryan Handler Gabriel Rangel Greater Collin Kennel Club Texas Kennel Club Doberman Pinscher GCh. Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici Judge Mrs. Paula Nykiel Judge Mr. James Reynolds Owners Dick & Suzy Lundy, Jocelyn & Kevin Mullins Handler Jocelyn Mullins Timberland Valley Dog Fanciers Association Saturday & Sunday Japanese Chin GCh. Pem We-Syng Lucky Mi Judge Mrs. Susan Norris-Jones Judge Dr. Daniel Dowling Owners James Dalton, Dr. John Turjoman, Marsha Ballard Handler Nancy Martin Farmington Valley Kennel Club - Thursday Lakeland Terrier GCh. Larkspur Acadia Save Me A Spot Judge Dr. John Ioia Owners Tony Barker, Susan Fraser, Maria Sacco Handler RC Carusi

Bests Week of the

Genesee Valley Kennel Club I Pembroke Welsh Corgi GCh. Riverside Get Over It Judge Mr. Charles Olvis Owner & Handler Deborah Shindle National Capital Kennel Club Akita GCh. CR-Wicca’s Trade Secret Judge Mrs. Janice Pardue Owners Tom & Ann Bavaria, JoAnn Charnick, C. Burke Handler Heather Bremmer

Farmington Valley Kennel Club Holyoke Kennel Club Standard Schnauzer GCh. Charisma Maxim Von Diable Judge Mr. Roger Hartinger Judge Mrs. Donna Buxton Owners Linda and John Adiletti Handler Tiffany Skinner

Huntington Kennel Club Papillon GCh. Wildfire On The Verge Judge Mrs. Patricia Hess Owners Angela and Cheslie Pickett Handler Cheslie Pickett

Ann Arbor Kennel Club - Sunday American Water Spaniel GCh. Waterway Game Crk Hot Diggity Judge Dr. Dana Ann Smith Massey Owners Linda & Jon Hattrem, Mr. & Mrs. John Rose, Pamela Boyer Handler Linda Hattrem

To report an AKC All Breed Best In Show or National Specialty Win Call, Fax or Email before 12:00 Noon Tuesday. Fax: 212 675-5994 • Phone: 212 462-9588• Email: Dognews@harris-pub.com 34 Dog News

*

*The Dog News Top Ten List

Dog News 35

*All Systems ** C.C. system

ASKED OF LESLIE SIMIS

Questions

What person do you most look forward to seeing at the dog shows?

The parking attendant waving goodbye as I am leaving after a long day.

If you could change one thing at the dog shows what would it be?

To put the safety and well being of the dogs first...Heat regulations and shows that run past 7 pm.

Born: HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

What is your greatest extravagance?

Not brushing a dog.

Reside: TEMPLE CITY, CALIFORNIA

Married: HAPPILY SINGLE.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

How much room do we have on this page ?

10 What dog person would you like to see on ‘Dancing With The Stars’?

Gary Wittmeier.

If you were to have a tattoo, what would it be of?

A plumeria (although it just sounds too painful ).

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you?

IPad with Internet access...a poodle and some almonds.

When and where are you the happiest?

Anywhere my Family, Friends and my Dogs are.

Other people think I am?

A hard working Poodle girl.

What would be your last request?

How soon till I get to try this again?

38 Dog News

They Do Know 



“Jack!”

Group and Best In Show Winner in Ireland

American & Irish Ch. Class Act By Hallsblu

Judge Ms. Billie Kellogg Kneale

Judge Mrs. Sue Weiss FLASH Best In S how Susque-N ango Kennel C lub Judge Mr. Thom Parrotti

Judge Dr. H. Scott Kellogg Owners Mr. WJ Berry and Mrs. AF Austin “Motherwell” and “East Fields”

Judge Mr. Kenneth Kauffman Hallsblu Kerry Blues Mr. John Weatherhead Thank you John for a lifetime of breeding outstanding Kerry Blues

Importer Agent - Handler Mr. George Wright 270 Locktown - Sergeantsville Road Stockton, NJ 08559 908 996-3024 Dog News 39

Laredo

40 Dog News

Multiple Group and Best In Show Winner!

GCh. Jacquet’s Laredo El Encanto Breeders Linda Casella (& CoOwner) Carole Shea, Richard Tomita

Jacquet Boxers

Owners David Sparks & Nance Sparks

Handlers Carmen Skinner Gerard Hughes Dog News 41

I

heelwork to

t was three years ago when I last went to judge and teach for the Dogdance Italia group. The sport was in its infancy stages then, so I was looking forward to seeing how the sport was progressing. Also of course it was good to be meeting up with the organisers Paola and Jackie, who always guarantee me a good time while I am in their country.

After a flight from Luton I was met at the airport and taken to my Hotel in Milan, which was to be my base for the next four days. The location of the competition was just outside Milan was great and their attitude to the at a sports centre. This place was an work was fantastic. ideal location for a competition with The day ended with a nice meal plenty of room for the ring, competiin a local restaurant before I retired to tors and audience. On the first day my hotel to prepare for the next day’s the organisers always put on the fun official competition. The rules/markclasses where the handlers can use ing for this event were different in toys and treats in the ring when they some areas than the UK rules. Firstly, work their dog. This is an excellent there are only two sections to mark way for handlers to have a go at dobut each section had a total of one ing a routine in a competition situhundred points. There are also other ation, as they have the security of deductions that can be made unlike food if they need to use it. the UK, where the only mark that can The beginner’s class kicked off be deducted from the whole score is the day and of course some teams for barking. were a little nervous about entering The names of the different levels the ring. The main problems were are not the same as the UK but class the dogs getting distracted by the one was basically the starters class. people on the outside of the ring The system that the Italians use aland handlers using the treats as a lows handlers to stay in a lower class lure rather than rewarding the dog until they have won a certain amount for a move that had been completof moving up points. If a team scores ed. Both these problems I noted over 139 points out of 200 then they down as following the two-day comwill achieve a moving up point and petition I would be teaching a group when they have five points they have for two days. to move up into the next class.

The next class was a trio class, The first class was the biggest which means two dogs and one hanof the day and although there was a dler. I recognised a couple of hangood amount of Border collies there dlers from last time I was judging were also various mixed breeds plus a and they had come up with some Rottie and Jack Russell. One handler, nice innovative moves using their Liliana Ferrara Bruno, had three dogs two dogs. Following this there was in the class so stood a good chance a couple of dogs in the heelwork to of making the top places. Liliana I remusic class. HTM has only recently membered from last time I was judgbeen introduced to Italy as they have ing in Italy, as she is a dancer so her been focusing on freestyle. The two movements are very rhythmical. Her teams did a good job for beginners golden coloured mixed breed was the in this division and both have a good first to set the standard with some base to work from to improve their nice flowing sequences around the routines. ring. There was some good use of the After a short break it was back phrasing of the music but the only asin the judge’s chair for the open pect that distracted from the picture class. Although I was the judge for was the handler holding her hands in the day I was not giving scores. such a way to pretend to have food.

The organisers required me to On the previous day I had commented give some comments on what was to this handler that the luring she was good and what could be improved doing with the dogs did not help them in the routines. This is similar to the learn the moves and that the dogs training shows in the UK where the should really be doing a move or seteams get feedback from others on quence then produce the rewards. their performance in the ring.

It was a Border collie Dana and The open class was mixed but her handler that were the next to stand there were some promising teams out. There was no mistaking their performing. One lady had two Bertheme as the handler was dressed nese mountain dogs, not the easias a belly dancer. The white costume est breed to train and motivate, but showed up the dark Border collie both these super dogs were a joy well and there was a good amount of to watch. The handler, who is new content from this team. The musical to dog sports, had super timing interpretation was good but it could and had used the natural moves of be smoothed out and perhaps and a the dog such as high trotting to her little more confidence from the hanadvantage. The focus of both dogs dler might present a better picture.

42 Dog News

BY RICHARD Curtis

Music

Back to Italy

These two lovely Bernese showed great promise at the competition and were a joy to watch.

O

ne of the last few to work was Liliana and her Border Collie Zorba, who were performing to a Greek piece of music. Lilliana was dressed in white and of course being a dancer she was able to carry off the Greek dance moves well. Sometimes I felt over the weekend that the dance moves from this handler could distract from the dog as sometimes the dog was not as good as her dance movements. Zorba her Border collie was the one that came close to matching this lady’s dance movements. A nice flowing routine, which did have good content but perhaps it excelled more in the choreography and interpretation of the music. For me it was a close run thing between Dana and Zorba as one was good on the technical side while the other was good on the artistic side. As there were four judges it meant that it would be very much dependent on what they thought. In the end Zorba achieved the win with Dana in second place.

The next class was more of an intermediate type class where there was a very clear winner. As I mentioned earlier I was impressed by a lady with her Bernese mountain dog on the first day. In the competition she was working her older dog Cora to the Disney track Aladdin. This team looked good but perhaps the dog was a little jaded from the routines the day before as it just lacked that little sparkle that it had the day before during the fun classes. The routine though was flowing and good enough to easily win the class.

So with the competition over early there was time for a little bit of sightseeing around Lake Como and an early evening pizza before getting an early night as I had two days of teaching ahead.

The two-day workshop allowed me to focus on many of the problems I had seen at the competition. It was hard work in the heat but the group was very eager to learn and we covered a lot of topics over the two days.

So that was my third trip to Italy and I have to thank the organiser, Paola, for making it such an enjoyable trip again.

Luciano NUMBER ONE DOG IN MEXICO 14 BEST IN SHOW AWARDS

AM. & MEXICAN GRAND CHAMPION MORNINGWOOD LUCIANO MEXICAN AND AMERICAN BEST IN SHOW WINNER

TEMPERAMENT, STRUCTURE, AND MOVEMENT WE THANK ALL THE JUDGES WHO HAVE RECOGNIZED LUCIANO. Owners Maria Eugenia Lieberman, Mexico David and Barba Keene, USA www.morningwoodbassets.com

Handler: Salvador Fuentes Balcazar

Dog News 43

A Victorian A major part of growing up in any Victorian upper and emerging middle class household, particularly for adolescent girls, was practising one’s ‘accomplishments’ - needlework, writing, music, painting, drawing – so that one could comfortably take one’s place in society. Copying the work of artists was part of one’s artistic education and this ranged from copying great works in galleries and museums to copying drawings and illustrations in books.

BY NICK WATERS

I

rishman, Vere Foster (1819-1900), considered that education should be for everyone, not just the fortunate few, and campaigned for maintenance of national schools and contributed towards building schools in rural Ireland. He devised cheap but effective schoolbooks and the first ‘Vere Foster’s Writing Copy Books’ were circulated in Ireland in 1865, as before this the children used slates.

Approved by the Department of Science and Art, further ‘Copy Books’ followed and ‘Dogs’, which appeared a few years later, is a rare survival. The paperback book is devoid of any text but the cover has at its centre an engraved portrait of Queen Victoria as a child of eight. It contains 16 engraved reproductions of sketches of different breeds, one on each page occupying the top half with the bottom half blank for the young aspiring artist to make a copy.

Foster, who has been described as ‘one of the greatest

44 Dog News

Irishmen ever’, was perhaps an unlikely candidate to champion the poor. A member of the Anglo/Irish aristocracy, educated at Eton and Oxford and the son of a British Minister with a promising career as a diplomat ahead. All this he put aside when he returned to Ireland in 1847 and the rest of his life he devoted unselfishly to bettering the conditions of the poorer classes of Ireland.

He gave £25,000 to assist emigration, travelled to New York on the emigrant boats and his first-hand account of the conditions which the emigrants endured

Rarity led to changes in the law. He spent a further £120,000 on charity and benefactions in Ireland and when his money ran out he borrowed from his brother.

The drawings in Foster’s ‘Dogs’ are by Harrison Weir (1824-1906), animal painter, illustrator, cat, dog and pigeon fancier, keen naturalist and a friend of Charles Darwin. Weir was a very popular artist and illustrator in the mid-Victorian era who illustrated many books, including around a dozen dog books. He worked extensively for ‘The Graphic’, ‘Illustrated London News’ and other similar publications.

H

e was a familiar sight at the London and Birmingham dog shows sketching dogs for the pictures to appear in those papers he worked for and among those he sketched was the first Japanese Chin in Britain. Weir was one of the pressmen who attended the old Smithfield shows in Aldgate Street, London and it was following one of his visits to these shows that he suggested the establishment of dog shows along similar lines. Although he took no part in their establishment, many of the views he expressed and ideas he had were adopted by Richard Brailsford and others who were connected with the early shows. Weir was a founder and one-time president of the National Cat Club and organised the first cat show in July 1871.

The breeds featured in ‘Dogs’ are those which would be familiar to most people at that time, either because of their popularity - Pointer, Greyhound, Setter, Bulldog – or from their appearance in art and literature – Newfoundland, Deerhound, King Charles Spaniel – and include two now extinct breeds, the Old English Terrier and the English Water Spaniel.

Dog News 45

The Gentlemen’s Hunting Dog

BY M.J. NELSON

W

hen knees, hips, ankles and other joints start reminding you that you are no longer the callow youth you’d like to believe you still are and you are a hunter, you may begin to think about a dog that doesn’t require Olympic runner’s speed to try and follow in the field. If what you really want is a dog that moves at the same sedate pace as you do afield, you might want to start looking at Clumber Spaniels, a true “gentleman’s hunting dog.”

While I once judged a Clumber that clearly had ambitions to outrun a Whippet and whose manner in the field could best be described as “my feet are like wings,” this particular dog was an exception to the usual Clumber “rule.” Virtually all the other Clumbers I’ve seen over the years worked methodically for their hunting partners, using their superb ability to find bird to good advantage. They were absolute vacuum cleaners when it came to sweeping a field for birds. In other words, they are exactly what hunters with arthritic joints need in a hunting dog, which is why it is surprising that so few are seen in the field.

“Having an unusual breed can be both a blessing and a curse,” said Roe Froman DVM who, with her husband Gordie owns or has owned Am/Can

Ch Critter’s Hungry Heart CD JH TD WDX, Ch BlueMoon’s Heart and Soul CD SH TD WDX (“Tillie”),Ch. BlueMoon’s Straight From the Heart MH WDX (“D Too”), Can Ch BlueMoon’s Tessarect SH (“Tessa”), Ch. BlueMoonRysn’s Georgia On My Mind JH (“Peach”) and GCh Heartland N BlueMoon’s Annie Oakley who started her field career with a qualifying score in junior at the national specialty this year. “Initially, many judges had a preconceived notion about Clumbers in the field believing them to be stodgy, slow dogs who wandered or puttered around in the field.

As our dogs have been a steady presence the last ten years, those opinions have changed. We love to see more and more Clumbers in field events as judges are discovering ‘there’s a lot of hunt in those dogs.’ And, their noses are superlative!”

This is a very old breed and as is the case with most ancient breeds, figuring out from whence cometh the Clumber Spaniel is mainly a case of guesswork. The distinctive head of the Clumber may come from the early Alpine Spaniel as well as its lemon and white colors. But, this is mainly suppo-

46 Dog News

D Too (Ch. BlueMoon’s Straight From the Heart MH WDX), one of Roe and Gordie Froman’s Clumbers, with his mouth already full of bird, attempts to “herd” another that was a “hopper”, meaning it flew only a short distance and then sat down, toward his handler at a hunt test. Froman noted that Clumbers often play “soccer” with their front paws and legs when they have a ball in their mouth and they find another. That was what D Too was doing with this bird. The chukkar eventually had its fill of the game and flew away.

(Paula Chmura Photo)

sition as there is nothing in the way of definitive evidence to support this theory. Another theory says that the breed was developed by crossing large spaniels with St. Hubert’s hounds or Bassets but again, there is only some circumstantial evidence to support this theory. What is known is that the Clumber was one of the earliest spaniels developed for special work.

The breed’s actual origin will probably never be accurately determined as the Clumber differs so greatly from the rest of the spaniels.

There is little doubt how the breed came to be called “Clumber Spaniels.” That stemmed from the breed’s association with the Duke of Newcastle’s estate at Clumber Park where the Duke’s gamekeeper, William Mansell, has been credited with developing and improving the breed. Although the Duke tried to keep the breed to himself, he eliminated that possibility by giving Clumber pups as gifts to friends and the popularity of the breed began to spread.

The breed was first imported to North America by an officer in the British regiment that was stationed in Nova Scotia. Since then, many Clumber breeders and fanciers have worked diligently to make sure the breed did not lose its ability or desire to find birds. They have been helped in this regard by some of the breed’s characteristics.

“Clumbers are very loyal to their ‘people.’

Scarlett flushes a bird at a hunt test.

In the field, they work closely with their handler who is on foot. They are amiable, willing companions who are intelligent and happy to be doing whatever their human pals are doing. While they are substantial dogs, they are also versatile athletes. They are soft, gentle, loveable companions but they are also determined hunting dogs that need a job. They are not the marshmallows they appear to be,” said Gail Budde who owns Ch. Breakaway N or M CDX RE MJP MXP OFP CGC TT TDI (“Breaker.”)

“Clumbers are a happy breed that likes to get out and ‘do.’ If getting out requires doing a little work, they’re happy to oblige. Clumbers have a lot more energy than people think and can get themselves in trouble. For this reason, training in some activity can channel that energy is a good idea.

It also builds confidence in young dogs,” said Cindy Brizes who owns Ch. Celtic’s Gone With The Wind CD RA NAJ SH TD and Ch. Rezod’s B52 Bomber SH. One area, besides hunting, where the breed excels is in tracking but Continued on page 72

Dog News 47

48 Dog News

Dog News 49

June 22, 23, & 24, 2012

W

hen I received the invitation to judge the Miniature Schnauzer Club of Southern California I was so pleased I had the date available. In recent years I have been asked to judge other specialties, but was already booked for other shows. Several years ago when the Schnauzer Club hired me I was immediately happy to be going back finally to Great Western. I had not been to Great Western for about ten years and have such great memories of past assignments there. There is the saying “you can never go home” and I knew the location was not the huge affair it once was. If my memory is cor-

rect in those days it had over one thousand Terriers. The last time I was there the Long Beach College grounds hosted Great Western on Friday and Saturday and Beverly Hills on Sunday. There were several huge specialties during the week. The following week was a Toy Group and NonSporting Group and Hounds on Friday, Long Beach and Shoreline were Saturday and Sunday.

This made for a long week of great shows. The grounds had the biggest white tent I had ever seen. It was truly a classic set of shows and nearly every great dog in America would be in attendance.

