Dog News, February 27, 2015

Dog News

Dog News The Digest

Of American Dogs

Volume 31, Issue 8

February 27, 2015

CLINT

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$5.00

February 27, 2015

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Best In Specialty Show

Silver GCh. Glentom’s Dirty Harry, ROM

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Dog News Contents • February 27, 2015 10 Editorial 14 Irving’s Impressions: Crufts 2015 And A Look Back To 1915

By RONNIE IRVING

18 Connie’s Comments By Connie Vanacore 22 Question Of The Week By Matthew H. Stander 26 The British Scene: Top Brood Bitches By Geoff corish 30 Rare Breeds Of The World: Small Munsterlander (Germany) By AGNES BUCHWALD 32 An American’s Survival Guide To Crufts, Or The Galaxy... By Anna stromberg 34 Bests Of The Week 38 Ten Questions Asked of Richard Reynolds 40 A Drug That May Extend Canine Longevity By Sharon Pflaumer 42 Off The Leash: The Safety Of Our Pet Food Supply By Shaun Coen 44 Mouscron 2015: Unexpected Number of UK Entries By karl donvil 56 “Webinars,”An Aggressive Stand And More By Matthew H. Stander 70 The Gossip Column By Eugene Z. Zaphiris 74 Click: The Take The Lead Westminster Cocktail Party By Gareen Bass 78 Click: The Rockwall Cluster By karen justin 82 Click: The Way We Were By paddy spear 86 Letters To The Editor

88 handlers directory • 90 subscription rates • 92 classified advertising • 94 advertising rates 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.

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Dog News Cover Story • February 27, 2015 • Volume 31, Issue 8

Clint

“

”

Best In Specialty Show

Silver GCh. Glentom’s Dirty Harry, ROM

PUBLISHER

STANLEY R. HARRIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EUGENE Z. ZAPHIRIS CREATIVE DIRECTOR

SEAN KEVIN GAFFNEY ADVERTISING MANAGERS

SHAUN COEN Y. CHRISTOPHER KING ACCOUNTING

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Karen Justin

dognewskaren@aol.com

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212 807.7100 x588 FAX NUMBER: 212 675.5994 EMAIL ADDRESS

dognews@harris-pub.com www.dognews.com facebook.com/dognewsmagazine twitter: @dognewsmagazine SUBSCRIPTIONS

Ian Miller 212 462.9624

"Clint" ended a great 2014, as Top Winning Colored Bull Terrier Dog* and Three Reserve Best In Shows and Multiple Terrier Groups, following up on his Best of Opposite Sex at the Bull Terrier Club of America National Specialty and being a Silverwood Finalist. He now has more than 100 Group Placements.

His new owner, Zane Smith, says he is ready to expand that record now and says...

"Clint is not only a great Bull Terrier, he is a great show dog and character."

He is one of only three Bull Terriers to have achieved the level of Silver Grand Champion.

Best of Breed at AKC Eukanuba show in both 2013 & 2014, Clint continues to make his mark along with other dogs from Zane Smith and Bullseye, including the former Top Winning Colored Bull Terrier in 2009, Best in Show Winning Ch. Black Shark De Rocabull, along with and the many other Top Winning Staffordshire Bull Terriers & American Staffordshire Terriers.

Handled By Jill Bell Owners Zane Smith & Glenna Wright *Number Two overall, The Dog News Top Ten List - All Breed

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Contributing Editors Sharon Anderson • Andrew Brace Agnes Buchwald • Patricia Gail Burnham Shaun Coen • Carlotta Cooper Geoff Corish • Michael Faulkner Merry Fitzgerald, DVM • Denise Flaim Geir Flyckt - Pedersen • Allison Foley Yossi Guy • Ronnie Irving • Roz Kramer John Mandeville • Sidney Marx Linda More • Demond J. Murphy M. J. Nelson • Sharon Pflaumer John Shoemaker • 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 with more than one breed every week and have adjudicated at a licensed AKC show within the past three years 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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Editorial As the Canine Health Foundation starts 2015 off it will for the entire year be celebrating its 20th year of existence. This is a major and critical anniversary and hopefully will be supported by heavy donations both corporate and individual as a means to continue the vital work of this organization as it strives to improve through research grants the health of the dog. Historically of course AKC has been ONE of the key benefactors of this organization called officially the AKC/Canine Health Foundation donating tens of millions of dollars to CHF. This had been one of AKC’s most stunning triumphs of the last two decades and is used by many as a basic argument in countering the negative statements made by animal rightists about AKC’s alleged lack of concern for the health and welfare of not only the purebred dog but the dog generally as well. AKC’s Board and CHF’s Board are currently renegotiating its relationship and so as written in the Board Minutes until these negotiations are completed AKC’s donation for the year 2015 will not be announced. That’s too bad since the attitude towards CHF by AKC’s Board seems to have shifted somewhat away from CHF under the Kalter regime. Take last year’s budgetary fiasco where CHF was forced to match through new contributors ONLY $250,000 in order to be awarded a full grant of $500,000 by AKC. And yet a rather esoteric organization called the Theriogenology Foundation said to be a pet project of the Board chairman in the field of reproductive and genetic research was awarded $300,000 outright in a first time contribution with little explanation if any even given to the constituents as to what kind of work the organization was involved in. It may very well be a worthy cause but why make your own CHF go through impossible odds of performance to get its money and then award a huge sum to an organization in an area easily covered by CHF with proper funding? What the future holds for CHF in the 2015 budget sounds somewhat ominous in the February Board Minutes but there are some strong supporters of CHF sitting on the Board so make sure the guy you or your Club is endorsing is one of them.

Let’s be sure of a strong and continuing INDEPENDENT CHF whose future is not manipulated downwards as a source of future employee bonuses or due to being a threat to a pet project of a manipulated few on the Board itself.

CHF’S 20th ANNIVERSARY

Thought For The Week

Well the Board has gone Reserve “mad”.

They must be gearing up for March Basketball. Not only have they added a Reserve Best in Show for Junior Competition instead of developing a noncompetitive form of Junior Development as is done in the UK in an effort to ensure the future of our sport they now are thinking of doing the same thing for the OHS! These pages believe they should be doing the exact opposite and think about doing away with the Reserve Best in Show Award in the altogether. And insofar as the OHS is concerned beginning in January 2016 it will reverse back to be an OPT-IN program. What a joke-the excuse given that under the mandatory situation the event has become such a success with so many participants opt-in is a better way to go. Well you can fool some of the people some of the time etc., etc. but with the March elections a few days away the February move was an effort to shield Amen for sure and possibly others from the expected backlash for his or their support of the mandatory OHS set of shows. At least the Board under the hard work of one member succeeded in reversing its original stand and got the Salilyn Kennel name retired permanently—Thanks, Mr. Menaker, for that one!

RESERVE MADNESS

It would be a good idea to hold an independent conference and seminar about the pros and cons of the wildly misunderstood topic of inbreeding in breeding programs.

In Europe of course it is looked at with the possible exception of the learned breeders in the UK with such askance it amazes. The leading Scandinavian Kennel Club prodded on by an uneducated public on the topic is the leader against the practice no matter how closely controlled. This inbreeding art is one that goes a long ways to perpetuate the purebred dog if used correctly and should not be ignored in discussion certainly by some of our more prominent and successful breeders. This concept is not intended to be taken on

by Parent Club delegates and its committees but by everyday people concerned with the day-to-day practices of breeders generally.

INBREEDING

It has been reported to DOG NEWS that registration for 2014 went slightly over expectations primarily due to the efforts of the people heading the commercial kennel division and the pet store registration division at AKC. Of course all efforts to find registration figures published anywhere are thwarted on every level at AKC, unlike the UK where they are published in the greatest of detail. Indeed it has also been reported to these pages that MAR/COMM is behind schedule in projects it has been working on in the area of its highly anticipated multi-use dog collar and its breeders program.

