There are not many things as much fun as a dog show at the beach! The Ventura County Dog Fanciers Association held its summer show on June 30, 2017 at their regular venue, Seaside Park, otherwise known as the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
There are plenty of group shows, but none with the cachet of Montgomery County Kennel Club. Countless important dogs, handlers, breeders, and judges have converged there over the decades.
Where to begin?? Let’s start at the beginning. For most of us dog show folk, the place where it all starts is the first time you go to a dog show, prepared or not.
All our toy breeds have fascinating histories but none demonstrate the skill, ingenuity and adaptability of pedigree dog breeders quite so well as the history of the Pomeranian.
Owner-handlers looking to grow in the sport of purebred dogs could find no better example to follow than someone who has won 11 Hound Groups at the Garden. It’s almost not necessary to mention her name—but of course, we’re referring to Patricia Craige Trotter.
Good morning, your honor and may it please the court: It never ceases to amaze me how adept dogs are at training people. If we were half as good at training them as they are at training us, every dog would be field, obedience, agility or tracking champions, no question about it.
We asked an AKC Judge, Breeder/Owner/Handler & Professional Handler the following question: Is it preferable to have the same person judge your breed and that group on the same day? Here’s what they had to say…
Fancy grooming has attracted controversy from the moment a dog show met a hairbrush. To the uninformed observer, much of it looks weird and decadent, suggesting something vaguely illicit going on behind the scenes.
The next breed we tackle in my ongoing series of interviews with breed experts is the Cairn Terrier. Anyone who has interacted with a Cairn Terrier knows they are wonderful companions with fun-loving personalities. Cairns are tenacious and trainable. These traits have made them contenders in the toughest terrier groups. I reached out to longtime breeders of Cairn Terriers to discuss the breed and get their perspective about changes they have seen over the past half-century.
I’ve ranted about this before, but needless to say, around here it’s just preaching to the choir. And let’s face it, who listens to me. Therefore, I was rather pleased when I opened my New York Times editorial section on August 6 and there amidst all those dreary political jags was a nice, big front and center alarmist diatribe alerting readers to the (belated) fact that America is rapidly running out of detection dogs.