I had the privilege of awarding “Treasure”, the legendary Saluki, her first BIS at Shoreline. Not only was it a super final, but “Treasure” had won over “Tryst”, the incomparable Afghan, in a star studded Hound group. One of the most exciting moments I ever witnessed was watching Mike Billings judge Best, with “Mick” and “J.R.” be-

Great Western Terrier Association of Southern California

fore her. “J.R.” had not been shown since going Best at the Garden, but they brought him out to try for his 100th BIS. If “Mick” went Best this would break the Kerry record Bill had set with “Hotspur”, also under Mike Billings. Mike had gone on record as saying “J.R.” and “Mick” were two of the greatest dogs in America for several decades. It was a day I will never forget, nor will anyone else who was present. Bill was in terrific back pain and Scott was having stomach pains from nerves. It truly was one of the great showdowns ever to take place in the Sport here in the States or anywhere in the world. Nobody wanted to be in Mike Billings’ shoes that day. I also still feel “Mick” and J.R.” are two of the greatest dogs I have ever seen. I can still remember so vividly the first time I ever judged these dogs. I am so thankful I never had them in the ring together. It seemed like an eternity watching Mike do

50 Dog News

By Desmond J. Murphy

Best. After marking her book you could have heard a pin drop before she announced the winner. “J.R.” was the victor and everyone who was associated with him said this win was as exciting and maybe more so than the Garden win. It was a very exciting way for “J.R.” to retire as this 100th BIS was as exciting as his win at Eukanuba and Westminster.

The following day Sam Draper awarded Bill McFadden Best with “Hotspur”, to break the Kerry record.

How fitting it was since Sam had awarded “Hotspur” his first BIS. It really made for the entire weekend to be one I will never forget. I am sure both Bill and Scott will never forget battling it out and am sure Michele Billings will confirm it was one of the most difficult decisions she ever had to make.

Continued on page 78

Multiple Best in Show and Multiple Specialty Best in Show Winning

Grand Ch. Jamora Mystic Topaz, JC

Sebastian

Best in Show Hangtown Kennel Club of Placerville Sighthound Breeder-Judge: Mr. Robert Stein Our deepest appreciation to Judge Mr. Robert Stein for Sebastian’s second All Breed Best In Show earned this spring. Additional thanks to Judges Mrs. Connie Redhead and Mr. Jeffrey Pepper for awarding Sebbie Hound Group Firsts the same weekend. #1 Breeder-owner-handled Saluki* for 2012 since 1972

Suzanne Forsyth / Kim Anselmo / Joyce Morrison ~ Davis, CA *Number Three overall,The Dog News Top Ten List All Breed

Dog News 51

From A Field-Show Breeder’s Perspective

by George Bell

Just a Show Dog- Part Two And More About Stonehenge

U

ntil the 2005 ban on coursing in the UK, the Saluki of today in England and North America competes in both the ring and the field and the breed has not changed in hundreds of years, nor is there a discernible difference in the look of the show Saluki and the field Saluki.

ALL the top Saluki show breeders in Britain (Burydown, Knightellington, Windswift, etc,) coursed their dogs in organized open field competition. Stonehenge was on the committee that founded “The National Coursing Club” (NCC) in 1858 in the UK. Soon after Salukis were imported from their countries of origin into Britain, the “National Coursing Club” recognized the Saluki breed for coursing in 1925.

The Saluki is the most popular of all coursing breeds on live game in the USA at the National Open Field Coursing Association (NOFCA) hunts. After almost half a century, the most coveted hunt cup for Salukis is the Christmas Cup and it draws as many as 60 Salukis in 4 fields for that breed hunt. The first Christmas Cup Saluki hunt was in January of 1965 and the winner of that first event was Rama of Srinagar. In those days, the Saluki folks ran their show dogs and none were conditioned or trained specifically for coursing so every dog, except for natural ability, had an equal chance in the competition. That would soon change as the coursing stock was selected for breeding with coursing ability as a requirement, and winners of the hunt cups were a valued commodity.

A Saluki named Bachrach was 3rd generation in line down from a bitch named Shahin, a past Christmas Cup winner, Shahin’s daughter Vida, and dam of Bachrach, was also a Christmas Cup winner. In 1975 Bachrach, as a youngster, also won the Christmas Cup and sired a litter that also produced a bitch that won the Christmas Cup in the 4th generation to do so.

Bachrach was bred for his coursing prowess, but in the meantime he began his show career. As in a reversal to Sensation the Pointer (Just a Show Dog - Part One), the show folks wondered what that coursing dog Bachrach was doing in the show ring?

As an eerie coincidence, this litter of Cirrus and Shahin was arguably the most important litter of Salukis in American history and was born in March of 1971. The most significant Greyhound breeding of all-time in my view was Ch Vulcan’s Strange Intruder (Duke) to Nishka Varushka, a racing bitch, and was also born in March of 1971 that produced the famous coursing and show champion, Strider. These 2 litters absolutely without question rewrote Saluki and Greyhound history.

The pictures and records of these many gen52 Dog News

A Saluki named Bachrach was the one to later cause a lot of attention at Westminster. In this picture are 2 generations behind Bachrach of Christmas Cup coursing winners. His grandparents are on the outside; littermates of his mother Vida are the 3 in the center. From left to right, his grand dam Shahin, aunt Fluer, dam Vida, uncle Lobo and the unbeatable coursing dog Cirrus, his grandsire was also a hound group winner in the ring.

Shahin, Vida and Lobo were all Christmas Cup winners. The 3 littermates in the center are 10 months old in this 1971 photo.

This negative was recently discovered after being hidden away in a negative folder for 40 years. Photo by Laura Belkin.

erations of field and show Salukis are evidence that the same Saluki can excel in both the field and the ring. Bachrach is many times in the pedigree of the top coursing Saluki of all-time, Darius, after thousands of Salukis have coursed in NOFCA competition in the past almost half century. Cirrus and Shahin, both NOFCA coursing Chs., are behind the top 5 Best In Show record holding Salukis in America of all-time.

The 5 all-time BIS record holders are: Bachrach, Fanny, Karim, Krystal and Treasure. Some may suggest that there weren’t many Salukis around at the time, but the American Saluki Association has had a constant membership of 500 people for the past 45 years, and they all had Salukis.

T

he Saluki in the painting shown on the right, could walk directly into the show ring of today in the UK or USA now more than 200 years later and probably win. The Saluki dog was domesticated about 7,000 years ago and was probably the first hunting dog. The Saluki standard is the only long-time AKC standard that has never had a single change. Why would the standard require a change, as the Saluki in the ring or the field is the same as it was thousands of years ago? The painting of the Saluki was found in an art gallery in London in the 1950’s by the Grand dam of Salukis, Hope Waters (Burydown Salukis).

Cynthia Wood of Santa Barbara later acquired the painting with the expressed purpose of donating it to the AKC Museum where it currently resides.

In my view, the Saluki standard is without equal. It was formatted to follow the Greyhound standard, but it stresses moderation.

Many judges believe it is too vague, but the acid test of a standard is to preserve the breed, and if that is the result, the standard has accomplished its job. There have been many people try and change the Saluki in the ring over the past decades, and it is the fancy that comes down on them to remind them that the rear for instance, is only moderately angulated, and we don’t want exaggerated 20th century rears on our Salukis.

The Greyhound standard was intended to preserve this ancient breed. The breed should at least look as it did when it was developed in the

Ch.B S’mbran Bachrach CC, CM. Westminster Kennel Club show 1977 judge Vance Evans.

After winning the Christmas Cup, Bachrach was a three-time Best of Breed winner and Hound Group placer at Westminster Kennel Club show. (1977-1978-1979) He also held the all-breed Best in Show record for Salukis in the US at the time. Photo by Callea.

This life sized painting of the Saluki in the Ward painting is the property of AKC Museum of the Dog. It was painted in 1807

by James Ward in the UK, about three-quarters of a century before the founding of “The Kennel Club,” or dog shows.

field over thousands of years. If, over the years the breed in the ring has deviated from the standard, standards should not be changed to fit the current dogs in the ring. If the Greyhound in the ring had continued in the field, perhaps there would not be 100 lb. dogs in the ring today. But by what right do judges and breeders continue to disregard the size specified in the AKC standard?

As an example, Stonehenge (1810-1888) was a Greyhound coursing man and from his book, “The Greyhound,”(Copy right 1853 1st edition) he said, “The best SIZE for the Greyhound-form is a very difficult question to answer in a satisfactory manner, but I think that most coursers now consider the full-sized dog-greyhound of 70 or 75 lbs. as not likely to be so successful as one of 58 to 65 lbs. weight; of course there are exceptions to all rules, but this I believe to be the general impression upon the subject.” (15 years after Stonehenge wrote this, Master M’Grath at 54 lbs. won the Waterloo cup 3 times 1868, 1869, 1871) In all of Great Britain, Master M’Grath was considered to be the equivalent of a rock star and

SBIS, BIS Ch Bel S’mbran Bachrach CC, CM, the over-all winner of the Christmas Cup in 1975 and top five placer in the Grand Course in 1976.

was held in higher regard than “his majesty the king” at the time. At the height of Greyhound popularity, there were 343 Greyhound coursing clubs in the UK. Some Greyhounds in the ring today are almost double the size of Master M’Grath.

Stonehenge wrote the first official standard for Greyhounds in the UK, and the AKC size has not changed since the AKC accepted the Greyhound standard from the Greyhound Club of America in 1920. The AKC gives the weight of a dog should be from 65-70 lbs. and bitches 60-65 lbs. The AKC Greyhound standard remains the same as when the breed was accepted with respect to size. The Kennel Club (Great Britain) Greyhound breed standard was changed in hopes no one would notice, to height instead of weight: Dogs 2830 inches and bitches 27-28 inches. Because of the Greyhound body type, a 30” male with the necessary muscle and flesh to cover his

bones could easily weigh 100 lbs. An average sized 70 lb. male Greyhound is about 26 1/2” tall. An average sized 60 lb. bitch is less than 25” tall. In American open field coursing on live game, a 60 lb. bitch is generally more successful than a 70 lb. male. The success ratio in the field is not a gender issue, it is a weight issue. Breed standards are specific for optimum performance levels of the task at hand in the field, not for the WOW factor in the ring. The larger the dog, the less likely it will be able to function properly in the field. The only change in the AKC Greyhound standard was moving arch over the back, to arch over the loin.

Also quoting Stonehenge from his Book of ”The Greyhound“ (1853): “With regard to the chest there are two things to be considered, namely, capacity for the lodgment of the lungs and the heart and the attainment of that form Continued on page 84

Dog News 53

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ongratulations to all dog owners in Ballston Spa, New York, who unloaded a big, collective sigh of relief this week. Due to the large turnout from local dog owners at the July 9 hearing, and the vocal opposition from concerned, responsible dog owners and AKC club members who wrote letters, emails and made telephone calls, the Ballston Spa Village Board declined to move forward on the proposed 5 dog limit law. The limit would have included any dogs harbored in a household within city limits, meaning the threshold could’ve included dogs staying temporarily on a property, even if not owned by the resident, which would’ve made for interesting holidays and show circuits in the area to say the least. Hopefully, the idea of a limit law will be permanently shelved, and the Board will heed the recommendations made by the AKC and other responsible owners and breeders, who offered more effective solutions and suggestions for dealing with irresponsible owners. The enforcement of existing animal cruelty and animal control laws has proven more effective than the enactment of limit laws, which have failed wherever they’ve been adopted. Limit laws unfairly target responsible dog owners and we must remain united and vigilant in defeating these proposals whenever and wherever they turn up. Kudos to those who made the effort on behalf of all dog owners.

Offthe

Yet another reason to add a dog to the family: they keep children healthier. That’s the gist of a report this week in the medical journal Pediatrics, which was widely circulated on all the major news outlets in print and online (Reuters, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, etc.). In further confirming earlier studies that reported the same findings, Dr. Eija Bergroth and colleagues from Kuopio University in Finland studied 397 infants who were born at the University Hospital between September 2002 and May 2005 for their first year of life. Parents kept health records since the babies were nine weeks old, and recorded their contact with cats and dogs. The babies in homes with dogs were 44 percent less likely to get inner ear infections and 29 percent less likely to need antibiotics. These infants also suffered from fewer breathing problems, coughs and running noses. Dr. Bergroth explained that the dirt and germs a dog brings into the house may cause a child’s immune system to mature faster, which makes it better at defending against the viruses and bacteria that cause respiratory problems. This is known as the “hygiene hypothesis,” lending credence to those who believe that if you are exposed to a natural environment that your immune system recognizes that you don’t fight the normal allergens. With the price of health care, this growing belief substantiated by research may have many parents looking to purchase puppies instead of pills to ward off infections and breathing problems.

To that end, parents may want to start picking the brains of breeders at dog shows and researching potential family additions at the AKC’s website, starting with the top ten most popular dogs in the U.S. for 2011 as reported by the AKC. For the 21st consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever holds the top spot, followed once again by the German Shepherd Dog. The Beagle has overtaken the Yorkshire Terrier, which dropped to the five spot, for number three on the list, with the Golden Retriever bumping up one spot to number four. Despite the furor created by the one-sided front-page story in the NY Times magazine questioning whether or not it can be saved, the Bulldog remains at number six on the list again for 2011, followed once again by the Boxer. The Poodle and the Dachshund switched places from 2010, with the Poodle at number eight and the Dachshund at number nine for 2011. In what may be the biggest surprise, the Rottweiler takes the number 10 spot in popularity, knocking a favorite for apartment dwellers, the Shih Tzu, out of the top ten for the first time in over a decade.

While it may be preaching to the choir to highlight the long list of attributes that only our canine companions are capable of in these pages, it’s always nice to see dogs get their due in the mainstream media. This week, along with the widespread report of dogs helping to boost infants’ immunity, there was also another story in the Wall Street Journal’s online edition regarding the amazing abilities of the dog. Perhaps the Journal is on to something, as the markets and the economy continue to

tank, yet dogs continue to yield revenue. Over the past decade, the pet industry has grown almost 800 percent, from just over $29 billion to a projected $53 billion this year, according to Bob Vetere, President of the American Pet Products Association. To put this in perspective, if viewed as a single retail entity, it would be the eighth largest in the U.S. – larger than toys, jewelry, hardware and the movie industry. Hence, more dog stories appearing amongst the WSJ’s pages with seeming regularity. While the search and rescue, bomb and drug sniffing abilities and military and service capabilities of the dog are well known and documented, the WSJ article highlighted dogs that have been trained to detect low blood sugar in diabetics that go undetected by humans, as well as dogs that can detect seizures and alert patients and those around them of an oncoming attack, as well as dogs that aide humans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, common in war veterans, by easing their anxiety and panic and giving them a reason to exit a stressful situation. It also touches on dogs’ abilities to detect multiple types of cancer in humans, from licking their skin to warn of melanoma to smelling lung and breast cancer in human breath to being trained to sniff out bladder cancer cells in urine samples. While many of these abilities have been publicized before, it’s a welcome sight to see a mainstream outlet more known for lauding the worth of mutual funds and stocks to hail the worth of a dog. Perhaps the well-heeled subscribers of the WSJ will be more willing to donate some of their disposable income to some of the fine organizations that promote the health and well being of dogs, too, such as the AKC’s CHF. (And in a side note to the abilities of the dog, which never cease to amaze, check out Yossi Guy’s article on page 56 in this week’s issue of Dog News on the reports of dogs that can detect the impending death of humans).

Hate to end on a down note, but a disturbing trend that is believed to have started in China is also making waves stateside and needs to be addressed. Some owners like to dress up their dogs in costumes and clothing and designer collars and whatnot and though I personally do not count myself among them I respect their right to do so provided that the dogs aren’t physically harmed (or publicly humiliated, but until the advent of the ‘humiliation detection dog’, who’s to know?). But photos have been surfacing online, in print and on television of the Chinese fad of dyeing dogs to look like other animals ranging from panda bears, tigers, buffalo, camels, snails and even cartoon characters such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s a fad that’s been trending stateside as well, with some dog-dying owners even being featured on CNN. Dye jobs at pet grooming centers in Beijing reportedly run about 600 yuan, or $100 U.S. However impressive the dye-jobs may look —the Chow Chows dyed like panda bears would cause Martha Stewart to do a double take — this is definitely not “a good thing”. Human hair dye can be toxic for dogs. One also must be concerned about underground pop up shops offering cheaper dye jobs using toxic materials surfacing as well, and fears that it won’t be long before the tales of a dyed dog ending up a dead dog start making the rounds.

Though in many areas of China dogs are still served as fragrant meat, overall dog ownership has greatly increased and the treatment of dogs greatly improved there in the last two decades.

The dog-dyeing craze is certainly a step backwards. There are plenty of other outlets for these dye-artists to show their talents and the practice of using dogs as a canvas must be frowned upon if not outlawed immediately.

Last chance to protect small breeders! Sign the petition now! Go to http://www.akc.org/petition/

Leash

BY SHAUN COEN

54 Dog News

Dog News 55

Can Dogs

A Modern Twist on an Ancient Story

56 Dog News

Smell Death?

In some cultures, a dog that howls for no reason during the night is warning of an impending death. As humans, the unknown and inability to control things puts us on guard and makes us uneasy.

So we are on a continuous quest to understand the unknown.

Story and photos by Yossi Guy Dog is “man’s best friend” in many more aspects than mere friendship. The relationship between dog, the first domesticated animal, and man is rife with emotion, beliefs and legends. In the most ancient burial sites where humans were found buried with animals, those animals are dogs. And dogs have also played a key part in man’s quest to understand the mystery of life and death.

The ancient Sumerians (Mesopotamia, 4000 BC) paid homage to their dog-headed goddess, Bau. She was the principal goddess of the Lagash area, associated with healing, and her alter ego was a dog. Historians relate Anubis, the Egyptian jackal/dog-headed god (3000 BC) to Bau. Anubis was the god of the dead. He was said to accompany the dead into the afterworld and ensure their safe journey. Anubis was also identified with Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky.

The Jews believe dogs played a pivotal part in their exodus from Egypt, led by Moses. The last of the 10 plagues was the death of the firstborn, followed by the exit of the Children of Israel from enslavement. At this point, all the dogs in Egypt kept silent, instead of giving notice of the mass migration, or in Biblical phrasing:“But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue” (Exodus 11:7). The explanation here is that dogs were considered able to smell the Angel of Death, perhaps there was some relation to the Egyptian belief in Anubis that had seeped into local Jewish beliefs.

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nd then there was Cerberus, guardian of the underworld according to Greek mythology. He was not very benevolent, with his three heads and fierce attitude.