This may be due to the problems it is facing with the new web site and the need to form “webinars” to explain the navigation to the Delegates themselves. Little money for CHF but go way over budget for the web site design and ignore the problem as though it does not exist seems to be the attitude of the higher ups at AKC. Hire a new VP of Technology with an incredible background at what cost and ignore the IT Department in the process is the philosophy of these higher ups as reported to DOG NEWS. In detailed communications soon to be released is how the corporation is being operated these days. A change coming in March?

Let’s hope so for sure!

Crufts and its own sort of March Madness is upon us. With its usual over 21,000 dogs, thousands of concessionaires and at least 120,000 spectators these are four of the most incredible days in the dog world anywhere. It’s no wonder more Americans than ever seem to be attending this show but be aware it takes a lot of getting used to to adjust to what is more than just a dog show. It is almost an international scene of pandemoniac and to many a visitor the dogs take second place to the spectacle. The entries are usually so large that those in the minority who attend all four days rarely see more than one or two breeds judged in their entirety. It’s a case of catch can except for those few “hardies” who determinedly sit in one place the day through. A different and incredible learning experience and enjoyable for sure once you figure it out is the Crufts experience.

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REGISTRATIONS AND MAR/COMM

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ch. cragsmoor good time Reserve Best In Show Westminster Kennel Club Judge Mr. David Merriam Group First Breeder-Judge Dr. John Reeve Newson handled by larry cornelius marcelo veras owned by victor malzoni, jr.

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Best of Breed Judge Dr. Jerry Klein

Starts the year on the Florida Circuit with Six All Breed Best In Shows, One Reserve Best In Show, & A Group First Judge Mr. Dennis McCoy Judge Mrs. Gloria Geringer Judge Mrs. Beth Sweigart Judge Mr. Jay Richardson Judge Ms. Patricia Anne Keenan Judge Mrs. Julie Felten Judge Mrs. Mareth Kipp Judge Mr. Jon Cole Judge Mrs. Sulie Paveza Dog News 13

Irving’s Impressions

By Ronnie Irving

Crufts Show will run in Birmingham, England from Thursday, March 5 through Sunday, March 8. It will have around 21,500 qualified dogs entered and it is likely to have another six or seven thousand dogs attending. They

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CRUFTS 2015 & A LOOK BACK TO 1915

SIMILARITIES WITH WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB

will be involved either in ‘Discover Dogs’ (the UK version of Meet the Breeds) or in the many other training and activity rings that you can find all around Crufts. Attendance by the public last year was about 150,000 people and will hopefully be around the same this year. The TV company Channel 4 has once again agreed to cover the show on mainstream national terrestrial TV channels. The programmes will extend to a total of nine hours of broadcasting over the four days. This will culminate with the judging of Best in Show, which will be shown live on Sunday night. (Modesty prevents me from saying who will have the honor of being this year’s Best in Show judge.)

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nless they have actually been to Crufts, it must be hard for people to imagine the size and diversity of the whole venture. It is still a benched show and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. The exhibition halls and arenas used cover a total of 25 acres and there are usually around 500 commercial trade stands (booths) selling and advertising all manner of canine products and services. Twelve of the scheduled breeds normally have such large entries that they require two judges so as to get the judging through in good time for the Best of Breed winners to be decided and get to the Group ring in time to compete.

Crufts in the UK benefits from the same level of popularity with the public and the same media attention as the Westminster KC Show does in the USA. It is THE dog show in the eyes of the public, most of whom would be hard put to it to give the name of a single other canine event held in this country. However, for diversity in its range of activities, Crufts is still well ahead of today’s Westminster KC Show even with its new ‘Meet the Breeds’ and Agility additions.

That popularity with the public has of course been carefully cultivated over many years, first of all by Charles Cruft himself and then by TKC, which bought the show and its title from Mrs Cruft after her husband died in 1938 at the age of 86. She staged the show in 1939 and then it became defunct for the duration of World War Two, only to

restart in 1948. I wonder what the Committee of TKC that bought it in 1939 at a rumored price of £4,000 ($6,000) felt about its investment during that first ten years of inactivity. Anyway whatever they thought, it was certainly a good investment if you look at the show’s size and popularity today.

CRUFTS 100 YEARS AGO

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the show as it was 100 years ago in 1915, and compare some aspects of it with the show as it is today. In many ways there are huge similarities between then and now and in other ways there are many differences.

Even although the UK was deeply embroiled in World War One in 1915, Crufts did still go ahead.

A quick look at the show catalogue for that year indicates one major difference between then and now and that is the difference of size. This year there are 21,474 dogs entered over the four days making 23,722 entries. But in 1915 the number of dogs was only 1,578 making 3,447 entries. Clearly that had been affected by the outbreak of war because it was some 792 entries less than the 1914 show a year earlier. Entries continued to fall until nearly at the end of the War, the show was abandoned for three years from 1918 to 1920 inclusive. It started up again in 1921 but didn’t reach pre-war entry numbers until 1922.

Of course you do have to be a little careful about believing the entry figures published by Charles Crufts. The great man was not beyond exaggerating his numbers to gain maximum publicity for his show. A letter to the canine journal OUR DOGS in 1900 complained that though Mr Cruft had announced an entry of 2,203 dogs for his show the actual number entered was only 1,572. The letter writer complained: “Anybody turning to the end of the catalogue on page 336 would naturally suppose that there were 2,203 dogs entered (that being the last numbered dog). On count-

ing through the catalogue it will be found that the true number is 1,572. The method of arriving at the large number given is simple, and it is simply to skip out numbers here and there until in the end 631 dogs have been wrongly added to the actual numbers.

How long will the Kennel Club countenance this style of conducting a show?”

SMALLER NUMBER OF BREEDS AND ENTRIES

Other differences in line with the size of the show were of course caused by the smaller number of breeds scheduled and their relative popularity. Today over 200 breeds are scheduled. Then the total number of breeds was less than 50. In those days breeds such as Sealyham Terriers had over 60 dogs entered while today’s entry for that breed is more like 40. Today’s biggest terrier breeds Staffordshire Bull Terriers with 375 and Border Terriers with 289 were not scheduled at all a hundred years ago, as they had not yet been recognised as breeds by TKC. Neither were some of the other most popular breeds at this year’s show such as Cavaliers (313), Border Collies (320), Bearded Collies (301), Afghan Hounds (258), Beagles (276). It is a bit difficult to fathom how to establish for the year 1915, the total number of entries of those various Retriever breeds which this year head the entry league table with over 500 dogs each. This is because they were entered in regular classes and also in the Gamekeeper Classes.

(Gamekeeper Classes which, by the way, still exist at the show today). In addition to championship points (Challenge Certificates) for Labrador, Curly Coated, Golden and Flat Coated Retrievers, there was also a section for Best Russian Yellow Retriever!

Pugs (this year 278) were quite popular with 40 dogs entered while Papillons (this year 257) were not scheduled and had not yet been recognised as a breed by TKC. Continued on page 46 Dog News 15

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C

OMMENTS

By Connie Vanacore

Another Westminster has gone into the books, and this writer, true to form, brought home not only fond memories of a great show, but my usual Garden-variety sniffing, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing New York cold. The frigid weather could not keep the crowds away from Madison Square Garden, however, and both nights and all day at the Hudson River Piers crowds thronged in to see the dogs and their minions patiently greet the swarms of admirers. David Frei and his elves at Westminster did a fabulous job of informing the public and their diligent efforts paid off handsomely this year. There wasn’t a spare seat to be had at the Garden, especially on Tuesday evening. The final lineup was the best this writer has seen in years. Any one of these wonderful dogs could have taken Best in Show, and the adorable Beagle, Miss P, shown to perfection by her handler, Will Alexander, was a crowd favorite.