On the other side of the globe, in the Mayan culture (2000 BC), the Chupicaro people buried dogs with the dead. Then a belief developed that the dog carries the newly deceased across a body of water in afterlife. In the

Continued on page 90

Dog News 57

BY MATTHEW H. STANDER

Summerfest photos by Eugene Z. Zaphiris

andmore

SUMMERFEST IN VENTURA, A LITTLE CHANGE IN HEART...

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usually enjoy going to Ventura in California but this year’s trip was particularly worthwhile as it gave us all quite an opportunity to escape the oppressive heat most of the county was facing. In Ventura on the Beach the sun never burnt off before two or three pm each day and it was necessary to wear some kind of jacket for sure.

What a great relief from what we had been facing for the last week or two at home. Forget about the fact that the buildings are dark—maybe even dirty—where many of the rings are set up. The outdoor rings are always pleasant enough. Forget about the fact that the grooming spaces cost a considerable amount of money and that electricity is not included in the charges for space and forget about the fact that food concessions provided at the Ventura Fairgrounds are less than acceptable.

The venue has always been somewhat of a problem but is more than usable for years on end now and in the long run suit the occasion as well as most. I remember years ago when Ventura was the middle show with Lompoc on Friday and glorious Santa Barbara on Sunday. Ventura was traditionally late in finishing and most of us had to leave early to get to the Stevenson’s even more glorious dinner on Saturday evening in Santa Barbara never knowing which exhibit was adjudicated best that day. The BIS adjudicator usually arrived directly from the show and we all waited with baited breath to learn which dog had won there. Oh yes-those were some glory days but in all fairness Ventura has remained steady and reliable Continued on page 70

58 Dog News

Irving’s Impressions Continued FROM page 14

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The Kennel Club should conduct a review of progress annually on the content of its breed standards and progress improvements to these breed standards on health grounds. This review should involve all key stakeholders such as the veterinary profession and animal charities and to seek to remove any ambiguity in the language used within them.

The KC should add other breeds to the list of 15 high profile breeds which are health checked before obtaining Best of Breed prizes, if the science suggests there may be a problem with any other breed The KC should adopt the UK Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding’s “Breeding Standards”

I cannot find if or where these have been finalized and published but I am told that the last time they were written up publicly they called for the following:■ Breeding stock to be selected on temperament and physical and genetic health - irrespective of other factors such as breed standard requirements.

■ All potential breeding stock to be examined by a veterinary surgeon prior to mating and certified free from any inherited defect apparent on physical examination.

■ Where scientifically validated tests for inherited disease are available, dogs intended for use in breeding to be tested and re-tested where appropriate.

■ Where such tests provide a score, no dog to be used for breeding if their score is worse than the average published for the breed.

■ All dogs and bitches to be at least two years old before they are used for breeding ■ Bitches that have had one caesarean section not to be bred from again unless a veterinary surgeon certifies that mal-presentation of a puppy was the sole reason for the surgery.

■ Bitches only to be mated to a dog when the Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI) of the resulting puppies as measured from a five generation pedigree would be lower than 12.5%.

■ All puppies to be examined by a veterinary surgeon prior to sale.

■ Each puppy in a litter to have its own bowl ■ All breeding stock to be trained to sit and stay when requested to do so.

• Anyone breeding three or more litters a year to be licensed by the local government authorities.

• Breed Clubs and Show Judges to drive forward the direction given by the Kennel Club and welfare organisations.

• Health checks to take place in the primary rounds of showing or even before, so that dogs not clear of hereditary disease or overly enhanced characteristics do not even enter the show ring • Health tests to be ready upon demand by a judge at any point during a show.

• Work to be carried out to find a way of preventing the overuse of specific highly sought after sires that risk shrinking the gene pool of a breed.

• Standard puppy contract (designed by the RSPCA) to be introduced as soon as possible …and so it goes on.

60 Dog News

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR - YOU MIGHT GET IT! hen the organization called the ‘Canine Alliance’ was set up after the problems faced at Crufts and a huge amount of dissent was shown by some dog breeders, the organization then asked for TKC here to stop testing the 15 high profile breeds and to start an official regime of testing all dogs before they can be shown or bred from. Many at that time warned the organizers of that protest that they should be careful of what they asked for as they might just get what they wanted – and more. Here is the proof that those who issued those warnings were right on the button.

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SOME GOOD NEWS t is to be hoped that TKC will take heart from the fact that this most recent report from this group of our parliamentarians, though it has produced a long list of suggested changes, is not as hostile as the last report that was produced by the same organization three years ago. TKC also needs to remember that although APGAW can influence public opinion, it has no statutory powers to enforce its suggestions.

The other good news for TKC and us dog breeders here in the UK, is that for the moment the present British Government has enough other problems on its hands with press and banking controversies and economic problems, to ensure that it doesn’t, for the moment at least, want to be involved in legislating on dog breeding issues. It has recently said in the House of Commons, “There are no plans to review existing laws on dog breeding.”

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PRESSURE STILL ON ut despite the fact that the Government has no immediate plans to legislate on dog breeding, the continuing demand from people like APGAW shows that the pressure is still on from the public and from parliamentarians. Dog breeders must be sensible and dog shows must continue to prove that they are, without any shadow of a doubt, a positive lever for the improvement of dog welfare. It is indeed a great pity that instead of the dog fancy being united in its approach to these issues here in the UK, it appears to be so divided. Let us hope that the various polarised views which have emerged in the last few months can be reconciled. It they can’t be, and the wrangling continues, we can all rest assured that the antis out there will be sure to take advantage of this. I believe that some of them have already started to do so.

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VET CHECKS – THE PASSES CONTINUE eantime figures from OUR DOGS magazine give the statistics for high profile breed vet checks since the Crufts debacle. They give the details as follows:“At the relevant general and group championship shows since Crufts and up to East of England Show (July 8), a total of 131 dogs of the high profile breeds had passed the vet checks, 2 had not passed and 5 had not been presented for examination and thus forfeited their Best of Breed awards.

“Our records show that the Scottish Kennel Club Show (May 20) was the last show at which exhibitors failed to present their dogs to the show vet for the Best of Breed examination. From Bath Show (May 25) onwards all Best of Breed winners have been presented for the vet checks and have passed.

“Judges and exhibitors can indeed be proud that their best of breed winners are being endorsed in this way by the veterinary profession.”

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! y t i g g i D t o H “

r e g g i D

”

A Top 20 Sporting Dog & The #1 American Water Spaniel All Systems

Thank you: Best In Show Judge Dr. Dana Ann Smith Massey & Group Judge Mr. Richard G. Beauchamp

GCh. Waterway Game CRK Hot Diggity Presented by Breeder / Owner/ Handler Linda Hattrem

Breeders Linda & Jon Hattrem & Pamela Boyer

Owners Linda & Jon Hattrem, Mr. & Mrs. John Rose & Pamela Boyer Dog News 61

THE LIGHTER SIDE...

Continued FROM page 18

first to depart, I look directly into both of FAE’s slightly oval, dark eyes. “ Thank you for a wonderful trip – have a nice day” I verbalize while also taking a second peek at her bracelet / heart tattoo, leaving her totally perplexed by my seemingly odd behavior.

A short layover requires me to hurry to my departure gate. I am thankful it is in the same terminal as our arrival. Once again, the plane is a small regional EMB-145 filled with various shapes, lines, textures, colors and a completely new crop of people to keep me entertained during the one hour and forty-five minute flight to Milwaukee.

Paul, the flight attendant, dressed in a white shirt…basic dark blue suit…average eyewear… a simple watch…boring shoes…neatly combed hair and absolutely no tattoos, does not offer the same visual entertainment that FAE so graciously provided. Thankful for the lack of distractions--and for the free time---I choose to peruse the AKC breed standards, refreshing my mind for my Three Day Dog Show Judging Weekend.

English Cockers: slightly oval…softly contoured---without sharp angles… straight… slightly wavy …smooth curves…round…black, liver, red, white, etc…

German Shorthaired Pointer: square…almond – not circular…flat…straight…graceful curves… sloping… liver, etc….

Vizsla: medium…square…rounded… long… level… round… brown…short … straight… smooth …white…rust…graceful, etc….

Golden Retriever: symmetrical…length… broad…slightly arched …deep …wide… long… medium…short …black brownish…pink…level…sloping…thick…round…golden, etc…

Pug: symmetry…square…cobby…large… round…globular…soft…lustrous…deep…black velvet…arched…wide…curled…bend…fine… smooth…short…glossy…fawn…black, etc…

Shetland Sheepdog: small…symmetrical… moderately long…long…blunt…wedge… contour… gentle…medium…dark…almondshaped…blue…small…flat…parallel…line… level…slight arch…slope …sinewy…strong… oval…angular…black…blue merle…sable… white…tan, etc…

I continue through all of the breeds I am slated to judge. Paul announces with a professional timbre in his voice preparing us, and the plane for our Milwaukee landing. “Ladies and gentlemen please make sure all electronic devices are turned off---including all cell phones and two-way pagers…” Major OBE surfaces---Now, I ask myself, “Who in the hell uses two way pagers?” I recall pagers being used within a short time span, during the late eighties and early nineties---evolving from a tool for “technocratic elites” to a tool used by “kids living in the projects”. I interrupt my OBE with brief laughter, recalling a song where Justin Timberlake states, “You know I just got a page from a girl that I met last week at the Pay-less”.

“Let me be the first to welcome you to Milwaukee,” Paul projects over the PA system, releasing me from my two-way paging recall-experience.

I wait for what seems an eternity for my slightly off-square, black ballistic nylon garment with two round wheels to shoot through the square hole in the large, flat wall. Eventually, it appears. Case in tow---along with my man-bag---I proceed to curbside to meet Ms. J1. Ms. J1, waiting patiently for my arrival, shows no signs of vis62 Dog News

ible stress for having to pick me up and shuttle me to the host hotel. The forty-five minute drive to West Bend in her green urban assault vehicle (better known as a mini-van) is relaxing and enjoyable. We spend the first few minutes getting to know one another, identifying mutual friends and reviewing the finer details of her breed Bedlington Terriers: graceful…lithe…balanced… narrow…deep… rounded… shorter… longer… unbroken line…slender…black…blue…tan… brown…triangular…large…tapering… level… slightly greater…slight bend… long…thick… smooth…crisp…low…scimitar-shaped… sandy… liver, etc. Our conversation is lively, spirited, educational, fun, and ends upon our arrival at the Comfort Inn. “Initial your name in these two locations and sign here. And, yes, your room is a direct bill to the club. Your room number is 224 which is located on the second floor,” the young girl politely informs. Once again, I attempt to keep an OBE at bay; it sneaks through with vengeance. “Why???

Can someone just tell me, why she needed to tell me room 224 is located on the second floor--when there are only two floors to the hotel?” I ask myself, totally oblivious to J1 handing me a judge’s goodie bag filled with juice, two bottles of wine, peanuts, chocolate, mints, granola, cookies and a small tube of Mary-Kay hand lotion. With no elevator in sight, I climb the two flights of stairs to the second floor, locate room 224, shower and condition my tired, dry, parched hands with a sampling of my Mary Kay hand lotion. A mini OBE crawls through and I ponder why anyone would want to drive a pink car signed by Mary Kay? I also wonder, statistically speaking, how many pink Mary Kay cars are ticketed for speeding vs. let’s say the Ford F110 Pickup? Swinging my head from side-to-side, I choose to revisit the conversation at a later date.

J1 and her delightful husband T escort me to dinner, and give me a quick tour of the local scene.

I am in bed before ten o’clock. Friday morning is spent relaxing, reading, writing and eating breakfast in the Sunrise Breakfast Lounge adjacent to the small lobby. I enter the small breakfast area, collect a paper plate and place a small portion of scrambled eggs and two sausages in the middle. I choose a table located across the room, in the far right corner in full view of the large flat screen television projecting the morning CNN news. Placing my plate on the table, I return to the food station for coffee, two creamers and a small glass of apple juice (I ask myself why I feel the need to share this level of detail with you… and I really cannot answer) and return to my seat for a relaxing few minutes and the morning news.

Obamacare, having just survived the Supreme Court ruling the prior morning, dominates the stage. I quietly watch, refraining from verbally sharing my joy of the passage out of respect for those who may disagree or have different political persuasions than I. Within a matter of seconds, a gentleman in his early 60’s, whom I do not know, enters the room followed by a lady I presume to be ten years his senior. They gather around the food area and begin a loud, personal, political exchange. “Can you believe our Supreme Court ….?

They’re a bunch of Communists…We are nothing but a welfare state……tax us to death,” and so on and so on. Their conversation continues for twenty minutes or so until the lady remarks,“Well, I need to get going and get my dog ready.” “See you soon,” the gentleman shares and they both depart the room. I finish my coffee in silence, hoping to never have a political exchange with either one.

Dressed in Three Day Dog Judging Outfit #1

- charcoal colored summer lightweight slacks, brown belt, blue dress shirt (not button down), tan sports coat with subtle blue & orange plaid pattern, orange necktie adorned with light blue and dark blue small paisley print, blue socks with fine light blue stripes finished with brown leather oxfords…

Erin, a representative from the English Cocker Spaniel Club, arrives at the Comfort Inn at 2:22 PM to shuttle me to the fairgrounds for judging. The fairground buildings are large, spacious, beautiful, clean and air-conditioned. Locating my ring, I refrain from staying too close in fear someone would think I was watching sweepstakes judging (like it really makes a difference) and choose to take a seat at the Samoyed ring and watch their specialty sweepstakes judging.

Finding a seat on the far side away from the crowd, I discretely sit down and remove the Samoyed standard from my man bag for review. Samoyed: beauty, strength, strength, deep, strong, straight, wellsprung, well bent, glisten, silver sheen, white, biscuit, cream, parallel, moderate, large, long, flattish, wedgeshaped, broad, equilateral triangle, taper, slightly rounded, almond, graceful arch, off square, etc.

“Hello there,” a gentleman states while sliding onto the chair immediately to my right. I take no notice and continue watching the first class of 6 – 9 month old dogs in the ring. “No two are alike. I have been in this breed for X amount of years and this is just terrible. If you want to see some good dogs you need to attend the National Specialty. Are you a judge?” Before I can answer he continues: “ Do you judge any Working breeds?” I turn slightly and immediately recognize the gentleman from breakfast.“I can tell you one thing for sure---we certainly do not agree on politics and healthcare reform and I pray to hell, for your sake, you do not let the topic surface,” I professionally and politely think to myself. The gentleman talks passionately, non-stop about his breed--critiquing every dog in each class. I listen, say very little and answer when asked a direct question. He leaves the ringside when his wife enters the ring and returns after she has her first place blue ribbon safely in hand. I continue observing---along with my unsolicited ringside mentor---through the 9-12 puppy bitch class at which time I gently excuse myself in order to judge English Cockers.

The Specialty is relaxed, enjoyable and ultimately I choose a gorgeous black bitch from the Bred by Exhibitor class for Best in Specialty. After pictures, Erin returns me to the Comfort Inn. I take a muchneeded walk, order Chinese food (delivered) drink one of my two small bottles of wine from the Judge’s Goodie bag, shower, apply some more Mary Kay hand lotion to my hands and crawl into bed. I set the alarm for 6:00 AM giving me plenty of time in the morning to prepare for day two of my Three Day Dog Show Judging Weekend.

DROID gently awakes me at 5:55 to the warm sounds of Lady Antebellum. I arrange outfit number two of my Three Day Dog Judging Weekend on the King Sized bed before entering the shower - clean underwear, clean V-neck t-shirt, white dress shirt (again, no button down collar) with a subtle herring bone fabric weave, black slacks – no cuffs, multiple earth toned colored summer weight wool blazer enhanced by delicate deep gold stripes, complimented by a yellow / gold / blue necktie, black diamond patterned socks, black dress shoes and a black belt.

Showered, shaved and ready for work, I join a few of the other illustrious judges on the panel in the Sunrise Breakfast Room prior to our departure: Mr. TS and his wife J2, Mr. Firefighter, Mr. BR, and Ms. DB. Ms. DB---living close by and with wheels---agrees to give me a lift to the show. Day two of the my Three Day Dog Show Judging Weekend is spent switching between Herding breeds, Sporting breeds and Toy breeds. I judge straight through taking a late lunch Continued on page 66

Dog News 63

Rare Breeds of the world

by Agnes Buchwald

BHUTIA SHEEPDOG OR THE HIMALAYAN SHEEPDOG – BHUTAN

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eading a very interesting book (Flowers in the Blood) involving the Himalayan Region, I decided to ‘travel’ again to India, Tibet, Nepal, and stopped in Bhutan, simply because even knowing a little about the country imagined that there must exist an indigenous dog which could be included at the Rare Breeds of the World family. Bhutan is often mentioned as the “The Living Eden; and last Shangri-La” the Lost Horizon - a mythical Himalayan, permanently happy people’s land, isolated from the outside world. The people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, it is a magical place where every person will be safe, young and happy for ever (I wish).

The Himalayan Mountains cross six countries: Bhutan, Tibet, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Most of the Himalayas are located in Nepal, Bhutan, and some states of India.

The Kingdom of Bhutan covers an area of 38,394 km2.14,824 sq m, is located in South Asia, at the east of the Himalayas bordering to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and north by the Peoples Republic of China.

Bhutan is separated from Nepal to the west by the Indian

64 Dog News

state Sikkim, and Bangladesh to the south, and by the Indian states of Assam at West Bengal. The traditional name of the country since the 17th century has been Drukyul, Land of the Drokpa (Dragon People). Bhutan is composed of many different ethnic groups who live in valleys isolated from one another and the outside world by impossibly narrow mountain passes. These groups are divided into three branches with noticeable linguistic distinctions.

Southern Bhutan is inhabited mainly by farmers of Nepalese origin people who arrived at the end of the 19th century. The farmers brought the Hindu religion with them as well as their language, which is still spoken over much of Southern Bhutan. There is no mingling of Buddhism and Hinduism and the two tend to keep apart.

The gelid Northern Himalayan Zone, over 3,000 meters (9,000 feet), is the home of the yak shepherds. (The yaks are mammals that live at the highest altitudes in the world. They can climb up as high as 20,000 ft (around 6,100 m). If living in lower altitudes their thick coat and lungs (yaks’ respiratory rates increase at low altitudes and in warm weather) are vulnerable to diseases so cannot survive below 10,000 ft above sea level. An adult yak can weigh up to 1,200 pounds (550 kg)*. The shepherds spend one part of the year in black yak hair tents, and during the long winter

move with family into well isolated stone walled houses.

Sharchops are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Bhutan, the population is of Indo-Mongolian type.

Possibly arriving from Tibet their exact origin is unknown.

Scharchops live in the east of the kingdom.

The weather and the terrain are the great limitation of archaeological exploration but there are evidences of civilization entering to Bhutan from Tibet dating back at least to 2000 B.C. Until 1907 when the feuding regions were unified by King Ugyen Wangchuc the country lived for centuries in closed feudal isolation. The Great British Empire exerted some control over Bhutan but never colonized it. In 1865, the two countries signed a treaty under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding some border land to British India. A second treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. Until 1960 Bhutan was isolated from the rest of the world, living a calm and peaceful life, but after China invaded Tibet, Bhutan strengthened its ties with India to avoid the Chinese occupation (1949) as of Tibet. Since the contact with India the total isolation of Bhutan ended and a slow, social modernization began.

The slavery and the caste system were abolished and women were emancipated. Finally in 1985, Bhutan made its first diplomatic links with non-Asian countries. Bhutan is a member of the United Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, the largest city in the kingdom, is located in the western part of the country.

Thimphu is more developed and has a relatively good road network, especially in the administrative unit at lower Gewogs. Most of the lower Gewogs are more developed compared to other regions of the country, and the city is connected to other towns by rugged and mountainous terrain - most of the towns only can be reached by mule track making access, delivery, and development services difficult and expensive.

Thimphu is famous for many locales, but one can’t visit the city without going to the National Memorial Chorten built in memory of Bhutan’s third king, H.M. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, father of modern Bhutan, the Semthoka Dzong; built in 1627 honoring Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan,

this lama was the creator of a distinctly Bhutanese cultural identity, separate from other cultures. The National Institute of Traditional Medicine is a very interesting locale as well. In Bhutan, as at most of the Hinduist countries, equal emphasis is given to both allopathic and traditional medicines.

H.R.M. Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan’s hereditary ruler, voluntarily abdicated the absolute monarchy, and pledged to hold a national referendum for its approval. In December 2006, the King passed the throne to his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and in order to give him a better education before the democratic transition took place, sent him to complete his studies out of Bhutan. Joining the political process in July 2007 the ministers and all members of the cabinet resigned. A cabinet was named to be the caretaker of Bhutan until democratic elections, and the king ratified the country’s first constitution in July 2008.

This same year marked Bhutan’s transition from an absolute monarchy to a unitary parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy.

Under the new constitution Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was crowned king in November. At age 28, His Royal Majesty was the world’s youngest monarch until 2011 (recently surpassed by Kim Jong-un of North Korea). The young king studied besides Bhutan and India, at the Phillis Academy in Andover, Cushing Academy, and Wheaton College in Massachusetts and before graduating from Magddalen College, where he completed the Foreign Service Program studied, and received master’s degree in international relations from Oxford. At 13 October 2011 the King married Jetsun Prema, a commoner, daughter of an airline pilot. The Queen was educated in India, the United Kingdom as well as in Bhutan.

If tourists would like to visit a restaurant when in Bhutan they soon will realize that restaurants are not a problem.

There are some very good ones offering plenty of meat on the menu besides the popular rice dishes – one can find beef, Continued on page 92

Dog News 65

THE LIGHTER SIDE...

Continued FROM page 62

around 1:15 PM. The Sporting Group is fourth in line to be judged. I find a seat next to J2, J1 and ChrisE. They are embroiled in a conversations relating to fashion. I take a seat and listen – “No, I really think your hand bag belongs with my outfit,” states J1. “No – I think it looks better with my outfit. What do you think J2?” asks ChrisE. ChrisE is dressed in off-white slacks, off-white sandal shoes, floral print top (rich pink flowers) complimented by a rich pink / coral handbag. J1 is styling in rich pink / coral strapped sandals, rich pink / coral top and a dark skirt. J2 does not figure into the mix, as she is dressed in shades of blue and white and is wearing rounded toe white and blue flat loafers.

She casually takes her shoes off and announces the brand to the other two gals---leaving me totally perplexed.

“Michael! OK, you need to be the judge,” directs J2. “Look at ChrisE’s outfit and then at J1’s outfit and you decide which outfit is better suited for ChrisE’s pink/coral handbag.” Using my trained artistic eye, I cannot help notice the powerful statement J1’s outfit would make if ChrisE would see fit to let her have her pink/coral handbag. “No offense to ChrisE, but I think J1’s outfit looks better with the handbag,” I announce persuasively, hoping to put this side competition to rest before having to judging the Sporting Group.

I return my focus to the group competition, watching Mr. TS adjudicate the Toy breeds. His official manner, his approach and his facial expressions are a joy to watch. I am fascinated by his full, open jacket with suspenders, and left-handon-the-hip-swagger when approaching the dogs on the table. He takes an extra-long look at the beautiful Chin bitch on the table, steps back, tilts his body to the right, left hand remaining on his left hip and right hand resting on his chin. His concentration is that of Perry Mason during crossexamination. I look on, hoping his left suspender, fully exposed and drawn taut due to the tilt of his body, does not snap free---taking the little Chin bitch out in the first round. Happy and relieved, he completes the task with suspenders safely attached. The lovely little Chin goes on to win the group.

I stand to enter the ring to judge the Sporting Group. Adjusting my waistline, I lift my belt a half-inch or two, suck in my gut, straighten my shoulders and get to work. Methodically and thoroughly I examine each breed, gait each one down and back and around the ring to the end of the line. I get near the end of the line of the individual dogs representing their respective breeds.

I am fascinated by one particular canine and his handler. She is simply dressed in is a nondescript short-sleeved shirt, very casual slacks and walking shoes. However, living on a large percentage of her exposed flesh are images of her dog (well done I might add) and his many ancestors and progeny I assume. I marvel at the intricate details of her multiple tattoos and think to myself, “God, I sure hope she does not have a huge breeding program, because either she is going to run out of skin, or some poor puppy is going to be left out.”

She takes her dog down and back and I actually identify and respect her desire to permanently connect with her dogs on a deeper level. Not unlike Flight Attendant Ebony (FAE) and her heart bracelet.

The afternoon finishes on a high note with Mr. BR judging Best in Show. The club arranges for a judges dinner at the show-site. I am a bit apprehensive at first, but we are assured it will not take 66 Dog News

all evening and the food will be incredible. And furthermore, the evening is in celebration of Mr. Lester Mapes, his life, and his many contributions to the sport. “They could feed me peanut butter and jelly and I would want to take part in such a worthy evening,” I process while heading to the dining area.

Tossed greens with Bacon, Egg, Red Onion and Tomatoes – Prime Rib – Baked Potato – Sautéed Fresh Summer Vegetables – Vegetarian Lasagna – Baked Meringues with Fresh Fruit are served along with an unlimited supply of Cabernet and Chardonnay. Seated next to Show Chairman DJ and his lovely wife, it is nice to spend time with old friends from Kentucky. The evening is relaxing, engaging, fun, and one Lester would have enjoyed.

I return to the Comfort Inn room 224 and retire for the evening. I pre-pack my slightly offsquare black ballistic nylon garment bag with two round wheels for early morning departure and place Three Day Dog Show Judging Outfit number three - summer weight wool tan / taupe travelers suit, blue and white pin-striped dress shirt (button downed collar), pink tie with alternating dark blue and light blue squares, dark blue socks with refined pink stripes, brown oxfords, brown belt, clean underwear and a clean V-neck undershirt on the sofa directly across from the bed.

Sunday morning, DROID faithfully guides me to reality through the sweet sounds of Lady Antebellum. I shower, dress, finish packing, eager to start day number three. I hitch a ride to the show with Ms. AH. Not aware she was on the panel, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to catch up and re-connect after a long period of time (Years ago while judging together on the East Coast, Ms. AH--an expert in the field of Professional Basketball--provided me with a personal tour of the Basketball Hall of Fame).

Ms. AH and I enter the show building and proceed to the judge’s lounge for morning coffee and a chat before duty calls.

Having overdrawn in numbers, they took eight breeds away from my original assignment, leaving me with a solid one hundred and seventy-five dogs to judge. The day’s assignments go smoothly and are filled with remarkable, visually stimulating moments. Sitting at the group ring, waiting to judge Best in Show---slightly removed from the rest of the crowd---I activate DROID while reflecting on two in particular.

While judging German Shorthaired Pointers, a handler enters my class, smartly dressed in faux leopard print. She is first in line, leading the pack around the ring. She kneels down behind her bitch and instantaneously her dog becomes an Op Art experience driving my eyes and mind into a state of mass confusion. The leopard spotted blouse melts into the liver spotted German Shorthaired Pointer presenting one unified work for my evaluation. No symmetry, no shape and absolutely no balance. Instead, I perceive a volatile figure/ground relationship which causes my eyes to hurt. Trying to stay focused on the exhibit, I lose ground briefly and retreat to an OBE justifying the visual display. Op Art---derived from the constructivist practices of the Bauhaus (German School, founded by Walter Gropius)---stressed the relationship of form and function within a framework of analysis and rationality. Students were taught to focus on the overall design, or entire composition, in order to present unified works. I bring myself around and consider it divine intervention---a German School of thought combined with German breed of dog. I re-group focusing on form, function, and the overall dog – respec-

tively awarding leopard print girl and her bitch a third place ribbon.

After lunch I returned to judge the Vizsla Specialty. I award Winners Dog to the Open class winner handled by a lovely young lady in a hot pink / coral colored jacket. Winner’s bitch comes from the Bred by Exhibitor class. Winners Dog, along with Winners Bitch, come back into the breed ring behind a large Best of Breed Class of sixteen champions. All lined up for my viewing pleasure, I take note of the fact that six other women---in addition to the young girl showing Winners Dog---are all wearing hot pink / coral colored outfits along with three gentleman wearing hot pink / coral colored ties. I award Best in Specialty to a lovely male dog, handled by a young lady, dressed in a solid red jacket and skirt.

DROID fills the screen with my requested information - PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle – Color of the Year for 2011.

Energizing Honeysuckle Lifts Spirits and Imparts Confidence to Meet Life’s Ongoing Challenges ---“Shit, now I know why everyone is wearing this color to show their dogs,” I mutter while continuing to read.

Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life. In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues. Honeysuckle is guaranteed to produce a healthy glow when worn by both men and women. It’s a striking, eye-catching hue that works well for day and night in women’s apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men’s ties, shirts and sportswear.

“OMG – That explains why all the non-winners in Vizslas wearing Honeysuckle colored outfits, ties and shirts were so happy when they did not win,” I remind myself.

The last of the seven groups is completed and it is my turn to take center stage and end the show.

I bring all the dogs in one at a time and around the ring. Immediately, two particular group winners compete for my attention. One is the Best in Show winner from the previous night, the lovely little Japanese Chin bitch shown by a tall handler I shall refer to as Glamazon. Glamazon and her oriental breed are the last to be examined. I watch as the towering figure gracefully reaches down and lifts the diminutive black and white canine to the examination table with five fingers, each supporting two-inch long fingernails painted the color of a metallic buried treasure. I am somewhat relieved there are no visible signs of honeysuckle to be seen. I completely examine the little dog and say to Glamazon, “Thank you! Please take your dog half way down and back.” Glamazon lifts the little chin from the table, using her metallic claws, bends down to place her on the mat, and I notice a small, three-dimensional gold heart hanging loosely from her neck. “How charming---I never imagined a woman of Glamazon’s stature and reputation to be so sensitive and sweet, cherishing such a small treasure,” I privately verbalize, reflecting once again on Flight Attendant Ebony’s (FAE) tattooed bracelet and heart charm.

The little black and white dog struts her stuff.

Glamazon, in all her glory, dressed in solid black, accessorized only with buried-treasure fingernails and a small gold heart, wins Best in Show.

Afterward, riding in the back seat of Mr. BR’s rental car, in route to the airport, I contemplate getting a tattoo of Murphy French, our French Bulldog, along with Big Michael’s initials and I think “Let’s not……… and say I did!”

Dog News 67

THE UPSIDE OF THE SEESAW Continued FROM page 26

tion of the existing delegate body, it would not bode well for the future of the sport to have people not involved in the sport making the decisions. The thought of over 400 delegates making decisions for a sport that has been nothing but successful is very worrisome when you consider most of the delegates do not participate in agility and some outright do not like it due to the involvement of mixed breeds. Some existing delegates are involved in agility but it is not their main focus. After deep consideration, I don’t think the time is right for agility delegates or any changes to the existing infrastructure.

The recently named 2012 AKC/USA World Agility Championship Team held its first practice at “It’s A Dogs World” owned by Kathy Sherren in Washington. The facility was outstanding and the eight volunteers plus Agility Rep. Mark Sjogren, made everything smooth and stress free for the coach and team to concentrate on their opportunity to learn.

The coach presented 28 courses in that three-day time frame, incredible. In Europe the agility community shows together all the time due to the size of their country, which is so much smaller than the USA and they already know each other well. The USA team may only meet each other at the tryouts and then must meld together when chosen.

Practice is intense and a bonding experience all in one. Coach Nancy Gyes and Assistant coach, Kathy Leggett, introduced a new aspect of heir coaching outreach by introducing the use of Video Coaching.

They have a YouTube site for team members only and the coach puts up workout courses, mental teaching, etc. Agility has always been on the cutting edge of technology without a doubt. The next practice will be held on August 17-19 in San Jose, California at coach Nancy Gyes’ home and a soccer arena that has the same type of flooring they will encounter in the Czech Republic.

A strong USA team was chosen, which is Small (14”)-all Shetland Sheepdogs: Laura Dolan and Race; Dee Anna Gamel and Kelsi; Denise Kilpatrick and Tyler; and Marcy Mantell and Wave. Three of these are previous team members and one first time handler. Medium (18”) had three Shetland Sheepdogs: Laurene Galgano and Token; Jean Lavalley and Cheer; John Nys and Rush and a Pyrenean Shepherd with Ashely Deacon and Luka. Luka is

68 Dog News

the last years Gold Medal winner and an automatic return to the team. Again three team members are experienced repeat handlers and one new handler. Large Dogs (26”) are all Border Collies: Silvinia Bruera and TCam; Channan Fosty and Icon; Daisy Peel and Solar; Tori Self and Rev. All these handlers have competed at the Worlds and have great potential for the podium. Three alternates were chosen, which is a good back up for the team: Barb Davis and Sketcher; Maureen Waldron and Mickle; and Terry Smorch and Presto.

One alternate dog per height and dogs are up to date on the required shots and attend practice to make sure they are ready to go if called upon. The excitement is high for Ashley Deacon, who all hope will repeat his gold medal from France in the Individual competition.

Another agility competition that has really caught on and has the full support (not financially) of the AKC and the coaches is the European Open held in July. This year it is in Pinkafeld, Austria. The coach, Nancy Gyes, coordinates the entries (and competes herself ) and up to 30 handlers are welcome to enter from the USA; many are jumping on this bandwagon to gain experience. Once they have competed at this event they feel much more confident in traveling with their dog to Europe and getting a taste of the Championship atmosphere, difficult courses, different equipment and judging rules changes. This year there is a Junior Handler team option and the USA is entering a team. This team is coached by Chris Ott. One of the members is a Minnesota young lady, Brooke Knotek, a 17-year-old. She has been such an inspiration to the local youth and she is very ingenious in fund raising. She has a website and has interfaced by speaking at clubs, a website and posted on YouTube.

She also instructs for the local 4H club. No doubt the future of agility looks bright with this type of youth in the program.

Minnesota has strong 4H youth programs in all types of areas, but definitely dog training. The 4H Super Session was held and 30 young people enjoyed benefits from the AKC. They were given free registration for their dogs (many mixed breeds), hand outs about the junior program and scholarships available to them. We encouraged them to participate in the Junior Nationals held in conjunction with the Invitational in Orlando in December as well as encouraging thinking big and the European Open. What was to be an hour and a half presentation turned into a five-hour combination of lecture and agility teaching.

Michele Persian taught them about bonding with their dog and demonstrated with her own outstanding dogs. She showed them how doable it was for them to succeed in AKC agility and taught them all the words that they hear but possibly didn’t understand what they actually meant when working with their dog; “front cross, rear cross, blind cross” and so many handling skills. The kids were fascinated and so were the parents. This is a once a year event and one I enjoy being part of.

Molly!

Best In Specialty Show Winning

GCh. Lazy K’s Dulce De Leche

Sire: GCh. Raklyns The Bronx MVP at Third, S.O.M.

Thank You Breeder Judge Mrs. Cheryl C. Robbins For Awarding Molly Best In Specialty Show March 14, 2012 Blue Grass Boxer Club Louisville Kentucky

Flash!

Molly Wins Best of Breed All Four Days At The Crackerbarrel Cluster Wrentham, Massachussetts June 28 - July 1, 2012 Thank You Judges: Mrs. Sulie Greendale-Paveza Mr. William Cunningham Ms. Barbara A. Finch Mrs. Jean Fournier

Dam: Ch. Ensign’s Amore Di Vita

Breeders: Sue Gubernatis, Lazy K Boxers Annette Clark, Ensign Boxers Owners: Sue & Larry Gubernatis Annette Clark Watch for her in the Specials Ring with Handler Debbie Struff!

Dog News 69

Sarah Janner.

70 Dog News

Photo: Jon and Michelle Sarabia

Photo: Jon and Michelle Sarabia

Photo by Turley

photo: karen bang

Jessy Cadey

Julia and Trapper.

PHOTO: JULIE HIGGINS

PHOTO: JULIE HIGGINS

PHOTO: JULIE HIGGINS

American Rottweiler

Anna Callahan Judging.

Lynda Hylton.

photo: Karen Bang

Club National Specialty

Four Handlers.

By Jackie Skeels & Jackie Payne PHOTO: JULIE HIGGINS

T

photo: catherine crespo

Photo: Jon and Michelle Sarabia

Doreen Luhrs.

he American Rottweiler Club National Specialty is always an event entered with great anticipation and excitement. Depending where you are in your “Rottweiler Life”, your interests may lie in Futurity – because you have pups entered from a recent litter or you want to see how a breeding turned out, Veterans – because you are looking for a great stud dog or your wonderful bitch or dog is at that golden age and still has what it takes to show competitively. Then there is the main event – Best of Breed. All the Specials from around the country in one place for your viewing pleasure.

Purina Farms is hands down a superb venue.

Beautiful, carefully manicured rolling hills; an exhibition hall where every need for dogs, handlers and exhibitors was taken into consideration; courteous, helpful staff; a wonderful meeting and banquet hall as well as an enchanting outdoor venue complete with a terraced Koi pond for dining al fresco. In addition there were large tented areas with adjacent grass rings for outdoor events such as the ARC 3rd Annual Sieger. Purina Farms was an excellent choice!