The judge, a well-known adjudicator in real life, Honorable David Merriam, clearly enjoyed his role in the center of the ring.

He completed his assignment with care and dispatch, smiling all the while. He must have been very pleased with the dogs sent to him through the two days of judging that preceded his assignment. In addition to the

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Beagle, he had an English Springer Spaniel, a Portuguese Water Dog, a Skye Terrier, a Standard Poodle, an Old English Sheepdog and a Shih Tzu. All of these finalists came with impressive resumes of accomplishments over the past year or two. There were no dark horses there. Any one of the finalists was worthy, but the Beagle owned the ring, and she seemed to enjoy every step around the huge arena. As for Will, her pilot, what could be a sweeter victory than this? Will has earned his way to the top echelons of accomplishment from his days of apprenticeship and family involvement with dogs in his native Canada to center stage at Madison Square Garden and around the world.

Good for you, Will!

The Garden was beautifully decked out for the occasion with huge arrangements of flowers in the Westminster colors of purple and gold. For the most part the handlers dressed up for the occasion wearing appropriate clothes and sensible shoes. Men wore suits and ties; women were attired in some glitter, but nothing to detract from the dogs. There seemed to be a real effort to put the dogs first and the handlers in the background.

From my days of being a student of the great handler and teacher, George Alston, I recall his admonitions to anyone who tried to upstage their dog by too much

cleavage or too short skirts. Tuck it in, tuck it up! were his admonitions.

When it came time for the end of class evaluations, you can be sure that everyone was dressed appropriately and no one upstaged their dogs! So it was in the most important ring of any handler’s life!

There are other things going on in the world of AKC, with annual Board elections being held in March and a huge flap over the revamped AKC website. Although there are familiar faces vying for office there is one new candidate. Those who have thrown their hats into the ring are: Dr. Thomas M. Davies, a long time Delegate and former Board member; Dr. Carmen Battaglia, also a former Board member and seasoned Delegate; Robert Amen, current Board member of AKC Board of Directors; Steven D. Gladstone, a current member of the AKC Board; Dr. Gregory J. Paveza, running for the first time. It is really important for Delegates and for their club members to take an interest in this election. If you direct your Delegates it is especially important for you to know where each candidate stands on the issues. If you rely on your Delegate to decide which candidates are best suited to serve on AKC’s Board, make sure your Delegate is well informed and reflects your club’s positions.

There are too many changes taking place in the world of dogs to allow Delegates and their clubs to coast along relying on others to do the work for them. It is up to those who care about AKC, like the clubs and the Delegates who represent them, to keep informed of what the various components of our sport are doing and to take an active and informed role in the he future of our sport. There are too many factions “out there” who would like to see us wither away, but there are enough of us hardy souls to protect our sport and our breeds. Our survival as a sport depends on all of us in our communities to make our voices heard.

O

n a personal note, I sincerely thank the Dog Writers Association of America for inducting this writer into their Hall of Fame at their annual banquet held in New York during the Westminster weekend. It is a great honor to be in the company of such writers as Walter Fletcher of The New York Times and John Marvin, who wrote extensively for the AKC Gazette and other publications during his lifetime. Thank you to Dog News for publishing my columns according to my erratic schedule. You give me a voice for which I am grateful.

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Sarge & Pam

Judge Mr. Edd E. Bivin

Judge Mr. John Wade 20 Dog News

First time out: Three Group Wins including Peak To Peak Working Dog Association of Colorado

Judge Ms. Judith Ann Smith

GCh. Friends Sargeant Breakthrough Owners: Joe & Carla Sanchez

Southport Mastiffs Established 1982

Presented by: Pam Gilley,

Breeders: Jack & Debbie Friend Dog News 21

Question of the week

By Matthew H. Stander

Have you tried navigating AKC’s redesigned web site and if so what did you think of it?

Cathy Daugherty

I was just getting used to the last website!

Dan Fleitas

The new web site is an improvement over the previous one, but it still is puzzling why there is no main category for Judges. Show chairs, exhibitors, and judges need to access information about our adjudicators—and I feel certain that there are many requests for such information—why can’t such information be readily available without first having to navigate for other templates?

allison foley

I have tried the AKC’s new website, it seems cluttered and distracting. Even with instructions on how to find things I was horribly lost. It seems that things are categorized in an odd manner.

Joan Goldstein

Since I am not a Show Chair, I do not have to do much on the site. I was able to find the Judge’s Directory and check my own information with ease. I was also easily able to find the current requirements for applying for new breeds along with the applications. I find the easiest way to find something on the site is to click on the “magnifying glass” in the right hand corner, and type in the subject you need. I will wait awhile until they straighten out some of the reported problems before attempting anything else.

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Elizabeth H. Neff

Yes, and I don’t like our ECS breed page at all! It is amateur work clearly done by non dog people. We, our ECSCA Education Committee, sent them beautiful photos and a lovely write up and they didn’t use any of the photos. Not happy at all!

Delores Burkholder

I have used the site a couple of times. I didn’t find it too difficult to locate the things I usually want to use. The judges directory, weekly wins, downloadable forms were the first items I looked for and found them about where I expected. There were a few more steps to get to where I wanted to go.

DARYL MARTIN

It is difficult to navigate around the new AKC website. They state that my breed, maltese, has three colors. Nowhere in the standard does it say that. I love capital letters, but the screens are overwhelming including the events screen. It is geared strictly at pet people. When the change started, I could not figure out how to look up defeated points and called the information number. They had no idea what I was talking about! Finally I figured it out on my own. The American Kennel Club’s website is for the birds. Social media is important and the public’s awareness is, too, but the site is horrible. For the new website, their links don’t work well either including to their Eukanuba judges slate…..oh well.

Johnny Shoemaker

Dr. Fran Smith

Deborah Cooper

Pam Mandeville

What can I say about the website! It certainly needs a lot of work. The pages are too big, it’s hard to navigate, it really needs to go back to the drawing board. Bring back the old site and revamp it. The pictures on the site are much too big. They need to go back and redo the descriptions of some of the breeds because some of the stuff that they put on some of these breeds are incorrect. What kind of budget did they have as I am sure they went over budget?

I still hadn’t figured out the navigation on the last “improved” website! I haven’t even attempted this one yet. Another point is that AKC is upset about the efforts of other sites to publish “real time” results so much that they have purchased url’s to prevent some from posting results – however, it is much easier to find those results published by others than the actual AKC results. Perhaps the show results should be taken into consideration in their website overhaul?

Donavon Thompson

Though I had used the redesigned website, when I received the question, I immediately visited the website and took the “tour”. I like the pull down menus but had to visually search and eventually found everything I had interest in EXCEPT a link to the Gazette! Finally a search for “Gazette” within the website yielded the online magazine complete with judge information, Secretary’s page and more! Perhaps an alpha pull down would be a good addition.

KAREN JUSTIN

I tried on several different browsers before I was able to access the section where I can look up my dogs’ points.

Patrick Guilfoyle

I have to say that the redesign of the AKC’s site is a monumental undertaking. Props to the designers and to whomever was the catalyst in bringing this design to fruition. It’s hard to please all of the people much of the time and near impossible to please many dog people.

Ever. Time will prove with refinement, the appeal to the millennials from whose ranks we all look to carry on in the sport. There are some clunky parts to the site that need to be addressed, but no site is static. I give the effort a strong C+ and with further attention extra credit bonuses.

I have not tried it yet – will give it a go to see what has changed.

Betsy Dale

I tried using the judges directory and found it difficult to find the listings for new provisionals.

Maybe more user testing in advance would have helped!

Well, since I doubt you’ll devote the entire issue to my response, I’ll just focus on one thing: the individual breed pages. Ideally, this is where someone starts their search for a dog and should contain accurate information about the breed.

When I looked at my breed’s page (Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier), a few things bothered me.

Most of all I was appalled by the section at the bottom “The Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers of AKC”. At that point the only images there were of poorly groomed, non-typey pets; I suspect most of the people reading this wouldn’t recognize them as SCWTs. These images come from members of the public who post pictures to Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #akcsoftcoatedwheatenterrier. Members of SCWTCA rallied quickly to post photos of good dogs, well groomed in casual settings. But it left open SO many scary questions: How is this feature being monitored? How will AKC insure it is not used by the AR crazies to post horror photos...or by advertisers? How does it even work? Did anyone ever think to reach out to the parent clubs? The overarching thought I have is that AKC is allowing members of the public to define a breed...another appalling instance of AKC basically giving up on the fancy.

Merry Fitzgerald, DVM

I think the new site is easy to navigate. I readily found the information I sought. The photographs are attractive. I like that the news features come up and I read some stories that I may not have come across. I have to say, I do miss the printed versions of the event listings. I like to see all the events that are happening and not be limited to the 10 state search.

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The

B R i T i S H

SCENE

By Geoff Corish

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TOP BROOD BITCHES Last time l gave you the top stud dogs in the UK. This time it’s the turn of the brood bitches, they are just as important as stud dogs, but often overlooked. The role of a good brood can never be overstated.

And for the second year running, the winner of top brood 2014 in the UK was the Australian Shepherd bitch Ch Allmark Careless Whisper. She has been an amazingly successful brood bitch and unusually this time, she has scored more points than the winner of the top stud dog table. Eight of her progeny from three litters won cc’s during 2014. Bred

by Neil and Angie Allan, she is by the US import Bayshore’s Tears Of A Clown ex Ozzypool Molly Malone at Allmark.

For her first litter, she spent a few weeks in the US where she was mated to Am/ Braz Ch Dazzles Bill A Bing Bill AQ Bong.

This proved a highly successful venture, resulting in a BIS winner, twice top herding and again top Aussie in 2014 with groups, a res BIS and group win at the World Show Ch Allmark Fifth Ave, Ach allmark Indecent Proposal, group placer Ch Allmark Spirit of St Louis and group placed and finished in 2014 Ch Allmark Licensed To Thrill. Her second litter was conceived when Neil drove her to Italy to be mated to a dog named It/Sm Ch God’s Great Banana Skin. From this came 2013 group winner Ch/Malt/Cro Ch Allmark Broadway Baby, Ch Allmark Maserati at Meltza and Ch Allmark Felicia at Wilduc, were all finished in 2014.

And then from her third litter she stayed at home and was mated to the US import Am/Gr/Ir Ch Bayshore’s Stonehaven Cat Burglar, and this produced Ch Allmark Join The Clan at Mistyholly. It’s not sure if any other bitch has produced eight certificate winners and five new champions of a single show season.

Astonishingly, both second and third place go to Basenji bitches, and only separated on a tiebreak. So the eventual number two led this table overall in 2011 and 2012 and topped the hounds in 2010, Ch/Am Ch Klassic’s Million Dollar Baby at Tokaji. During her show career she was amazing to watch and she broke the breed certificate record and was top hound and won a general ch show BIS award. She was bred by Sue Kite and Jeff Gillespie in the US and is co-owned by them with Dee Hardy and Trish Hallam in England. She is by Am Ch Penda Taj’s Tri-Umphant One ex Am Ch Klassic’s Rooty Toot Toot. Her two litters were both by her nephew, the top hound stud Ch/Am Ch Kazors Make Way for Riley.

These have produced six UK champions and another with two cc’s, and they are Ch Tokaji Kentucky Blue, Ch Tokaji California Dreaming, Ir Ch Tokaji American Dreamz at Silverbriar, Ch/Ir Ch Tokaji American Gigolo at Embeau and Ch Tokaji American Gangster at Tenfield.

A fraction behind her is Embeau Symphony, which was bred by Rusty Grayson and Shaun Tiffany and is owned by Beverley and Dave Adams. She won a certificate and is by the Swedish-bred dog that spent some time in the UK, Ch/int/Fin/Dan Ch Faraoland Xcuse Me Desmond, ex Ch Woodella Silent Whisper by Emmbeau.

She has produced five UK champions, four finished in 2014, plus a dog that was shown only once, at the Parent

Club show as a puppy in 2012 and won the certificate and BIS. Her champion progeny in 2014 were Ch Kissangani Dream Maker at Djoser and Ch Kissangani Only Dreaming by Riley, and then from her litters by the Riley/Million Dollar son Gigolo came Ch Kissangani Shining Star at Embeau, Ch Kissangani Life of the Party and Ch Kissangani Caught In The Act for Milukris.

The top non sporting and in fourth place is the keeshond Ch Lady Godivas Guilty Pleasures with Neradmik, imported

by Jean sharp-Bale from Finland. She is sired by Jean’s big winning Ch Neradmik D’Artagnan ex Fin Ch Lady Godivas Daydream, and won several group placing in the UK. All her winning progeny were sired by the top stud dog Game Boy. The Dalmatian Ch Offordale White Lady is fifth. She is bred and owned by Jenny Alexander by Offordale Brigadier ex Offordale Natasha. She visited a Norwegian dog and later had a second litter by him by AI, and these produced 2014 winners Ch Offordale Chevalier (a group winner in previous years) and 3 other champions.

Sixth is the Rough collie Brooklynson Joanna, owned and bred by Steve and Alison Barrett, by Ch Brooklynson From Rio ex Pelido Daisy May from Brooklynson. By one dog she produced Ch Brooklynson Martini and then by another came three more ch’s.

In seventh and heading the working breeds is the GT Dane Vanmore Raindrops, owned and bred by Lawrence Morgan-Evans by Vanmore Who’s The Boss ex Vanmore tootsie. Her winning progeny last year were top Dane and group winner Ch Van-

more Eye Catching and Vanmore Stop And Stare at Castleton and Vanmore Never Say Never and Ch Vanmore Raphael by another.

The Greyhound Ch Azrams Ocean Dreams is in eighth place. She is bred and owned by Liz McKnight and Jerry Robertson by Mistweave Making Waves ex Ch Azrams Dark Secret. Four from the same litter became champions and one won BIS at the Hound Association of Scotland Ch Azrams Ocean Breeze.

In ninth is another non sporting and is the German Spitz Mittel Wyndlee Sweeter Than Wine, her self a certificate winner for her owner Lynda Hewitt and was bred by Pat Beard and she produced several champions.

Incredibly another non sporting is close behind and is the Japanese Shiba Inu Vormund I’m A Star and is in tenth place. Bred and owned by Liz Dunhill, she is out of American import Am Ch Copperdots Momo Vixen at Vormund, imported in whelp to Japanesebred Am Ch Hirose No Shougun Go Enshu Hiorosesou. Her winning progeny include Ch Vormund Jean Paul Gaultier, a former junior stakes overall winner and the current breed record holder, 2014 group winner Ch Vormund Norma Jean and Ch Vormund Johnny Depp, all sired by the same dog.

The toy group is led by the Lowchen Ch Broevans Fun And Follic, bred and owned

by Steve Brown by Ch Rishkan Kellys Hero at Shazzabars ex Beaulion Very Sexy with Rishkan. She produced the top lowchen for the year Ch Broevans Unspoilt Hero.

Gundogs are headed by the Field Spaniel Sh Ch Nadavin Nobility, herself a 2014 certificate winner. She is bred and owned by Jill and Charles Holgate by Sh Ch Tayowen Touch of the knight ex Nadavin Lecea. And she produced Ch’s Nadvin Tayowen, Quinland and Quany.