Beyond being at this fabulous venue and being treated to a lot of Rottweiler eye candy there is also a very important element to the National Specialty, the people.

First, there are the people whose hard work, planning, and attention to detail successfully put this huge annual event together. Show Chairman Tim Petersen seemed to be everywhere at one time – answering questions and solving minor issues. He was always pleasant and accommodating and made a point to circulate among all the participants of the show. Janet Fletcher, Chairman Continued on page 94

Best of Breed ring.

Dog News 71

The Gentlemen’s Hunting Dog Continued FROM page 46

obedience can be an “iffy” proposition with some Clumbers. “There are few breeds, in my opinion, that can compare with Clumbers as natural tracking dogs,” said Froman. “We have put CDs on our dogs in obedience but most don’t take well to drilling. If an activity is made fun and interesting, however, they can do an outstanding job. But, heaven forbid that they draw a laugh from the crowd. Then their instinct for making people laugh often kicks in. In candor, the dogs find work in the field, both hunting and tracking, much more fun simply because those activities make way more sense to them. Actually, they’re quite trainable although not necessarily in the same way as a Golden Retriever or a Border Collie. But, they do love to learn new things and they can think. They are biddable, happy dogs that love to have work to do.”

signs of when they are on the track and off the track. With tracking I had to get someone else to lay the track so I couldn’t guide the dog. This forced me to trust that the dog knew what it was doing. This resulted in me getting better at reading the dog and it also taught me that while they can be distracted by other scents, they will get back to work on the original scent.”

Budde agreed that agility had posed problems for her and Breaker but obedience had also produced some issues.

“Pinwheels in agility were troublesome.

Clumbers are substantial dogs with heavy bone and keeping momentum on turns is difficult especially if there is a double or triple in the pinwheel. Breaker can’t ‘slice’ a pinwheel. He has to meet the jump head-on. In obedience, it is difficult to get straight fronts with a long, low dog like a Clumber. Young Clumbers are like a ‘slinky’ coming at you. Many here are some activities Clumber males are whiners and young that are more difficult dogs in the breed tend to have a lot than others for Clumof body and not much coordination. It bers. Agility is one sport is very difficult to make Clumbers do that does not come easanything, they appear stubborn because ily for this breed. “Agility they do not respect force or harsh treathas been our toughest ment. They are silly and spontaneous sport,” said Brizes. “”For and it must be fun and rewarding for a short-legged, heavy dog, jumping and them. You certainly do need a sense of going up and down the A-frame are not humor to do a lot of dog sports with a easy. Also, Clumbers are not like Border Clumber. They live for the moment and Collies or Shelties that are happy to do in training, every day is a new day for an exercise over and over and over. a Clumber. With Breaker, especially in Once a Clumber has done something agility, if I don’t give him quick and good correctly, they just don’t understand the directions, he doesn’t look at me and need for doing it again. This leaves you ask ‘What do you want’ like the herding trying to make progress with shorter or working dogs. He just starts taking sessions. For me, personally, tracking obstacles on his own or goes off visithas been the most difficult. You aren’t ing. I think it’s a spaniel thing,” she said. giving any commands and you just have While this is a versatile breed, they to trust the dog and learn to read the are hunting dogs and it is in this activity where the breed’s attributes are best displayed. “Hunt training is very timeconsuming but doing this sort of training with the dogs is by far the most pleasurable trainBrizes said that when one of ing we do both for us her dogs gets and the for the dogs. sour on obediThese are dogs that ence or agility, were developed for a the solution specific purpose, findis to spend ing and retrieving birds more time in in thick, heavy rhodothe field with dendron forests. Many the dog since years ago we were they never get at a hunt test in Mastired of field sachusetts. There was work as Ch. very heavy foliage but Celtic’s Gone With The Wind the plants didn’t seem CD RA NAJ SH familiar to me. Finally I TD (“Scarlett”) realized they were rhoclearly shows. dodendrons that grew taller than our heads

T

72 Dog News

Ch. Breakaway N or M CDX RE MJP MXP OFP CGC TT TDI (“Breaker”), one of Gail Budde’s Clumber Spaniels, is clearly not just a show dog and certainly not a couch potato. (Photo

by Reg Shaffer, Doggonedigital)

in many areas. This was exactly the sort of cover in which Clumbers were developed to work in Britain. Our dogs had a ball while many of the Springers and Cockers were more prone to try to run around that heavy cover. The Clumbers, the true HumVees of the spaniel world, busted right into it. It was a pleasure to see,” said Froman.

“It’s important to make sure that Clumbers get plenty of exercise doing something,” said Budde. “They are substantial dogs but they shouldn’t be ‘massive’ by being overweight and that’s the case with most Clumbers in homes where they are just pets. They are dearly loved but are also constantly fed and not exercised enough.

Long and low substantial dogs do not age gracefully when they are overweight and out of condition. Fortunately, there are many Clumber breeders that are supportive of performance titles and encourage their puppy buyers to do something with their dogs. We’re also lucky that there is no split between ‘show’ and ‘field’ types in the breed as the majority of Clumbers with field titles are also conformation champions.”

It is also necessary, according to these Clumber folks, to make sure that sports like obedience, agility and rally stay interesting for the dog. “I have had Clumbers get sour on agility and obedience as they got older,” said Brizes. “They find it boring after awhile.

My solution when that happens is to spend more time and effort on hunting because they never get bored with that. It’s really important to help people understand that the Clumber Spaniel is trainable and can be an all-around companion. They’re not just show dogs or couch potatoes. Many people look at Clumbers and think that because of their structure and other breed characteristics that the Clumber is hampered physically in what it can do and possibly suffers ill health effects if you ask it to do something that demands athleticism. While there aren’t many Clumbers competing in obedience or agility, watch them at a hunt test and you’ll get a much better understanding of their physical capabilities. They aren’t as fast as the Springers or the Cockers nor were they meant to be. But, they can hunt all day and can barrel through the thickest cover with no ill effects which is what they were originally bred to do.”

Jewel

“ z

”z

Thank you Judge Mr. William Shelton for this prestigious win.

Best of Breed under Judge Dr. Steve Keating.

GCh. Hauerdane’s Don’t Bury The Treasure V Cap’s Owner: Annette Brill Breeders: Beve Hauer, Treasure Wylie, Catherine Harlow & Jeannette Copeland Handler: Betty Jo Costantinidis Dog News 73

BY EUGENE Z. ZAPHIRIS

the column

74 Dog News

Department at 919.816.3720 or doglaw@akc.org. Congratulations to SARAH KARGER and CORREY KRICKEBERG on their recent marriage. This past weekend friends of BOB BLACK, the show chairman of the Hatboro Dog Club, surprised him with a birthday party. BETH SWEIGART had the job of entertaining BOB while the guests assembled at his home that he shares with partner BOB THOMAS…hence the license plate TwoBobs. Among the guests were PAM DAVIS, PETER GREEN, THOM PARROTTI, LETISHA WUBBELL, KATHY FERRIS, RITA MAE THOMAS, JOHN CONSTANTINE, SHARON SAKSON, MIKE BUCKLEY, KEN KAUFFMAN, KATHY NELSON, NORMA RYAN and BUD DIDONATO. VIRGINIA S. HAMPTON, a Collie breeder who started her judging career in 1963 and became an all breed judge in 1989, passed away on July 4th at 90 years of age. In her most popular years as a judge VIRGINIA could often be seen with fellow judges BILLY KENDRICK and HENRY STOECKER. A win under any of these three judges was sought after, as their opinions were highly valued. She was a longtime member of the Collie Club of America, the Keystone Collie Club and Bucks County Kennel Club.

Her husband of 50 years, DONALD HAMPTON, passed away in 1996. She is survived by their four children DONNA HAMPTON DEDULA, ROGER HAMPTON, ELIZABETH HAMPTON TANTON and KATHLEEN HAMPTON and their children and grandchildren.

The family has requested those wishing to make a contribution in her memory to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1905. Happy Birthdays to JAMIE DONELSON, LINDA ROWELL, BOB SHREVE and GRACE ACOSTA.

gossip

T

ake that PETA…an article written by JENNIFER CORBETT DOORE in the th July 9 edition of the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports on a study done in Kuopio University Hospital in Kuopio, Finland.

According to DR. EIJA BERGROTH, a pediatrician at the hospital, “The children having dogs at home were healthier, they had less ear infections and they needed less antibiotics.”

The study was done on 397 children born at the hospital between September 2002 and May 2005 and were raised in rural and suburban parts of Finland. The same research concluded that cats appeared to offer some protection but not as much as a dog. This past weekend at the Ventura, California dog shows I witnessed the first of the Reserve Best in Show awards. You had to look fast, because while everyone was congratulating the real best in show winner, a quick here’s your ribbon to the reserve winner. It is just another useless ribbon invented by the American Kennel Club to give more ribbons to more people. You know the saying that group four is for friends, well this just ups the ante. Why doesn’t the American Kennel Club address the real problem of too many dog shows and the decline of new conformation exhibitors? Time is running out (July 16th) to sign the American Kennel Club’s JOIN WITH THE AKC TO PROTECT RESPONSIBLE SMALL BREEDERS PETITION. They were aiming for 50,000 signatures and as of this writing had more than 59,100.

To sign the AKC form visit www. akc.org/petition and click sign here now. To send comments to the USDA/APHIS see the AKC Government Relations USDA/APHIS Resource Page.

For further information contact the AKC Government Relations

Carlos and Blesk The Best In Show Winning

GCh. Blesk Nochi iz Chigasovo # 1 Black Russian Terrier in All Breed

*

Multiple Group & Best In Show Winner Always Professionally Presented

by Carlos Carrizo, AKC Registered Handler Owned by: Jane Barney Breed by: Irina and Yuri Morozov *The Dog News Top Ten List

Dog News 75

A 2012 Top OES All Breed 76 Dog News

Dog News 77

GREAT WESTERN TERRIER...

Continued FROM page 50

When the Long Beach Kennel Club was the last indoor show of the year, it drew over 200 American Cockers. I believe it was in December 1991. I was assigned Cockers and the entry was over 200 plus. The majority of the entry were puppies getting a practice shot indoors before going to Spaniel Show a few weeks later. In those days the rule was they had to take an entire Variety away from me, which made for a long lunch. I believe the sweeps judge started at 7 o’clock, but was over an hour late in finishing, so I also got started very late. When the Black specials class entered the ring there was “Bart Simpson”, the top winning Cocker of all time (it is just recently that Mike Pitts and “Beckham” have broken this record). Another dog entered the ring which I did not know, but immediately realized would challenge “Bart Simpson.” This newcomer was “Webster” shown by Tracy Carroll and after my mind racing and racing “Webster” became the winner. Two months later I awarded “Webster” the breed again over “Bart” at the specialty in New York. Then at the Garden, Annie Clark placed “Webster” right behind “Robert”, formally known as Salilyn Condor, at the Garden. The performance “Webster” put on in the group ring at the Garden launched his career to great heights. I still believe “Webster” is the best Cocker I have ever seen.

I

n more modern times Long Beach holds great memories for me, since it was the host for AKC/Eukanuba. Two of my most memorable assignments took place here in Long Beach.

The first was in December of 2006 when I had the privilege of awarding “James” the Springer, the Sporting Group and watching him go Best under Bob Forsyth. The night I judged the group it was my birthday so it had to be the most exciting birthday ever for me. In 2010 I had the honor of judging one of the sections for the World Challenge. This had to be the most difficult assignment ever. With the luck of the dogs drawn in the pool my section ended up with most of the best dogs in the world competing. I could only send three to the final. This meant several really, really great dogs I could not send forward to the final. The Borzoi “Hunter” became the first runner-up. The Afghan, owned

by Ramon Podesta, was so exciting and the Pembroke from Russia has since won the group several times at the World Show.

With all these great memories of dog shows in Long Beach it is easy to realize why Long Beach is a special place to me. Several months ago when I was making plans to go to Long Beach I realized it is true, “you can never go home”. Eukanuba is no longer in Long Beach and the companion shows have given up that date and venue. I was told it takes 2,000 dogs per day to break even using that venue. Because of economic reasons so many great clubs have been forced out of great venues. Eastern Dog Club is another example. Without the big Pedigree money and entries dwindling to half of what it once was, Eastern is not even holding a show this year.

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G

reat Western has been very lucky to secure the Queen Mary Events Park, which is still in Long Beach. This was my first visit to this location, other than the AKC/ Eukanuba Judges Dinners on the Queen Mary. Like so many shows, Great Western does not attract the entry it once did. The entry this year only had 593 dogs on Saturday. This allows for only 10 rings that have to be used. Each breed can set up their own grooming and hospitality tents right near their rings. This makes for a wonderful atmosphere for all the fanciers of each breed. If the entry was as large as it once was, this would not be possible. There are so many pluses to this location. First, the view is spectacular being right on the ocean, with the Queen Mary as a backdrop. The rings are large and the turf is fabulous. The handlers can set up their big rigs fairly close by. The chances of perfect temperatures are on their side. Being able to stay with dogs on the Queen Mary is a big plus since it is a short walk. There are several other hotels within walking distance. Great restaurants within walking distance and many others just a short drive away. The Kennel Club of Beverly Hills and the Long /Beach Kennel Club hold all breed shows at the same venue one week later.

Last year the entry was only around 700 dogs, but I understand the entry is about 1,000 this year. I imagine with careful planning a thousand dogs per day can still be quite comfortable.

I only judged the Miniature Schnauzer Club of Southern California on Friday, but decided to treat myself to a long weekend in Long Beach. Staying on the Queen Mary brought back memories from over 50 years ago when I sailed across the Atlantic on her. I said to one young exhibitor that I was probably the only judge on the panel that ever sailed on the “Queen”. Their replay was, “Desi, do you mean that ship is as old as you are?” I informed them that the ship was built in Scotland where I was born, but it being built in 1936 made her 12 years older than me. They were amazed and asked if I remember the sinking of the Titanic?

Many years ago I judged Schnauzers at Great Western, along with Bob Moore. The entry of Schnauzers this year was just shy of 80. The reason for Schnauzers being so large is that it is a Floating National. Soft Coated Wheatens 57 and Staffordshire Bull Terriers enjoyed 48.

So many of the Terriers have dropped way off. There were only 29 Cairns, 17 Borders, which might have been caused by their National being a week earlier in Wisconsin. It seems like only yesterday Smooths would get 70 and this year only 18. Bull Terriers had four chances to show to popular breeder judges and the entry was only 16. The same weekend in Pittsburgh there were 60 Bull Terriers. It just shows that clubs today have to work at getting entries. For such a very rare breed there were 17 Sealyhams, which was as many almost as Smooth Fox Terriers. One of the reasons for the decline of Great Western is that many handlers from the East Coast and Continued on page 82

SPECIALTY BEST IN SHOW GCH.

*

*Whippets, The Dog News Top Ten List - Breed points

Dog News 79

Click

Sacramento Kennel Club SUMMERFEST

Click Photos by EUGENE Z. ZAPHIRIS

BY EUGENE Z. ZAPHIRIS

80 Dog News

Dog News 81

GREAT WESTERN TERRIER...

Continued FROM page 78

the Midwest were not present this year. It is not easy to ship dogs these days and the cost is so expensive.

There is also the Virginia Terrier Club being held on the same weekend.

I have to admit that I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised at the depth of quality in Schnauzers.

All of the old timers in the breed agreed that the quality was super. David Kirkland and Lynda Berar, top Schnauzer breeders, judged the next two days and felt the same way.

What is interesting is that when there is such tremendous depth of quality how closely the decisions come out. There was a class dog from Japan and a Special from China and all three judges made a real contest between the two. I put up the dog from China, David and Lynda the dog from Japan. The same bitch was BOS two days. The RWD two days. These are just a couple of examples how close the judging was.

These two big winners can compete anywhere in the world today. The class dog which won the breed Saturday and Sunday faired well in the groups. Saturday he won the bred by group and third in the regular group and then went second on Sunday. The dog from China won the breed at Westminster and was the breed winner the last two years at Montgomery County. Beverly Verna of Regency fame must have been so proud.

Both of these Asian dogs are of her breeding and their owner/handlers have learned so much from Bev. Both China and Japan have great strength in Schnauzers.

M

y extended visit was for several reasons. I wanted to see most of the breeds and would get to spend time with old friends. I was particularly rewarded to be able to spend four days with Dan Kiderowski. Dan has been an institution to the world of Terriers. He founded Terrier Type about 50 years ago and still publishes Schnauzer Shorts. He is one of the most respected people that is still alive in Terriers. When I walked in to start judging I noticed how many people were ringside that have been in the breed for roughly 50 years. I said to myself, “God, please do not let me screw up too badly”.

From what I heard most people were pleased with my judging and also the judging for the next two days. I was the outsider to the breed since the other two judges come from a tremendous wealth of knowledge of the breed for years and years. I presumed they would not expect as much from me. The Great Bea Godsol always said, “Good dogs make a judge look good”. If my judging was as well received it was because the dogs were so good. Another quote from Bea is “A great dog will blind you to their faults”. This was also the case here. The top winners had no glaring faults that were obvious to me.

A major factor for my spending the entire weekend

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at Great Western was trying to talk with the Bully breed people. All of my friends know my passion for the Bully breeds. While strolling down the deck one evening on the Queen, someone pointed out a wonderful large picture of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. It brought back a memory way from the past. At the Ox Ridge show the Duke and Duchess were sitting ringside to watch Walter Foster show their Pug. Since they were living in the neighborhood at the time, their presence was not overwhelming. But at this show the legendary Raymond H. Oppenheimer of “Ormandy” and Eva Weatherill of “Souperlative” were present. Eva was judging and Raymond was present to watch. The Duke had abdicated being King of the British empire, but Raymond is still King of the dog breeders worldwide.

Because of my passion for Bull Terriers and some of the other Bully breeds, at Santa Barbara this year there will be a “Bullyganzga” competition for the nine Bully breeds. I will not bore you with details, but I believe it will be the first of its kind in America. The SBKC each year in the Breeders Showcase section of the catalogue presents the Twenty Basic Breeding Principles by Raymond H. Oppenheimer. These great words of wisdom occasionally appear in publications. They should be required reading periodically for all breeders. An antique silver Challenge Trophy has been offered in memory of Mr. Oppenheimer and William Kendrick for the “Bullyganzga” competition. Mr. Kendrick was the counterpart of Mr. Oppenheimer on this side of the pond. For three days the owners of Bull Terriers, Staffie Bulls, Am Staffs and Mini Bulls had to listen to my sales pitch of “Bullyganzga”.

B

est In Show both nights went to the Ginger Wire bitch “Sky”.