The top terrier brood is the Manchester Terrier Ch Digelsa Double Entendre, the breeds certificate record holder. She is bred and owned by Mick and Stacely Oxley by Ch Calastoa Star light ex Digelsa Dynasty and three of her progeny won cc’s last year Ch Digelsa De Ja Vu, Ch Digelsa Diamond Geeza at Lizelms and, by a different sire, Digelsa Diva avec Janmark.

Dog News 27

T he 2015 Westminster Kennel Club Winners Issue of Dog News

28 Dog News

will publish MARCH 6, 2015

SPECIAL ADVERTISING RATES FOR ALL WESTMINSTER WINNERS: $100 DISCOUNT FOR A FULL PAGE COLOR AD ONLY $500!

Full page B/W AD ONLY $225!

Dog News 29

Münster from the Latin Monasterium - (monastery) is an old city at North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

More than 82 million people live in the country, which covers an area of 357,021 km2, (about Montana State’s size).

Germany’s Munster is a jewel with hundreds of castles, most of them in perfect condition, others in shambles, but these old edifications are really great tourist attractions. The region of Rhine-Westphalia, as one third of Germany, is covered with dense forest turning this beautiful green landscape into a marvelous postcard.

Münster, known as being a center of science, is a marvelous place to live, and to get a superb education. This is the city of science, of magnificent sculptures, of bicycles, a living metrop-

S M A L L M UNSTER L AN D ER G ER M AN Y

rare BREEDS OF THE WORLD

By Agnes Buchwald

30 Dog News

olis with many faces. The city is called the Climate Protection Capital. Here the tourists and the residents have the possibility to enjoy both urban and rural life, the excellent German cuisine - especially the cakes like the Black Forest Torte or my favorite, the Apple Strudel. You can’t leave Germany without tasting at least 10 or 12 from the over three hundred different flavors of breads, the Black Forest Torte, the original Apple Strudel, the wurstl (hot dogs) and having a big glass of one the of the many superb German beers.

Germany is a powerhouse concerning its history.

The country is famous for its life changing personages in every area of the civilization, and for its participation in important stages of the human evolution.

The country is a leader in perfect transportation systems and has the best possible public transportation one can desire. The Germans love cars, after all born there were some of the most expensive and sought after cars in the world. Brands like the expensive Audi, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and the popular Volkswagen are German, and –of coursethe speed limit at the Autobahn is 300 km per hour!

These people love soccer. Germans are fanatic, rooting united whenever the national team is playing. That Chancellor Angela Marker roots and jumps whenever the German selection is playing is widely Continued on page 72

Dog News 31

s ’ n a c i r e m A An Crufts, or to Story & Photos By Anna Stromberg I

literary saw my life flash in

front of my eyes while gasping for

air and much needing a bath towel

for the amounts of sweat after running for our flight at Kennedy Airport. Yes, that was how our trip

started. Secretly I thought to myself may it be less

drama and more tulips in

our week to come. Let’s

start from the beginning.

Continued on page 64

e d i u G l a v i v r u S ‌ y x a l a G e h T

Dog News 33

BESTS WEEK McKenzie Cascade Dog Fanciers Linn County Kennel Club Toy Poodle

Lost Dutchman Kennel Club Saluki

Judge Mrs. Joan P. Anselm Judge Mr. Johnny R. Shoemaker Owners Toni and Martin Sosnoff Handler Tim Brazier

Judge Dr. Michael Woods Owner Lyndell Ackerman Handler Emma Bawden

GCh. North Well Vivian JP Rose Queen

Greater Panama City Dog Fanciers Association Ochlochonee River Kennel Club English Springer Spaniel

Ch. Telltale American Ride

Judge Mrs. Judy Webb Judge Mr. James Reynolds Owners Beth Fink, Celie Florence, Robin Novack, Kathy & Dave Vanvorst & Delores Streng Handler Robin Novack Rockland County Kennel Club Pointer

GCh. Hipoint Here Comes the Sun

Judge Ms. Rita A. Bell Owners Linda Cayton and Frank DePaulo Handler Frank DePaulo

GCh. Baghdad’s Eleganza Extravaganza

Big Spring Kennel Club Clumber Spaniel

GCh. Clussexx Over The Legal Limit Judge Mr. Edd Bivin Owners Joe & Carla Sanchez Handler Jorge Olivera Heart of the Plains Kennel Club Affenpinscher

GCh. Tamarin Tanner Judge Ms. Denny Mounce Owners Ann & Gary Shultz Handler Jordan Olivera

Greater Hattiesburg Kennel Club - Thursday Meri-Miss Kennel Club - Sunday German Shepherd Dog

GCh. Lockenhaus’ Rumor Has It v. Kenlyn Judge Mrs. Paula Hartinger Judge Dr. Gerard Penta Owners Pamela McElheney, Deborah Stern, & Kent Boyles Handlers Kent Boyles

Big Spring Kennel Club Saturday 15” Beagle

Ch. Blueprint’s Top Of The Line

Judge Mrs. Murrel Purkhiser Owners Brooke Ayala, Rudy Ayala III and Rebecca Dirksen Handler Brooke Ayala South Arkansas Kennel Club French Bulldog

GCh. Counterpunch Grandslam Homerun Judge Dr. Robert Indeglia Owner Pisaisit Tanjasiri Handler Jane Flowers Silver Bay Kennel Club Saturday Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club-Monday English Springer Spaniel

GCh. Foxboro N Shardust Authentic Judge Dr. Wanda Spediacci Judge Mr. Del Richards Owners Sharleen Perreira and Ruth Dehmel Handler Lynda O’ConnorSchneider PHA

To report a 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

Multiple Best In Show • Multiple Best In Specialty Show

GCh. Sporting Fields Shameless Stunning Flawless Beautiful Exquisite Perfection America’s Number One* Whippet

Brazen

America’s Number One* Sighthound

Best of Breed at Westminster 2015

Owned By: Barbara Call, Jane CooneyWaterhouse, & Her Breeders Dionne Butt and Amanda Giles Owner Handled by Amanda Giles *The Dog News Top Ten List - All Breed, Number Three Hound overall

Dog News 35

Multiple best in show, multiple best in specialty show

GCh. CherKei’s

k

Owners Cherkei Boxers Cheryl & Keith Robbins 36 Dog News

y AKA

DM Clear Holter Results - 0’s across the board Echo Cardiogram - EXCELLeNT

“h

” y r n e

#1 Boxer Male 2014

Thank You to all the judges that have recognized Henry’s type and correct size.

Breeders Cheryl & Keith Robbins & Marjorie Ross

Handled By Michael Shepherd 214 415.3647 Assisted By Dottie James Dog News 37

10 Questions ASKEDOF...

Richard Reynolds When did you start showing dogs, with what breed and how did that first show go?

1961 with a Bedlington Terrier belonging to a neighbor. It was a one time thing so I don’t remember the outcome. I did get a job with a local handler though.

How difficult was it to finish your first champion?

My first Champion was a Beagle from Virginia Coleman (Colegren) that finished quite easily. There were many to come that were more difficult.

How many shows do you attend a year, and which three are your favorite ones?

I am lucky to get to 25 or 30 shows a year.

Morris & Essex tops the list with Montgomery County and Bucks/Trenton.

Who from dogs would you like to see on the television show “Duck Dynasty?”

Jack Secrest, Andrew Green and Dale Simmons.

What things in the world of dogs bring you the greatest joy?

There is a long list of breeds I would like to own, but Border Terriers and a Patterdales top the list.

My greatest joy has always been training and hunting with good dogs, first with English Foxhounds and now with Terriers and Dachshunds. Seeing the same dogs excel in the conformation ring is an additional reward.

Which canine person of the opposite sex would you be?

What characteristics do you admire in others and strive to emulate?

Other than your own breed, which breed would you like to own?

Lesley Hiltz.

How do you feel about AKC’s role in our sport?

AKC does a difficult job in an impossible environment. It is not perfect but far better than similar organizations. Perhaps out of necessity they are overshadowing the role of local clubs a bit.

38 Dog News

BORN: Washington, D.C. RESIDES: Tenafly, New Jersey MARITAL STATUS: Usually Married ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Saggitarius

Honesty, competence and professionalism all carried off with a sense of humor.

I really try for all four.

If you could afford to host an elegant catered dinner party, name at least three dog people you would like to invite.

David Merriam, Lydia Hutchinson, Desi Murphy, Steve and Chris Hubbell.

Dog News 39

A Drug That Prevents Organ Transplant Rejection in Humans May Also Extend Canine Longevity

Continued on page 128

Dr. Matt Kaeberlein pictured with his Keeshond and German Shepherd Dog. Although his current research project involving dogs will help develop rapamycin as an ageing preventative for humans, he views that as a parallel goal.

As a lifetime dog lover, he believes there is intrinsic value in improving the quality of dogs’ lives in their later years and extending their lifespan. “The studies would be warranted on that basis alone,” he says. Photo by Dr. Tammi Kaeberlein.

Research is underway to determine if rapamycin would extend canine lifespan by slowing the progression of diseases associated with the aging process.

40 Dog News

By Sharon Pflaumer

D

r. Matt Kaeberlein, an Associate Professor of Pathology and the Director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute at the University of Washington, along with his colleague Dr. Daniel Promislow, are researching this possibility.

They are conducting a short-term, 10-week trial that would be followed by a longer-term, 3- to 5-year trial with the goal of determining the drug’s effect on canine health within this context.

The short-term trial, which is primarily preparatory for the longer-term study, focuses on “dosing.” It will be conducted in the Seattle area and involve 35 to 40 dogs.

“We already have information from other research involving dogs that had cancer and were treated with rapamycin,” Kaeberlein says. “It suggests significant adverse side effects caused by the drug are eliminated when it’s given in small doses.

The short-term study will enable us to confirm our findings are consistent with those of the other researchers.”

Because rapamycin slows cell division, it

Rapamycin May Prevent or Delay Dilated Cardiomyopathy

R

has an inhibitory effect on the immune system. When given in large doses to prevent organ transplant rejection in humans, those individuals become more susceptible to certain contagious diseases. (See below for more information.)

The initial study will include four groups of dogs.

One group will be given a placebo. The other three will be given three different doses of rapamycin--all of which will be much lower than the doses prescribed to prevent organ transplant rejection. This makes it unlikely that any of the dogs participating in the research project would contract a contagious disease as a side effect of taking the drug.

Heart function also will be evaluated at the beginning and the conclusion of the short-term trial because research has shown rapamycin improves it relatively quickly.

The longer-term study At the conclusion of the short-term study, Kaeberlein plans to continue the research by conducting a longer-term, national study that would involve several hundred dogs and evaluate rapamycin’s effect when administered over a period of three to five years. The length of the longer-term study would be determined by the results.

“If we see really positive results, the owners may Continued on page 54

esearch on mice has shown rapamycin positively impacts multiple organ systems, which is not surprising considering it’s a drug that slows the ageing process. When given as a form of preventive medicine, it restores cardiac function in aged mice to more youthful levels.

The drug also has proven to be beneficial for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy in mice. The disorder is a particularly severe form of heart disease

that certain dog breeds are at high risk of developing. In particular, Doberman Pinschers have an extremely high incidence, with some estimates suggesting nearly 60% of them suffer and die early from this disease.

Dr. Matt Kaeberlein is working with the Doberman Pinscher Club of America to identify funding for a dedicated veterinary clinical trial to determine whether rapamycin can delay or prevent dilated cardiomyopathy in at-risk Dobes. For more information, visit http://www.dogagingproject. com/dcmstudy

Dog News 41

I

n recent weeks there have been calls to consolidate the food safety inspection programs in the United States. There are currently as many as 15 agencies that are responsible for inspecting the food supply, from the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department to the Environmental Protection Agency to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration amongst others. The Obama administration wants a single new agency to streamline the efforts – the Food Safety Administration, which would be housed within the Department of Health and Human Services— to provide a centralized voice and ensure that one person would be held accountable for food safety, research, prevention, inspections, investigations and labeling. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois also created a bill last month seeking to establish a single food agency but unlike the Obama proposal they wish to form a standalone agency that would not be housed at the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Opinions vary far and wide on the subject. Some cite the failure of the government to effectively establish big agencies, pointing out the inherent problems within the behemoth known as the Department of Homeland Security, which was simply too large to fit under one roof, and believe that a smaller system of checks and balances is more effective. Turf battles may be inevitable,

The Safety of Our Pet Food Supply

f f O e th e lsa h

By Shaun Coen

but overlapping jurisdictions may benefit the health of consumers in the long run. Despite these varying opinions, many believe that the system needs fixing, and the Centers for Disease Control backs those claims with some sobering statistics. An estimated 87 million Americans are sickened each year by contaminated food, 371,000 are hospitalized with food-related illnesses and 5,700 die from food-related disease. So, the system is clearly flawed and could use improvement through more effective use of resources, more consistent oversight, increased inspections and better sharing of information. While the Agricultural Department oversees meat, poultry and processed eggs, most of the responsibility comes down

to the FDA, which has oversight for about 80 percent of the food that Americans eat, including seafood, vegetables, fruit, dairy and shelled eggs. With such great responsibility and questions regarding the human food supply, one must wonder how closely the pet food supply is being monitored by the FDA in the U.S. as well.

There continue to be pet recalls ordered with seeming regularity. Since December 31, 2014, there have been seven different recalls of pet food and treats alone, all due to either the presence of Salmonella and/or listeria monocytogenes.

In addition to causing illness and possible death in pets, humans who handle foods tainted with the Salmonella and listeria organisms are also at risk.

Salmonella can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever to more serious ailments such as arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Listeria infection can cause high fever, headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women and can be fatal in young children, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems.

That the presence of these organisms is being detected, however, can be viewed as a positive. More effective measures have been put in place to help identify tainted sources of pet food and the supply can be pulled before it reaches shelves and ends up in pets’ bowls, which is good news. The manner is which these alerts are issued have also been greatly improved, thanks to the improvements in technology and Continued on page 62

42 Dog News

Dog News 43

Some shows have secrets, secrets they cannot explain themselves. One of these is without any doubt the show of Mouscron. Notwithstanding the fact that evStory & Photos By Karl Donvil

Unexpected Number of UKEntries

2015 Mouscron

erybody knows how crowded this show is, how difficult it is to find a parking place, how limited the available space is and how difficult it is to move around, this show keeps on breaking its own record. And this year was no different. From 1995 entries last year, 184 more dogs were entered, or no less than 2179 in total.

Continued on page 58

44 Dog News

Dog News 45

Irving’s Impressions Continued FROM page 15

Turning from the dogs and breeds to the more commercial side of the show it is interesting that though this year there will be around 500 trade stands or booths at the show, in 1915 there were only 35. The only organisation that was represented with a Trade Stand then, and will still be appearing with stands this year, is the UK weekly dog paper OUR DOGS. Interestingly, in those days the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) not only advertised in the show catalogue but also had a stand at the show.