Besides the incomparable “Sky”, the finals were full of quality dogs. Both David Kirkland and Joe Walton made large cuts, but even then some wonderful dogs did not make the cut. The new dogs that drew attention in the groups were the Miniature Schnauzer from Japan and a new Scottie. The Scottie is owned in Hawaii by Bill Kamai, but was imported from Ireland. Bergit Kabel seemed so excited about being able to show him. Bergit has been a fixture to Scotties for nearly 50 years now. It brings back so many wonderful memories of all the great Scotties and breeders she was associated with on both sides of the pond.

I realize the expression is true that you can never go home. Great Western and Long Beach will never see the dog shows they once staged. But this is true everywhere today. Good things come in small packages and this is true for Great Western. It is still a wonderful institution to the sport of dogs.

The Multiple All Breed Best In Show & Multiple National Best In Specialty Show Winning

GCh. Pleasant Hill Magnum Of Samara Magnum is the Number One Canaan Dog* 11 Herding Group Wins and 90 Group Placements 2011 and 2010 Canaan Dog Club of America National Best in Specialty Show Winner 2012, 2011 and 2010 Westminster Kennel Club Best of Breed Winner 2011, 2010 and 2009 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Best of Breed Winner 2012 and Lifetime Number One Grand Championship Points Ranking

Owned By Pamela Rosman and Richard Vulliet DVM

Photo by InFocus by Miguel

Presented By Bruce and Tara Schultz

*The Dog News Top Ten List - All Breed

Dog News 83

From A Field-Show Breeder’s Perspective Continued FROM page 53

most conducive to speed and working. It must be not too deep, or the animal is constantly striking it against obstacles; it must not be too wide, or the shoulders are unable to play smoothly upon it, as they must do in the action of this quarter; but it must be of sufficient capacity to lodge the heart and lungs.”

The current Greyhound standard in Great Britain has many startling changes to the detriment of the breed, not the least of which is the increased size. “The foot” is almost described as a cat-foot and deletes the AKC version of a hare-foot. A well arched hare-foot is wanted in just about all Sighthounds and is a stronger foot with more resistance to damage to the joint capsules of the toes. The British standard on characteristics describes and I quote, “Its straight through, long reaching movement enables it to cover ground at great speed.” Who writes this stuff? Are they referring to profile gait when they say movement? Is this not the tremendous reach and drive of a show ring trot? TRAD in the ring is another way to say the dog runs slower in the field. Instead of well-arched loin in the AKC Stonehenge

version they ask for only slightly arched loin in the Brits version.

If the Stonehenge standard isn’t broken, please, don’t try and fix it. If you will read the Stonehenge book, you will find his reasons for oblique shoulders and well bent stifles and feet more hare-like, and of course the proper size the AKC standard describes. The changes made in the British Greyhound standard have been made by people who have almost certainly never run Greyhounds in the field! They may have show dogs, but they have changed the standard to a dog that cannot function in the coursing field to the best of its ability.

Someone on an FCI committee once asked me to give them suggestions for changes in the Saluki standard. I absolutely refused and begged them to not make any changes. Their reply to me was that they were going to make changes, and I may as well give them some good suggestions! I Coursing in Saudi Arabia in the 1970’s.

Photo by John Burchard

Master M’Grath, three-time winner of the Waterloo Cup, standing at 54 lbs.

gave them nothing, and they went ahead and changed the Saluki standard much to the detriment of the breed.

Stonehenge devoted his life to the purebred dogs of the world and contributed more to literature and organization of dog events than any man living or dead. Records show The American Kennel Club and the National Open Field Coursing Association have done more to preserve the longterm survival of the two ancient breeds of Salukis and Greyhounds in America. HSUS and PeTa are the primary threats to any purebred dogs. Owners of all dogs must stand as one against the agenda of the “animal rights terrorists.”

How has the Greyhound breed succeeded in preserving this ancient coursing hound?

How has the Saluki remained unchanged for hundreds, if not for thousands of years?

• Salukis are coursed in their lands of origin today, just as they were thousands of years ago.

• The AKC has recognized “The Society for the Perpetuation of the Desert Bred Salukis”(SPDBS) to provide an avenue to refresh the Saluki gene pool with dogs from the countries of origin.

• Salukis are coursed in Open Field Coursing (OFC) and are the largest supporters of NOFCA (National Open Field Coursing Association) of all the Sighthound breeds. There is virtually no difference in the coursing Saluki and the show Saluki in appearance.

• The AKC standard remains the same as when it was accepted by the AKC in 1927. Breeders have carefully watched over the breed to not exaggerate features.

84 Dog News

• The AKC standard was probably written mostly by Stonehenge as his book “The Greyhound“ (1858) goes into great detail before “The Kennel Club” or “The AKC” were formed. The Stonehenge descriptions and choice of words and specifications in his book are very much in line with the accepted AKC Greyhound standard.

• The AKC has recognized “The National Greyhound Association” (NGA) and its stringent registration rules and gigantic gene pool to diversify the tiny closed gene pool of the show Greyhound. Both show and racing Greyhound ancestors are from the same English Coursing Greyhound.

• In the US, NOFCA records of the past half-century validate the greater coursing success of the Greyhound size depicted in the AKC standard.

• Greyhounds have won 31 out of the last 42 Grand Course annual Sighthound invitational events in NOFCA. • Greyhounds have competed at the Waterloo Cup since 1836 in the longest running dog sporting event in history until 2005 coursing ban in the UK.

Ch. Desert Moon Arriving in Style

, Has Arrived

Thank you Judge Mr. Bruce E. Voran for starting Claire’s career with a Group Third Thank you also to Judge Ms. Rita Biddle, Esq forBest of Opposite Sex Owner Darci Lang

Presented by Sara Lopez

Dog News 85

86 Dog News

Dog News 87

AND MORE

Continued FROM page 58

a venue and show club through the years and stands out as one of the more respected events in Southern California. Teamed up with Channel Cities and Santa Maria this trio of shows is a staple on our dog show circuit. Entries were in the 2500 area, which I am told is a bit down from last year, but nothing to really fret about. Best the first night was the Boxer shown by Kimberly Steele-Gamero and the Wire bitch the next two nights shown by Gabriel Rangel.

This was of course the first weekend of the Reserve Best in Show award. Anyhow the first official weekend since at some upstate New York Show the weekend before a RBIS was awarded even though it was not officially time to do so. A bit of a foul-up for sure. Nonetheless at these shows where its time has unfortunately come it was so anti-climactic as to be labeled a non-event! Really I almost felt embarrassment for the receivers of the award as either AKC has fallen down in its obligations to provide some meaning to Reserve or the Shows have decided to downplay the award. And from what I have heard this was the case throughout the country. Apparently the debate about whether to award points or not was won by those 'agin' it. Handlers are said to be charging for the Award which should not surprise too many people except of course for the lone voice in the wind which, when I asked whether or not they were charging for Reserve Best said to me, “Well I don’t charge for Reserve Winners so why should I charge for Reserve Best?” Guess it depends on how one looks at things.

Must say of late I have been having a bit of a change of heart about select Delegate Committees.

As any of you know who have followed my writings through the years I had initially been against and remained steadfast in my opposition to the formation of all Delegate Committees. Indeed my feelings grew stronger and remain vehement in being against the Delegates being paid a single sou for serving on any of these Committees. Of late however and due to an increase in communication powers and certain Delegates’ willingness to share information with the press and the Fancy becoming more apparent, I can see where certain Delegate Committees are accomplishing some good work above both the Board and Parent Clubs. I have been sent the Minutes of a number of these Committees and am pretty well impressed with some of the work they are doing. Do I think they should be reimbursed a fee? Absolutely not but do I see some value to some of them—yes I do. Now if the Committees and their Chairs would be reasonable about the number of terms they serve and open the door a bit so that others may benefit from these experiences think of how rewarding that would be. I stand firmly against term limits in business and most corporate activities but not when it comes to these Committees and their make-up a little spreading of the wealth could go a long ways in helping Delegates become better Board Members and certainly open the doors to more qualified people to select as Board Members, you think?

A

memorial note for the late Virginia Hampton, who awarded an Airedale Bitch I showed for the first time at the very very first Hatboro Show. Mrs. Hampton had a long and interesting career in the dog world and while she had her idiosyncrasies (who doesn’t?) she was a devoted and loyal friend to the sport of the dog and a person truly devoted to her Collie breed. She is a person from our past who deserves recognition today and thanks for her years in the sport.

88 Dog News

Dog News 89

CAN DOGS SMELL DEATH? Continued FROM page 57

city of Teotihuacan, in the classic period, a group of 14 humans, mainly children, were buried in a cave with the bodies of three dogs supposed to have guided them on their path to the underworld.

In the Aztec civilization, the god Xolotl was a monstrous dog who was hunted by death and was eventually killed. He then descended to the underworld to steal the bones of man who were kept here and brought man to life.

Xolotl was the canine companion of the sun, following its path through both the sky and the underworld.

The British Isles have their own version of these dogs. Diggings from the Neolithic or Bronze Age near Peterborough found two dogs buried in an impressive alignment of wooden posts. The dogs were probably sacrificed to serve as spirit guardians at a site that served funeral rituals for centuries. Another dog buried in a manner that strongly suggests its role as ritual guardian was found at a Bronze Age site in Caldicot.

And then comes the black dog of England, a nocturnal apparition said to be connected to the Devil and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is associated with crossroads, places of execution and ancient pathways.

The Gurt Dog of Somerset was a benevolent dog that was said to protect children and accompany lone travelers in the area, acting as protector and guide.

So, throughout the ages, dogs have been spiritually connected to the crossing over from life to death among humans. The question is, whether this is perhaps more than just a legend, considering the extremely widespread belief.

An Israeli dog trainer, Uri Bakeman, claims dogs can actually discern death among humans, even those they are not closely associated with. He has developed what he calls death alert dogs.

His work has been supported by scientific studies held in Israeli academic institutions, including the University Center of Samaria, that prove this is no myth, but reality.

“I discovered the phenomenon 90 Dog News

back in 1995 when I provided a Labrador for a girl suffering from Cerebral Palsy,” recalls Bakeman. “The puppy was the girl’s closest companion and had a huge impact on her life. One day, about a year after the bitch joined the family, it was extremely restless for about twelve hours. The bitch only quieted down when the girl passed away that evening.”

A while later, Bakeman encountered the case of a ten year old girl who suffered from cancer. He found a Maltese puppy for the girl, who spent her ten last months of life at her side. Some time prior to the girl’s death, the dog wouldn’t stop moving and exhibiting anxiety. When the girl died, the dog lay down beside her without moving.

Bakeman has a long history of training assistance dogs, after finishing his studies at the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Smithtown, Long Island, NY, and then studying with Dr. Daniel Tortora, the world’s first dog psychologist. In 1985 he returned to Israel and began training assistance dogs for the blind, deaf and disabled.

He later trained dogs for diabetics and epileptics, as well as “combination dogs” for people with multiple disabilities.

Among other things, Bakeman trains defense dogs and also taught dog training at various academic institutions.

Among the innovations instated by Bakeman was a dog for a blind person who also had a walking disability.

Because of this, he could not hold the dog’s harness as do most blind people.

Therefore, Bakeman devised a way of attaching the dog to its owner’s belt, enabling the dog to lead its owner.

He then was asked to train a dog for another disabled person to whom a dog could not be harnessed. Since the man had some remaining eyesight, Bakeman taught the dog to walk within his field of vision. The man could follow the dog without having to hold it. The dog was also trained as an assistance dog, helping to retrieve objects and do other things to help its owner.

For the present study, Bakeman works with two Golden Retriever bitches, littermates. As with all assistance dogs, his work begins by testing the puppies within 24 hours of their whelping. He

then tests them at various development stages until zoning in on the selected dogs at the age of two months. He looks for a particular temperament that he calls “soft and childish” in order to eliminate the possibility that the dog would seize the opportunity and harm its owner at his most vulnerable situations. Such dogs develop a very strong bond with their owner and are always at his side.

After undergoing special training, which Bakeman declines to reveal saying it is a trade secret, the dogs are ready for work when they are about 8 months old.

The experimental work was carried out in various institutions, including a psychiatric hospital where they were expected to point out people contemplating suicide. One day, when Bakeman was on duty the dog began to signal. It became restless, whined, ran up and down and the signals went on for two days. The psychiatrist suspected one of her patients was contemplating suicide, so Bakeman took the dog to that patient’s room. However, the dog did not stop at the room but continued forward until they reached a wall, a dead end, and signaled there. The following day the dog stopped exhibiting the signals and when Bakeman asked the staff whether anything had occurred they told him one of the patients had hanged himself after showing emotional anguish for the two previous days.

It turned out that patient’s room was on the other side of the wall to which the dog had led Bakeman.

Death alert dogs, although they sound quite eerie, may actually help avert human death in various cases. Institutions such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons can use them to detect possible cases of suicide before they occur, or rule out false suspicions.

Even the military could utilize this type of work by helping prevent soldiers from marching into death traps set up by the enemy.

As mentioned, Bakeman’s work is backed by scientific studies at leading Israeli universities. His fertile mind continues to search for innovative ways in which dogs can help humans not just as companions or at traditional work but also in the most spiritual way.

“dogs have been spiritually connected to the crossing over from life to death among humans.

The question is, whether this is perhaps more than just a legend...”

Dog News 91

Rare Breeds of the World Continued FROM page 65

pork and even fish. Think how curious this is because Bhutan is a strict Buddhist country and prohibits the killing of any animal within its borders. More interesting is that all the meat is brought in from India already butchered. As in Buddhism there are 6 states of reincarnation: Nirvana, God-like, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost and Hell. The goal is to move from Hell towards Nirvana, but if a person led a life of crime he is in risk of moving down the status ladder, and may reincarnate as a cow, pig, etc... With these beliefs one can understand that to kill, and eat a cow (or any animal), one can be killing a reincarnated relative.

Bhutia is referred to Bhutanese Himalayan people who are believed to have emigrated from Tibet around the 9th century.

The Bhutia constitute a majority of the population of Bhutan. They speak various languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch language family, and are mountain dwellers, living in small isolated villages separated by almost impassable terrain. Mostly animal breeders, they are known for their cattle and yaks. Living in very harsh condition the Bhutia shepherds –as every other shepherd in the whole word- needed a dog who could endure the life at the gelid mountains under miserable weather.

The Bhutia Sheepdog is a big and ferocious dog, which was bred to defend cattle and yaks against predators. The district Tehri Garhwalhas is where the selective breeding began. The selection’s final product is the mastiff like Bhutia, a resistant and strong dog able to herd the cattle when in pastures and to guard them from ferocious animals.

The standard approved by the Kennel Club of India As published by W.V. Soman in “The Indian Dog” June 1963 (The Bhutia and the Himalayan sheep-dog is one and the same.)

General Appearance and Character: A powerful and heavily boned dog of medium size. Reserved by nature with great guarding and shepherding instinct.

Head: Medium-sized and rather flat at the top. Slight stop. Nose black. Lips full but close fitting.

Eyes: Deep set and close. Slightly slanting, medium-sized reddish brown in color and very bright.

Ears: Triangular shaped, drop, tips round, medium length set on high, lying close to the head on sides.

Mouth: Level, powerful jaw.

Fore-quarters: Powerful and muscular, chest of medium width, well laid back shoulders, firm elbow, fore-legs - well boned and straight, pasterns slightly bent.

Hind-quarters: Powerful and well muscled, well-bent stifles and well let-down hocks. Dew claws should be removed.

Feet: ‘Cat foot’ very compact and medium-sized.

Body: Deep and strong, well ribbed up, and compact, deep brisket. Back-medium-sized.

Tail: Thick and bushy, of medium length, set on high and loosely curled over the back.

Coat: Long harsh coat, with a very thick undercoat. Short hair on legs, but profusely feathered on buttocks.

Color: Black, black and tan, golden and creamy white. White, marking on the chest in black and golden allowed. Small white marks on toes admissible, but not desirable.

Weight: Dogs from 60 to 70 lbs. and bitches from 50 to 60 lbs.

Height: Dogs 21 to 24 inches; bitches 19 to 22 inches.

Faults: Snippy muzzle, nervous temperament, straight hocks and stifles, uneven mouth, soft or smooth coat. Dew claws not desirable.

Classifications: Non-sporting.

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This is a powerful and daring dog with strong herding instinct. As a guard it is supreme and defends his human and animal family with his life. The local habitants say that it would be more correct to name these dogs Bangara Mastiffs.

The Bhutia can be found all along the Himalayan border from eastern Nepal to Kashmir. There are breeders who state that the Himalayan shepherd dog is a separate breed smaller than the Bhutia dog, and in temperament it is less suspicious and ferocious. These dogs are like black Labradors in build, though slightly bigger and thicker in body. They have longer hair than Labradors but shorter than the Tibetan Mastiff or other Bhutia Shepherd dogs. After analyzing the allegedly two types, the Kennel Club of India with prominent Bhutanese breeders has decided that these are not two different breeds, therefore the Bhutia and the Himalayan Sheep dog are the same. The written standard begins reinforcing this statement.

I have not found a Bhutanese Kennel Club, but after research realized that pure bred dogs of Bhutan are registered at the Kennel Club of India. I would welcome any information about an existing Bhutanese Kennel Club. As the standard is not easy to find, I am reprinting it, because these dogs deserve to be known as important members of the Molloser group of dogs, and more importantly for recognizing their tenuous hard work in helping the Bhutanese shepherds live easier.

I

n Bhutan, and other Hinduist countries, the animals are highly respected, their love especially toward dogs is well expressed by Passang Norbu.

Traditionally Bhutanese revere dogs not only as an animal closest to humans in the cycle of rebirth but also as an inseparable companion. Dogs, like humans, are highly social animals and this similarity in their overall behavioral pattern accounts for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations. This similarity has earned dogs a unique position in the realm of interspecies relationships.( By Passang Norbu Bhutanese journalist, a graduate from Montana Journalism School and Reporter for Kuensel, Bhutan) Once the most common pets in many a Bhutanese household, today you hardly see them. Like the famous yellow label XXX Apso Rum of the 70s and 80s, they seem to have disappeared, gone out of production. What you do see in the capital and in other urban centers across the country in swelling numbers is the Changkhi or the common street dog whose origin seems to be unknown.