Readers will recall that the RSPCA was, in 2008 and still is, the animal welfare charity in the UK that is the most critical of purebred dogs and the dog fancy. It pulled out of Crufts with a great fanfare of trumpets in 2009. Contrast that with a hundred years ago when the RSPCA advertised in the Crufts catalogue saying: “ALL DOG LOVERS should be Members of the R.S.P.C.A. – Do not fail to visit the Society’s Stand Number 10 at Crufts.”

They don’t come to Crufts nowadays – and very few of the dog fancy miss them!

ADVERTISEMENTS

In 1915 some of the adverts in the Crufts catalogue were really quite remarkable. One for Rackham & Company’s Distemper Balls claimed: “The only remedy for Distemper that has never failed to effect a perfect cure. No matter what the breed of dog, or what stage the distressing disease has reached, they are a certain cure.”

Oh yes!? Would advertisers be able to get away with such claims today?

Another said: “For prolific egg production Spratts Mebo Meat and Bone Meal makes hens lay more and more eggs.”

Another Spratts product ‘Weetmeat’ is advertised as follows: “Given either dry or soaked, ‘Weetmeet ‘ is relished by all breeds. It embodies the valuable constituents of brown bread and our patent ‘Heat Fibrine’, thus being a genuine builder of bone and muscle. Dog patients readily eat ‘WEETMEET’ WHEN OTHER FOODS ARE REFUSED. We shall be pleased to send Veterinary Surgeons large free samples and quote special terms.”

46 Dog News

Other adverts for services useful to the dog fancier such as rail travel also appear in the Crufts 1915 catalogue. One is for the West Coast Royal Mail Train Route described as “The Quickest and Best Between England & Scotland. Over the Border in under 6 hours from Euston Station. The only double track rail route throughout, between London and Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland.

London to: • Edinburgh in 8 hours 15 minutes.

• Glasgow in 8 hours 15 minutes • Aberdeen in 11 hours 28 minutes • Oban in 12 hours 40 minutes.”

DOGS THERE FOR THE DURATION

Another difference from this year’s show was that in 1915 the dogs were required to remain in the halls during all of the days of the show. The rules said: “Removing dogs at night. Exhibitors will be permitted to take home their dogs each evening after the Show is closed on leaving a deposit of 21 shillings for each dog of which 20 shillings will be refunded on return of each Dog next day at 10 a.m. This deposit will be forfeited if the Dog is not returned before 10 o’clock every mornContinued on page 50

Dog News 47

48 Dog News

Dog News 49

Irving’s Impressions Continued FROM page 46

ing the Show is open and, if the winner of a Prize is taken out and not punctually returned, the Prize or Prizes will also be forfeited. Puppies whose age is under 12 months may be finally removed at the end of the first day of the Show.”

Can you imagine how today’s exhibitors would react to such rules? And please bear in mind that 21 shillings (the amount that had to be deposited) would today equate to about £330 ($500).

HERO DOGS

For some years now at Crufts there has been a competition for ‘Hero Dogs’ in the main ring on the last night called ‘Friends For Life’. This year it is sponsored by Eukanuba. It is billed as a competition that: “Celebrates dogs that have truly earned the title of man’s best friend, through bravery, support or companionship. This might include assistance dogs, service dogs or everyday companions who have helped their owners in remarkable ways.”

There is truly nothing new in this life. In 1915 the Spratts company (the 1915 equivalent of Eukanuba as a strong supporter of the show), put on an event at Crufts for: “Canine Heroes to be exhibited at Crufts Dog Show, 1915. All must be members of Spratt’s Canine Heroes League.” There were, according to the Crufts catalogue, fifteen such dogs entered ranging from Sprite the Fox Terrier who: “Gave warning of a destructive fire which broke out on the premises of Mr. E. Pike in March,1913, whereby the house was practically gutted. It is claimed that owing to the timely warning given by the Fox Terrier to the inmates, they were able to escape to a place of safety.”

Then there was Lily the Airedale Terrier, which saved a child from drowning: “August 9th, 1913, a child named Henry Taylor, aged 2 years 8 months, was playing by the side of the River Trent (which was in flood at the time) when he fell into it and was in imminent danger of drowning, when “Lily,” who was practically 50 Dog News

only a puppy at the time, fortunately appeared upon the scene, entered the water and brought the child safely to the bank. She then set up a continuous barking which eventually attracted the attention of Mr. Ralph Potts, who went to the dog’s assistance, and succeeded in restoring the child safely to his parents.”

LASSIE THE COLLIE

Perhaps the most telling of all of the Crufts 1915 hero dogs was the story of Lassie the Collie as follows: “Lassie saved the life of a seaman of His Majesty’s Ship ‘Formidable’.

A boatload of the survivors of HMS. ‘Formidable’ which was sunk on January 1st, 1915, were landed at Lyme Regis. One of the crew, W. S. Cowan of the Royal Fleet Reserve, residing at 53a, Russell Street, Lochgelly, was placed on the floor of the hotel, believed to have died from exposure, all efforts to restore him to life after being lifted out of the boat having apparently failed. All he had on was a thin pair of pants and a vest, and he had passed through all his terrible experience in this meagre dress for about 22 hours. Many of Mr. Cowan’s comrades, much better clad had actually succumbed to exposure and exhaustion. As he lay there unconscious, attention of course being concentrated on those who showed any signs of life, the dog “ Lassie” came on the scene, and laid alongside Cowan’s body, displaying uneasiness and whining, and began licking the lad’s face. At the expiration of 30 minutes, a movement of the body and signs of joy on the part of the dog attracted the notice of one of the attendants. The warmth of the dog’s body against Cowan’s heart and the constant licking of his face had induced circulation. Willing assistance was immediately forthcoming and in a few minutes Cowan revived and sat up. There is little doubt that ‘Lassie’s’ action saved the seaman’s life.”

Would some of these contestants from the Crufts 1915 competition (sponsored by Spratts) have some chance of winning the ‘Friends for Life’ Competition at Crufts 2015 (sponsored by Eukanuba)?!

So some things do change about Crufts but others do not.

As the French say: “Plus ça change plus c’est la même chose.”

Or as Yogi Berra rather more elegantly put it: “It’s déjà vu all over again”!

Dog News 51

52 Dog News

Dog News 53

A Drug That Prevents Organ Transplant Rejection in Humans May Also Extend Canine Longevity Continued FROM page 41

want to keep their dogs on the drug for a longer period of time,” Kaeberlein says.

“Then, we would extend the trial from three to five years.”

Both the short- and longer-term studies are designed to investigate the drug’s effect on dogs that weigh at least 60 pounds and are at least six years old.

“Larger dogs tend to age faster than smaller ones, suffer from ageassociated diseases earlier and have shorter life spans. By focusing on them, we will be better able to see how well rapamycin works in a shorter period of time,” Kaeberlein says.

The fact that many larger dogs die from heart disease or cancer also was considered when the parameters for study participation were set. Previous research has not only shown the drug improves heart function but slows cancer’s progression as well.

Kaeberlein and Promislow will include both mixed breed and purebred dogs in the research project because rapamycin may have a greater effect on some breeds than others due to differences in their genetic makeup.

“Medications taken by people don't always work the same for everyone because of their individual genetic makeup,” he says. “The same is true of dogs. Given that we need to include mixed breeds in the population we investigate if we are to show rapamycin is beneficial to all dogs by promoting healthy aging.”

In both the short- and longer-term studies, the drug would be administered by tablet three times a week—on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“Rapamycin was added to mouse chow in some of the initial studies done on mice. So, we considered adding it to dog food or treats. We decided against doing that because some dogs may not eat all of their food or may be given too many treats and ingest too little or too much of the drug. As I already stated, rapamycin given in large doses has adverse side effects,” he said.

(The high cost of rapamycin, when formulated as a food additive, was another consideration.)

“By administering the drug by tablet instead, we will have a very controlled approach to dosing. The owners will be given the exact number of tablets 54 Dog News

needed and informed exactly how they should be given to their dogs,” he said.