Bhutan is the origin of two breeds of dogs, the Damchi and Bhutia Sheepdog locally known as Bjopchi. The Damchi is a much loved dog in Bhutan but elsewhere its survival is still unsure. A few are found in Germany where a breeder imported the lovely dogs from India but the bloodlines are very thin. These dogs have a silky top coat which is moderate in length and have a slight mane. They have a curl in the tail which is well feathered. The coat comes in black and white and tri-color, several variations are acceptable. A more logical explanation indicates that Damchi means ‘tied dog’, which explains its purpose as a guard dog. The Third King owned a Damchi and the breed was featured on Bhutan postage stamps. From the Kuensel Newspaper of Bhutan under Where have the traditional breeds gone? Date: February 5th. 2007 I hope this article brought this exotic country and its curious dogs to my readers’ attention. Some may even feel motivated to join in the efforts of keeping these two old breeds from extinction. * There are approximately 1,000 to 2,000 breeding yaks in North America, and five Canadian breeders registered with the International Yak Association.

Note; The Damchi is the second Bhutanese breed.

Dog News 93

Rottweiller National Continued FROM page 71

of the Top Twenty, always does a wonderful job for this event. It’s like putting on a small show by itself because this event includes a show catalog, decorations, judges, trophies, food and a planned presentation.

People also come to the Nationals to see old friends and make new friends. It’s a gathering to talk Rotts and see new opportunities for one’s breeding programs. Nationals are where you can expand ideas about participation in other activities (rally, obedience, agility, carting and herding). There were opportunities to volunteer as ring steward in some of these rings and per several of the volunteers – it opened up a whole new world of people and events.

Besides the very interesting array of vendors, there were also booths set up for the Rottweiler Health Foundation, Rottweiler Rescue Foundation, Rottweiler Nation (doing human and canine massage with proceeds going to the ARC , Rottweiler Rescue and Rottweiler Health Foundation) and a Breeders Education including a breeder’s forum.

The 2012 American Rottweiler Club National Specialty began outside at 8:00AM in a parking lot turned Carting course. Judge Tommy Cassiango presided over 21 entries.

High In Trial was earned by Dark Luck V Galecrest, CD RA bred by Dawn M Galey and owned by Jeanne Looker.

Reserve High in Trial was Ch Eis Haus First Love of Kando, CD Ra bred by Valerie McGraw and Gwen Kelly and owned by Ann Fleske-Jackman.

The show began inside Tuesday May 22 at 1:30 with Judges Virginia Kinion, Diane Propst and Margery West presiding over Obedience in Rings 2, 3 & 4 with a total of 70 entries.

Following the day’s obedience contest, Rally began at 2:45 in Ring 2 for Judge Propst with 38 entries.

HIT for the day was ESMONDS WORTH THE WAIT, bred by Ann Felske Jackson and owned by Kay Willmarth, Bob Willmarth and Ann Felske Jackman.

HC for the day was CH OTCH DOUBLE TAKE’S FLIGHT LEADER UDX4 OM7 PT RAE ,bred by Lori A Hathaway, Wendall T Hathaway and owned by Jeremy Schuseter.

Meanwhile in Ring 1 - Judging began 2:00PM for Futurity. Judge

94 Dog News

“People also come to the Nationals to see old friends, make new friends. It’s a gathering to talk Rotts and see new opportunities for one’s breeding programs.”

Sharon Marples had 45 entries to consider with the numbers almost even between dogs and bitches. The girls were doing well as Ms. Marples’ choice for Best Junior In Futurity and Best In Futurity was Ostara’s A New Moon Girl V Cammcastle – She was bred by Davis Hahn and Suzan Otto Guynn, Owned by Suzan Otto Guynn and nicely handled by Lynda Hylton.

The Best Senior In Futurity was Lorals Valley Girl with Perry Payson on the leash. Cali was bred by Lorretta Pyeatt and Allen Pyeatt and owned by Catherine Crespo.

Veteran Sweepstakes was first business of the day on Wednesday with Judge Ann Callahan judging Veteran Bitches and Ms. Connie Hinz judging Veteran Dogs.

The Veteran Bitch ring brought out some of the great bitches from the past – you would hardly know that these girls didn’t show regularly as they all were still showing that winning spirit. Judge Callahan appeared to really enjoy herself as she went over each entry with a smile. She was very consistent with her judging as her choice for 1st and 2nd place from the 7 to 9 class were littermates from the Ecko Ridge “A” litter CH Ecko Ridge’s All About Matilda and CH Ecko Ridge’s Lady Takes A Chance V Von Wilhelms with her 1st place choice CH Ecko Ridge’s All About Matilda winning Best Junior in Veteran Sweeps.

Connie Hinz took the helm for the Veteran Dogs Sweepstakes and from this beautiful group of boys chose CH THUNDERVLY’S LEGEND VON MITTERNADTfor both Best Senior in Veteran Sweepstakes and Best Veteran in sweeps.

8AM was also start time for 27 entries in Obedience with Judge Margery A West in Ring 2, Virginia Kinion in Ring 3 with 10 Obedience entries followed at 9:15 with 48 Rally contenders. Judge Diane J. Propst presided over Ring 4 with 33 Obedience entries. After lunch, the three Judges switched rings; Judge Propst with 23 Obedience entries,

Judge West with 12 Obedience entries and 40 Rally entries, and finally in Ring 4 Judge Kinion had 35 Obedience entries.

HIT and HC for the morning was KANOSAK NIGHTSKY AT FALCONCREST VBAAR UD RE TD OA AXJ bred by Ms. Ronnie Bizer and Ann Callahan. He’s owned by Ronnie Bizer.

HIT for the afternoon was BAAR NONE V QUALICUM RA, bred by and owned by Dede Brownstein and Ann Callahan.

HC for the afternoon was once again CH OTCH DOUBLE TAKE’S FLIGHT LEADER UDX4 OM7 PT RAE owned by Jeremy Schuster.

Meanwhile in Ring 1 - Judging began 2:00PM for Futurity. Judge Sharon Marples had 45 entries to consider with the numbers almost even between dogs and bitches. The girls were doing well as Ms. Marples’ choice for Best Junior In Futurity and Best In Futurity was Ostara’s A New Moon Girl V Cammcastle – she was bred by Davis Hahn and Suzan Otto Guynn, Owned by Suzan Otto Guynn and nicely handled by Lynda Hylton.

The Best Senior In Futurity was Lorals Valley Girl with Perry Payson on the leash. Cali was bred by Lorretta Pyeatt and Allen Pyeatt and owned

by Catherine Crespo.

F

uturity was followed by Sweepstakes with Ann Callahan and Connie Hinz reversing their judging duties, Ms. Hinz on Bitches and Ms. Callahan on Dogs. They moved through the 93 entries with their keen eye and years of expertise, making some very hard decisions look easy. In the end, Ms. Callahan, who had the duty to choose Best in Sweepstakes, chose BERNKASTEL FRONT RUNNER from the 6 – 9 month class. This very promising boy was bred and owned by Elizabeth Alsinger, who was also at the end of his lead. Best of Opposite Sex went to the 9-12 month class Antrens Continued on page 99

Dog News 95

Beat the summer heat…

It’s all cool at the

Keystone Cluster August 10, 11, 12, 2012 Penn Ridge Kennel Club August 10 & 11, 2012

Harrisburg Kennel Club August 12, 2012

PA Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA

G r e a t t a e r Indoors, Air Conditioned, W G e e k e Plenty of Free Grooming Space, e n u d n e V Plenty of Parking Fun For Everyone!

Best In Show $$$$ each day. Prizes & Vendor Bucks – Armband draw each day for cash & prizes.

Refreshments each day including Pizza Party on Saturday.

“Chuck a Duck” for Take the Lead.

Rally on Friday & Sunday, Obedience on Saturday & Sunday

Majors, Majors, Majors, Majors, Majors, Majors Join us for the Caesar’s Palace Charity Fundraiser – right at the Farm Show Complex after Best In Show on Saturday, August 11th…Dinner, gambling, dancing, and two new events this year – TOGA CONTEST and KARAOKE CONTEST – and the great prize raffle with $5,000, trips, jewelry, equipment and much more!!!

Vendors - contact: sunup1001@gmail.com

96 Dog News

Closing date for entries: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Superintendent: Rau Dog Shows, PO Box 6898, Reading, PA 19601 610-376-1880 • FAX: 610-376-4939 • raudogshows.com

The Penn Ridge Kennel Club Charitable Foundation, Inc. presents

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“Dog Days at Caesar’s Palace” e

Saturday, August 11, 2012 at the PA Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA • Starting at 6 pm “Dog Days at Caesar’s Palace” Mail your reservation or donation form to:

I wish to purchase I wish to donate

admission tickets @ $75 each ($600 to reserve a table for 8) in sponsorship for the event.

I wish to donate

PRKC Charitable Foundation, Inc. c/o 12040 Country Mill Dr. Bristow, VA 20136 The Penn Ridge Kennel Club Charitable Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Donations are tax deductible according to Federal tax laws.

Checks should be made payable to the PRKC Charitable Foundation, Inc.

as a prize for the event.

Prepaid tickets will be available at the door.

Sponsorship/prize donation acknowledgements to be sent to: Your Name Address Phone or email Please charge the above to my credit/debit card #

exp.

Name on Card (please print)

Dinner…gaming….dancing…karaoke contest….AND a Toga Contest Plus the great prize raffle at the end of the evening…. don’t miss out on the fun Saturday evening, August 11th!

Life’s a Gamble….Take A Chance, have fun & help those in the fancy!

Dog News 97

HANDLER’S

Directory Robert A. Fisher Kaki Fisher

Jessy & Roxanne Sutton Professional Dog Handlers

Specializing in Terriers and Working Dogs

Professional Dog Handlers Frakari Kennels 194 Quivey Hill Road/P.O. Box 204 Middle Granville, NY 12849 518.642.9225 KNL • 440.813.6388 c 12.09 kakifisher@earthlink.net

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98 Dog News

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Rottweiller National Continued FROM page 94

Just Like That, bred and owned

by Karen DiCicco, Tony DiCicco and Diane Garnett. This little girl, incidentally, also was chosen Winners Bitch at the Colonial Rottweiler Specialty several weeks earlier.

That evening we were treated to a Meet & Greet cookout at the aforementioned outdoor venue.

The weather was extremely pleasant, as was the company.

Thursday began with Judge Gary Bassett presiding over 91 entries in the Regular Dog Classes.

The competition was stiff and the crowd showed its enthusiasm for the exceptional exhibits. From the Bred By class Richmar’s Johnny Depp V Goldshield was handled beautifully by Perry Payson, his breeder along with Richard and Martha Salzar. The Reserve Winners Dog was Big Beach’s Low Rider at Wathaman from the open class was bred by Jacklyn Payne and is owned by Erin Smith of Ft McCloud, Canada. The handler, Heather Smith (also the owner’s mother), drove 2000 miles to show off this beautiful boy.

The Working Class had 3 entries with the top working title award going to CH Targon’s Surreal Experience CDX GN RAE2 AX OAJ NF NAP NJP. Dali was bred and is owned by Jacqueline Kurtzban & Elizabeth Barnhardt Nasto. He resides with Jacquline, who is also his trainer. The number of titles Dali has earned is evidence of her enthusiasm for titles both in front and behind a dog’s name.

I love the Veteran Dog class as I am always stud dog shopping and so many great dogs have been sired by these dogs. It is so wonderful to follow their careers through the years and see their progeny in the course of their careers. GCH NIGHTHAWK’S X-MAS BONUS CD RE was chosen Best Male Veteran by Judge Gary Bassett. Lefty’s Breeders are Adrienne Perry, Jane Lash Daviann Mitchell. His owners are Betsy Janner and Morgan Campbell.

Friday morning, Judge James G. Reynolds took control of the ring for class bitches with 84 entries. The largest class was the

“we were treated to a Meet & Greet cookout at the aforementioned outdoor venue. The weather was extremely pleasant, as was the company.”

6 – 9 month puppy bitches with 20 entries. the entries for class bitches was quite a line up. Judge Reynolds went thru these class bitches very efficiently, but really had some very nice girls to ponder. Winners Bitch went to Esmond’s Ringside Gossip from the 12 – 18 class. She is was bred by Anne Felske-Jackman and owned by Tammy Ausloos and Ann Felske-Jackman. Julia Foster was on the lead.

Starz Dirty Lil’ Secret Diamond from the 6 – 9 month class was selected not only Reserve Winners Bitch but also Best Puppy. Her breeders & owners are Doreen S Zimmerman and Sharon Baublitz.

Veteran Bitch Class was the next order of the day for Judge Reynolds and here as in Veteran Sweepstakes under Judge Ann Callahan, CH Ecko Ridge’s All About Matilda owned by Patrice McAllan took the first place ribbon and her litter mate CH Ecko Ridge’s Lady Takes A Chance v Von Wilhelms followed with second place.

Judge Bassett had the job of Judging the Junior Handlers. Many of these young people are so confident and poised in the ring. No one could envy this assignment – so difficult to choose from among this talented group of Juniors. Tesha Girth and CH Jandel’s Mykela Von Ballardhaus prevailed and took home the first place ribbon.

This class was very much a nail biter for me as my Junior Handler, Rachael Simmons, was competing with other handlers from around the country who also handle her beloved breed. She was the only handler in her class open intermediate. She was so proud to show off one of our co-owned bitches, CH Ecko Ridges Lady Takes A Chance v Von Wilhelms. “Maggie had a big day as she had also gotten a placement in brood and veterans but Rachel was still able to bring the best out of her. Rachel told me how much she enjoyed getting to know other juniors that showed

Rottweilers and feeling the camaraderie of the love of the breed. Just a note about this up and coming handler, last year she spent her own money to come to our nationals to learn about the breed.

She started handling really less than a year ago.

The Stud Dog class is a class that really draws the breeder’s attention.

There were only a few entries in this very important class, but it was obvious that those who were in the ring had produced very well. Judge Gary Bassett chose CH Kinjack’s Anything Goes V Cahill lCD RE HT PT HSAD HSAS bred

by Eleanor Jackson and Owned by Rosemarie Pntuti, James Pontuti and Phyllis Clark.

W

hat a contest for Brood Bitch! It was so exciting to see these wonderful girls and their beautiful offspring. Judge Bassett had a really tough time with these entries. Truly a hard decision, but in the end breeders and owners Loretta and Allan Pyeatte’s Loral’s New York New York received the rosette.

The Top Twenty is one of the highlights of the Nationals and everyone was looking forward to attending.

Janet Fletcher once again pulled off a spectacular evening. The ring is festooned with the green and purple ribbons signal that this is where the festive affair begins.

The Handlers are dressed in their best in beautiful evening attire but not overdone as this is the time to really show off their Specials. I would like to make a special note about Julia Foster’s dress. WOW, she looked great even as her shoes flew off as she went around the ring with CH Hemlock’s Jack of Hearts.

Each Rottweiler and their handler have the ring to themselves and they really use it to show off movement and showmanship.

Every year we all wait in anticipation as Judges are brought out in carts. The secret that has long been kept is now revealed – the identity of the Judges.

This year the judges were Ann Felske Jackman- Breeder Judge; Khalid KerriemContinued on page 101

Dog News 99

HANDLER’S

Directory Doug And Mandy Carlson AKC Registered Handlers

Doug 405 370-1447 Mandy 405 826-3884 5.12

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100 Dog News

Professional Dog Handler Murbe Kennels DHG, PHA & AKC Registered

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Rottweiller National

Continued FROM page 99

Handler Judge, and Nancy Simmons - All-breed Judge.

As the judging has a blueprint they have the ability to take their time and really put their hands on the dogs. This year the top 20 award went to BIS BISS V-1 GCH Gamegards Rhythm Of The Rain. She was #1 Rottweiler for ARC 2011 and #1 Rottweiler for Conformation AKC. Cadey was bred

by Vickie Weaver, Pam Marsh and Karen Raymond. Her very proud owner is Cheryl Krown. Cadey really showed her heart out for the crown and for her handler Jesse Sutton.

Best of Breed was Saturday morning and everyone was nervous. This was the event everyone had been anticipating. Handlers had been flown in specifically for the Best of Breed. Many handlers had more than one Rottweiler they needed to present in the ring and there was a lot of discussion and conversation of “How are we going to do this?” All the Junior Handlers were pressed into service and every other able bodied person that could hold a lead and serve as a place holder was recruited. You could see that many of the “placeholders” were hoping and praying they wouldn’t have to run the ring with their charges – but you do what you have to. Judge James Reynolds had a plan. He brought all the entries into the ring at once, and then divided the entries into 5 groups. If a handler had more than one dog in each group, exchanges were made between the 5 groups so that there were no conflicts. Finally – the groups were set and the competition began or I should say the craziness began. The judging seemed chaotic but Judge Reynolds assured us his system would work. I personally like to see groups divided and only the dogs being judged are kept in the ring while the others leave the ring. To be able to really watch and appreciate each exhibit is much more desirable then all the dogs and handlers jammed into the ring at the same time.

This judge had a big job and he decided to work efficiently.

This was not as satisfying for the spectator, but he got the job done and chose these winners.

BOB – Ch Chancellor Flirts Hi Flyin Gladiator OS – CH Gamegards Rhythm of the Rain Best of Winners – Richmar’s Johnny Depp v Goldshield AKC Select – GCH Hemlock’s Jack of Hearts AKC Select – GCH Sonny’s Angel ARC Select – GCH Falcon Crest’s Diamond in the Ruff ARC Select GCH Steinplatz Just Incredible ARC Select – GCH Loral’s Trooper ARC Select – CH Gamegards LadyHawke ARC Select – GCH Von Wilhelms Make My Day ARC Select – CH Ekco Ridge’s Cookin with Gas ARC Select – GCH Parisian’s Helo of Riverridge ARC Select – GCH Repeat Offender von Boylan As the 2012 American Rottweiler Club Specialty came to a close, it was obvious that some people were in a hurry to leave to get to the next show and others seemed to tarry behind to say their congratulations, exchange goodbyes and make last minute purchases from vendors who wisely stayed open until the last of the exhibitors left. Meanwhile, under an exhibition tent, just down the hill from the Main Exhibition hall, the 2012 American Rottweiler Sieger Show was setting up to begin.

The weather at Purina Farms had been beautiful all week long. The temperatures had been comfortable but day by day it was getting warmer. Saturday morning it was

warm and by the time Best of Breed was over, it was very hot.

The forecast for the 2-day Sieger Show was the extreme upper 90s and many people were worried about their dogs in that kind of high heat and humidity. I heard more than a few people discussing heading home instead of staying and competing in the heat. The Sieger Show Committee rose to the occasion by bringing in hoses and a kiddy pool for the dogs and bottles of water in chests full of ice and an industrial size fan to provide a breeze. These amenities were welcome aids in the effort to beat the heat for the both the people and the dogs.

After a bit of a delayed start due to equipment issues, Belgium Judge Chantel Delafontaine and typist Jill Kessler Miller worked together extremely well to complete the certificates containing the Judge’s observations. Jill was very efficient and professional while having to move her table frequently to avoid the movement of the sun’s rays onto her work space. Judge Delafontaine exhibited a wonderful amount of patience and good nature while giving each dog her knowledgeable, full and equal attention - despite the heat.

She did much of the judging under the shade of the tent and was conservative in her requirements to observe movement in the ring, particularly for the younger classes. Real time results were once again being posted by RottweilerNation.Com. RottweilerNation.Com has been a supporting sponsor for the Amercian Rottweiler Club’s National Sieger Show for 2 of the 3 annual events providing not only real time results, but also exhibitor bags and contents.

The Judging program called for the Male & Female 4-6 month classes, Male & Female 6 – 9 Month classes and Male & Female 9 – 12 month classes to be judged on the Saturday.

From the 12 male competitors; Rock Run Stormin Norman bred and owned by Kathy Yontz and James Morris was judged Best Puppy Male. Of the 9 Females competing; Stand and Stare’s One and Only, bred and owned by Mary Baublis, was judged Best Puppy Female. Following the day’s competition, a Meet and Greet dinner was hosted by the ARC National Sieger Committee in honor of Judge Delafontaine.

Sunday began as the day before ended – HOT. With 48 Rottweilers present for judging in 16 classes Judge Delafontaine and Jill Kessler Miller had their work cut out for them. It took from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM with a 45-minute lunch break hosted the ARC National Sieger Show Committee, which once again extended wonderful hospitality with a very nice lunch spread. Since these classes started at the age of 12 - 18 month classes for both sexes, there was much more time running in the ring and the judge continued to be very thorough and meticulous in her observations.

The end results: Youth Sieger - Brando Von Herrschend bred and owned by Dustin Davis. Youth Siegerin – Karriem’s Z Queen bred and owned by Khalid Karriem. Sieger and Most Beautiful Male – Precious Gems Clark Kent bred by Denise Pluta and owned by Erik Jacobson. Siegerin – April Vom Holzmichel owned by Vincent Carrabba & Eric Joseph. Most Beautiful Female – Stand & Stare’s One & Only bred and owned by Mary Baublis.

The planning for next year’s Nationals and Sieger Show are already well underway and are set for a little earlier in the year – April 13 – 21, 2013 at the Los Angeles Fairplex in Pomona, CA. As I have reviewed my notes and looked at the website for next year’s shows: http://www.2013arcnationals.com, I’m already checking flights and making hotel reservations. See you on the West Coast - April 2013!

Dog News 101

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Breeders Directory

Rottweilers and Toy Manchesters Puppies occasionally and stud service www.evrmor.com evrmor@comcast.net phone 800 454-5067 fax 303 745-7319 Pedigrees done for all AKC breeds

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102 Dog News

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JUly 13, 2012

Letters ToThe Editor

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT --A Shared Agenda for Success-ew York, NY – President John F. Kennedy’s address to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, was both an historic and a defining moment for the United States. It was during that speech that he announced a plan to put a man on the moon before the decade was over. A little over a year later, President Kennedy explained further why he believed that was a goal worth pursuing: “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

There was just one small problem. There was no plan. But there was something stronger than a plan – a shared agenda for success.

Study the participants in any American Kennel Club event – conformation, companion, or performance – and you’ll witness the shared agenda for success that exists between exhibitors and their dogs. It is a commitment to work together to achieve something that could not be achieved individually. When the judge points or the finish line is reached or the exercise is completed, both dog and handler rejoice in their mutual achievement.

That essential nature of our sport, the shared agenda for success, is something we intuitively apply throughout many of the challenges we face in our lives with our dogs. Sometimes it is to stand up for our rights; sometimes it is to do the right thing.

Today we are faced with potential USDA regulations that will seriously impede, if not eliminate, a large number of Fancy breeders as well as endanger a number of low-number breeds we are trying so hard to preserve. Our efforts to effectively comment on the APHIS proposed regulations by July 16 have taken on a life of their own, with thousands of concerned members of the Fancy submitting their comments. In addition, the AKC petition in support of the numerous comments made by the AKC Government Relations team has recorded more than 50,000 signatures.

The emergence of a shared agenda to accomplish the right thing was never more evident than our response to the needs of the search and rescue dogs working in New York on 9/11. The request for portable x-ray equipment to help the veterinarians working there treating the dogs was met in one day by Dennis Sprung and a team of volunteers in several states assisting in the acquisition and transport of the equipment. There was no formal plan – just a shared agenda to achieve the mandatory goal. A success celebrated through the DOGNY project.

Together over the years, we have accomplished small miracles by simply establishing a goal and working together to make it possible. We have also achieved success with gamechanging ideas that altered our course dramatically. In 1994, there was an idea for a new AKC event. It was an idea that a number of our constituents embraced, wanted to see succeed, and committed their time to work to make it happen. From those small, yet enthusiastic beginnings, Agility was born at the AKC. Last year, Agility entries reached one million – making it our fastest growing event and the second largest AKC event in terms of entries.

In each instance, we answered in the affirmative to the Mission Impossible offer of “This is your mission, should you choose to accept it.” In each instance, we worked together to achieve success made possible by common purpose – a shared agenda. In each instance, we stayed the course until we achieved success.

What will we choose to do next? What will be our next game-changing idea that will propel us forward by the end of the decade?

I propose this goal for your consideration: Increase the number of dogs which annually participate in the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program to ten times what it is today – from more than 50,000 to 500,000.

The benefits of accomplishing that would be enormous.

AKC’s CGC program attracts the general public, particularly young people and parents; brings new people and new revenue to our training clubs and events; serves as a bridge to companion, performance, and conformation events; strengthens our story in the legislative arena; amplifies the ability to insure homes when “redlined” breeds are present; significantly enhances the public’s image of the AKC; and dramatically expands our base.

Currently 43 states and the U.S. Senate have issued

proclamations in support of AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program. An additional goal would be to have all 50 states support the program.

Training a dog is at the core of everything we do - from conformation to coursing, from heeling to herding to hunting nobody knows how to do it better than we do. We can help make America’s dogs be better members of their families and society. We can help make America’s dog owners be more responsible owners.

We can help make America think differently about our role in their lives.

We can do it, if we choose to do it.

As always, your comments are welcome – atk@akc.org.

Sincerely, Alan Kalter AKC Chairman

Tyee KC - That 70’s Show! he Tyee KC started in 1974 in Duncan, BC on beautiful Vancouver Island. Some of the famous handlers that used to visit us included the likes of Larry and Nancy Ingalls, Ted and Earlene Luke, Mark and Ann Webster, Susan Hillman, Judy Webb, Jim Campbell, Pat Tripp, Tim Brazier and Taffe McFadden (nee Walker) to name a few.

We have always had entries of 300 or more but locally the shows (like most across the country) have been declining. Instead of becoming a statistic or going into the doomsday mode we decided to do something different. I had heard how successful the Woofstock event in Vallejo, CA has been and asked Kim Meredith-Cavanna if I could borrow some of her ideas. We have never done a theme show before so we were definitely taking a chance but we knew we had to do something to make it an event instead of just another dog show.

Our other concern was that we were trying out a new venue – the Cowichan Exhibition fairgrounds – after having been at the Kerry Park Arena for 37 years. We offered free reserved grooming to make sure that everything went smoothly for all exhibitors and anyone coming from the mainland didn’t need to come over on the first ferries to get a space. Other incentives were inexpensive entries and RV parking , a $10 pasta dinner for all exhibitors plus we had an international slate of judges, Ekarat Sangukaup (Thailand), Betty-Anne Stenmark (CA) and Peter Machen (ON) .

Our entries at the end of the day, which included Confirmation, Obedience, Rally and Agility were just as good as last year but the big money maker this year was our annual raffle basket draw. We were raising money to help purchase a new Kevlar vest for our local police dog – Tito - and we well surpassed our goal.

As the PR person for our club – I want to thank the business’ (including Dog News) for contributing to our raffle prizes, all the exhibitors for taking part in our 70’s theme and the judges for being such good sports! Next year’s theme will be a pajama party complete with breakfast for dinner!

Heidi Gervais Crofton, BC

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A REACTION TO GEIR n response to Geir Flyckt Pedersen’s article in the June 8, 2012 issue of Dog News, on the subject of pedigree authenticity, I would like to share with your readers several of my experiences as Editor of a number of the first Handbooks for the American Shetland Sheepdog Association.

One of my sources of historical information was the well-known all-breed handler and breeder of Shetland Sheepdogs, Nate Levine. (Some may remember Nate as the handler of the first dog to win 100 Best In Shows: the Boxer Ch. Bang Away of Sirrah Crest.) Nate lived in Pennsylvania, I lived in Massachusetts at that time, so I was able to interview him in person at dog shows for background for the articles in the Shetland Sheepdog Handbooks: The Founding Fathers and The Collie Crosses. Nate made a number of trips to England to purchase dogs for clients, one of them being Mrs. Dreer of Anahassitt Collies and Shelties. Nate brought back several Shelties for Mrs. Dreer. I remember showing him the rough draft of the articles, which included export pedigrees. Nate looked at the pedigrees and commented that they were “not worth the powder to blow them to kingdom come.”

Barbara Curry Mukwonago, Wisconsin

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Continued FROM page 103

HAPPY TO LOSE THAT BET!! read your editorial about flying with dogs and had to respond to your last comment about it how many were real Service dogs? none I bet.” Well you lose that bet.

I was in a accident in 1993 that left me at the time totally paralyzed from the waist down. I have shown dogs since 1958 and in 1993 had a breed I helped get AKC recognized ( The Shiba Inu). I love this breed, almost to distraction. So when I came home in a wheel chair I had to decide, do I want to please everyone or work to get better. I worked, HARD, and was finally able to get back on my feet. And actually back in the ring. Slow yes, and I fall a lot. But I would not give up. Finally in early 2000’s my doctor starting insisting I get a Service dog to help with the falls. I did not want a Golden or a GSD or a Lab so kept saying no. Then in 2009 I realized I might have my own dog who could be trained. While this was still a Shiba Inu, he was on the large size. So WE went to a trainer who trainer service dogs. WE both were trained but mostly my dog was, in the mean time he was still shown.

He graduated with flying colors. The Trainer felt he was one of her fastest learners. He is certified as well as having a letter from my Doctor. He is at all times going to the Airplane next to my wheelchair, or on the plane a well trained dog. Over and over I hear from Airline people,“You can tell this is a real service dog.”

Still this dog is shown by others and yes he was on the plane going and coming from Orlando. Along with a few other so called Service dogs. On this same trip from Orlando here was a young woman who had a Am Staff in the row I was supposed to be on (in front). She literally started yelling “oh, no wayyou’re not sitting here.”

Her dog looked at my male and lifted its lip at my dog, who just looked at her in surprise. The airline stewardess tried to calm the girl and tell her Service dogs could sit in one row.

She just kept yelling “no way.” They finally had to move me to the very back of the plane which was VERY hard for me to get to to calm her down. So IMO having fake Service dogs (I watched her gather up 3 more dogs at the Baggage claim with crates, dollies, tables, etc.) has possibly hurt people who really do have disabilities.

I know I should give up showing.

But truly it is what got me up out of a permanent wheelchair and as long as I have help I feel I can stay in the game so to speak.

This dog is on his last year to be shown. He never leaves my side and often amazes people at the shows, more then once I have heard, “Wow, that is amazing.”

My point here is not always is it as it seems. Sometimes it really is what it looks like.

Laura Perkinson Oakville, WA

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A Plain Truth About The Dog Fancy t the risk of boring my reader, I would like to begin by briefly outlining my background, as it has some relevance in what is to come. I hold an engineering degree, compounded by a graduate degree in Operations Research / Systems Analysis. The combination makes me acutely aware of outcomes (engineering), but also very analytical regarding processes leading to those outcomes (the OR/SA).

As a very young boy, some sixty years ago, I participated in two or three dog shows as a novice junior handler. I got one blue ribbon for my dog (which I still have). Then came a long, long hiatus in my dog showing activity. My involvement with dogs, however, never wavered, Bull Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, Beagles, German Shephards, a mixed breed, and then in the early 1970s, the first of what turned out to be a long string of Rhodesian Ridgebacks – I found “my breed.” I did a little noncompetitive agility with a couple of them, we socialized all of them and, at the least, did Canine Good Citizen style obedience training with them all, but mostly they were just “my dogs.” Now, thirty-eight years after that start, a long-time friend and breeder persuaded me to take a new puppy to go with my older bitch (she an AKC-titled Therapy Dog). I will allow that the “persuasion” really only consisted of handing him to me at ten weeks and allowing him to work his “puppy magic” on me. As usual, it worked. So it was starting all over again. But with a slight difference.

This guy was beautiful; a show puppy, something I had not sought in previous purchases.

So, at the age of 72, I was about to re-enter the show world. Old enough this time to see what was happening. Silly enough to decide that I would do it myself anyway. And then when he took a red ribbon in his first time out in puppy class at the National Specialty, I was thoroughly hooked. Handling classes ensued, along with the CGC course (and title).

Already a long-time member of the national breed club (RRCUS), I joined the local one too.

Even before my initial appearance in the show ring, the local breed club meetings were an eye-opening introduction to the politics of The Fancy. Which judge liked “whippety Ridgebacks,” which liked “bone,” and on and on. Which judge liked which pro-handler. Which local members liked or didn’t like which other members. Which judge was rude to breeders. Which judge always “put up” a particular breeder’s dogs. Which pro-handlers were reliable with RRs and which were not. Very reminiscent of fifth grade generally (“Johnny likes Marsha...No he doesn’t..Yes he does...Ninny, ninny, ninny” - to use the teenage argot of a few years ago, “Gag me with a spoon.”).

But the standards are objective and the judges objective too, right?

The judge is judging the dog, and only the dog. Even a rank amateur can do it and, after all, it’s a

A

dog show, it’s not the entrance exam for the Harvard Medical School or the Bar Exam or some other life-changing passage. Such was my delusion.

Now, a year plus later, I look from a different perspective. This isn’t sour grapes, my puppy has five points and a major, so it hasn’t all been politics and favoritism, but there’s plenty of that to go around in The Fancy. Most of the owners I see ringside (actually few) are “buying” their dogs a title. They pick a pro-handler or their breeder picks one and off they go. The dogs are commonly handed off to the handler who then travels the circuit with the dog. You see the same dogs, show after show after show. Mostly, you never see the dog owner. I cannot imagine handing my dog off to somebody and not seeing him or her for weeks at a time – it’s my dog, emphasis on the “my” part. He’s supposed to be with me, not somebody else, as close to 24/7 as I can manage. If I didn’t want him with me, why would I have him. He has emotions and feelings, he’s not an automaton. Go buy a Japanese robot dog if that’s all you want, they probably make one now that is also a vacumn cleaner when it isn’t performing its tricks for you. I can understand what the breeder gets from having a dog finish (particularly since they are commonly co-owners), but what does the owner get? Bragging rights?

But, you didn’t do it. You hired it, you bought it, you didn’t earn it, the dog did.

So, how might the AKC take the politics out of the process? Obviously, they could ban pro-handlers. That would instantaneously make all dog shows minors, with the possible exception of one or two famous shows like Westminster and Eukanuba.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see if Ms. Martha Stewart would be out there in the ring with her Chow Chow? And, all the other invisible owners. That would also cut a lot of people loose from their gainful employment. That will never happen. I am not sure that it even should. I have had some gracious pro-handlers give me good advice and tutoring on what I was doing that could be improved.

An alternate might be a complete owner-handler track to a Championship. The AKC’s announced Owner-Handler series is a non-titling non-event. That’s a complete yawn. I would also question the statement in the introduction to the Owner-Handler series that “more than 80% of show dogs are handled by their owners.” If that were true, there would be many more owners ringside than I have observed in the past couple of years.

The one way that might...just might... be true is if the dogs are handled by their breeders who are commonly coowners. But I would suggest that a BBE dog, handled by the breeder, isn’t really an owner-handled dog. Or, the owners step up when the dog is titled and show as a Special (but I haven’t seen that either).

In a true Owner-Handler system, ribbons, awards and points to the highest placing owner-handled dogs need to exist right alongside the regular track. Leading to the title for the dog. Owner-handlers restricted to having finished four or fewer

dogs (over four makes you a prohandler in everything but name and a business card; that’s a lifetime number, any and all breeds). It would take the judge a few moments extra in each breed, but no real extra effort (and you could leave the judge the ability to just not award anything in the case where scrubs were entered just because there were not many owner-handled dogs in the show). A breeder could be here too, until they hit the magic fifth dog in the chase.

No pros as co-owners either, purely dogs in the hands of true amateurs out there in this ring. This doesn’t impinge on the pros’ ability to earn a living, doesn’t cut entries, and if somebody wants to buy their dog a title, they still can.

Will the AKC ever do something like this? I don’t know, but it should if it really means to have a legitimate claim to encouraging Amateur Owner Handlers. Until it does, it is just paying lip service to the idea of participation by the Owners. Will I soldier on to finish my dog? I don’t know, the politics seem to overwhelm the objectivity in the process, and I may just give my show lead and little skinny slip collar to some other sucker. Take my dog home to sleep on my feet at night (he does anyway). Then I’ll make a Therapy Dog out of him (like his elder sister) and actually do something.

George Clark Paradise Valley, AZ CATALOGUE CORRECTION NEEDED would just like to request a correction be made to the article “ I Heard it Thru The Grapevine” in the July 6th edition of Dog News.

On page 66, about half way down the second column the details on our dog, need correcting. The name was incorrect, the spelling of Barbara Watanabe’s last name was incorrect, one owner, Nancy Fiacco’s name was omitted, and Shelly’s co-ownership was omitted.

It should read as follows: GCH Greengate The Boss At Beaubriar RN Bred by Barbara Watanabe and Bernadette Elliott.

Owned by Rick and Nancy Fiacco, co-owned and handled by Shelly DeChambeau.

I have spoken with Karolynne and understand and agree that the Catalogue information is most likely the culprit here. I will go to both Rau and MBF to check and see if they have corrupted information.

By the way, I also made an omission on the email I sent to you.

Bernadette Elliott should also be listed as a co-owner. Sorry!

Again, I appreciate the willingness by all parties to make the correction. Thank you.

Sincerely, Rick and Nancy Fiacco Bayville, NJ

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ED. Note: Just to keep the record straight the information reported in the article referred to was taken directly from the catalogue and was not an error made through the carelessness or inept reportage on the part of the individual who wrote the article.

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