The drug Rapamycin, which was discovered on Easter Island, was used as an antibiotic initially.

Eventually, researchers became interested in learning how it retards cell growth by slowing cell division. In the 1990s, they discovered the drug targets a particular protein, i.e., “target of rapamycin,” which is abbreviated as TOR. One of TOR’s main functions is to act as a sensor of nutritional status. In so doing, it helps the body’s cells decide whether to grow on the basis of food abundance. If there is not much available to ingest, TOR gets turned down and autophagy gets turned up.

Autophagy is a process where the cells break down the non-essential elements they contain and recycle them into essential building blocks. While fasting also ramps up autophagy, rapamycin has the same effect even when adequate food is ingested.

More research Other clinical studies completed during the 1990s showed rapamycin was effective against organ transplant rejection. Its slowing of cell division was a key factor because immune cells, the major players in organ transplant rejection, are among the most rapidly dividing cells in the body.

Early in the new millennium, the first research was published showing rapamycin’s effect on longevity. In invertebrate model organisms, these studies showed the drug slowed aging. In 2009, it also was shown that rapamycin could extend lifespan in mice, even when treatment was started as late as 20 months of age.

“Since the average mouse only lives a little over two years, this would be about the same as 60 years of age in a human or seven to nine years of age in a dog, depending on the breed,” Kaeberlein says. “In addition to increasing longevity, rapamycin also has been found to delay several age-related diseases, including cancer and heart disease as already stated. Research also has shown it improves cognitive function by slowing the development of dementia in old mice.”

Lasting benefits?

At this point, it’s not known if any benefits derived from taking rapamycin would remain after owners discontinue giving the drug to their dogs at the conclusion of the longer-term study.

“We don’t know for certain if the benefits gained will be permanent or if they will be lost

gradually. Although, we certainly expect diseases associated with aging to have been delayed at the very least. This is another issue we will investigate by following the dogs after administration of the drug ends,” Kaeberlein says.

It’s also not known when it's too late to begin administering the drug for improvement to occur, i.e., when it becomes too late to reverse damage caused by the aging process.

“In mice, research indicates that if you begin giving rapamycin at 20 months of age there is a benefit in the extension of their lifespan,” Kaeberlein says. “We don't know what would happen if you started giving it to mice at 28 months of age or to dogs at 11 or 12 years of age. Our preliminary data, which is not published as yet, suggest benefits still are derived even when administration of the drug begins at more advanced age. It may turn out that it’s never too late to begin giving it, as long as the dog is still in good health when you start.”

(Note: Participating owners have the option to stop giving rapamycin at any point during the two studies. In that event, Kaeberlein still would follow their dogs by asking their veterinarians to provide information about them.)

Extrapolate the results to humans Eventually, Kaeberlein hopes the drug will be used on a larger scale that would include not just dogs but cats and other species. Ultimately, he hopes it can be given to humans as an ageing preventive as well.

Although these studies will help develop rapamycin for the benefit of humans in the future, Kaeberlein views that as a parallel goal. As a lifetime dog lover and current owner of a German Shepherd Dog and a Keeshond, he believes there is intrinsic value in improving the quality of canine senior health and extending canine lifespan.

“The research would be warranted on that basis alone,” he says.

To make a donation in support of Kaeberlein’s studies on the effect of rapamycin on the canine ageing process or to enroll a dog for consideration in the above research, please visit http://www. dogagingproject.com.

Dog News 55

MO R And

“WEBINARS,�

AN AGGRESSIVE STAND...

56 Dog News

e

By Matthew H. Stander

Photos of the Take The Lead Westminster Cocktail Party by Gareen Bass

W

ell the Board Minutes for the February Meeting held on the 12th and 13th were posted late Monday February 23rd. There were a number of noteworthy actions taken by the Board about which to comment, as well as a number of curiously ignored Board and Staff reactions to various programs instituted by them. The most curious is the total failure to even mention the fact that the newly designed web site was introduced two days earlier. Perhaps the initial negative reaction to parts of it were beginning to hit home and they did not want to face the facts of the situation despite the glowing letter sent by the Board Chairman to Staff congratulating them on the major success of the project--this despite the fact that the project was both behind schedule and over budget as well. As the reactions to the

web site began to gather steam AKC was forced to establish “webinars,” another newly coined word (for me, anyways) to explain to the Delegates how to use the new web site and get this - for Parent Club Delegates an entirely different “webinar” on its navigation. This I presume is to appease the Parent Club Committee Chairperson who had been one of the major spin doctors hailing the alleged success of the site. Guess it was not acceptable to those Delegates and the Parent Clubs however and so a special webinar for those people was created. What about the rest of we peasants--are we chopped liver to be pawned off on people who when we call have not the slightest idea of what we are talking about! I noticed in the letter announcing these webinars AKC assured everyone that its major goal was to improve and make the use and navigation its major priority. Hadn’t that always been the case I thought. Obviously someone missed the boat somewhere with the released package and so not quite back to the drawing board but somewhere in between, which means one thing only -- more monies to be poured into an already overly priced and way beyond budget for the web site.

But I have digressed for a change-back to the Board Minutes.

Pat Cruz - and good for her - made another try at changing the attitude of the Board towards the new Judging Approval process once again to get no second but the Board is going to probably after the March election refine even further what it has but before approving it send out to selective Fanciers a request for their input--at this rate it will be 2020 before anything gets done. Oh yes, there is to be a discussion about a new title for Clubs called the Companion Club whatever that maybe.

But in that Obedience/Companion area there was a lengthy report

from Doug Lundgren about various changes but not once did I see Bob Amen’s name mentioned. Strange as his campaign to be reelected to the Board even though the Nominating Committee did not renominate him stresses very hard the fact that he is the only person with that sort of background on the Board. This certainly did not stop Doug from making his report nor the Board from approving it or at least discussing it. Maybe Mr. Amen’s need in that area is a bit over-emphasized for elections purposes. People can be kennel blind at times--we all know that--especially about themselves.

A

s to the election, in an attempt to appease the bad taste left in so many Delegates’ mouths by the shifting majority of the Board’s vote on forcing clubs to instate the OHS everyone voted to make OHS OPT-IN starting in January of 2016! I thought I would fall down laughing and not only that they are to discuss in March the addition of a Reserve Best in Show for the OHS. What they should be doing is considering doing away with Reserve Best in Show in the altogether. Believe me nobody knows better than me what an unnecessary award that is!!! But to emphasize this stubbornness they now have added that mentality to Juniors as well. As though a Reserve Best in Juniors will increase the value of that project. Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring new employees or spending millions of dollars on projects better off being licensed than developed internally some monies thrown in the direction of the Juniors would be a better idea. And I don’t mean in the competitive area of showing dogs but in developing a genuine interest in the owning and breeding of dogs as done by The Kennel Club in the UK for sure. Continued on page 80

Dog News 57

Unexpected 2015 Number of Mouscron UKEntries Continued FROM page 45

Sunday was reasonable with 923 dogs to judge and even that was pretty crowded, but on Sunday 333 more were expected and everybody wondered where they would find a place. But in the end there were no incidents at all. It was and is a mystery how such a hall can provide enough space for 1256 dogs. The show is very popular for the French people as the border is literally in the backyard of the inhabitants of the Westside of the town. There were 815 dogs entered from France, which is a lot compared to the 983 dogs from Belgium. The Netherlands entered 181 dogs and Germany 92. But, as Mouscron is within easy reach for British exhibitors, the show attracted no less than 71 entries.

Indeed, coming from Britain is no more difficult than coming from Germany or even the Netherlands and it's possible to be back home in the UK the very same evening of the show, doing everything on one single day. Parking space proved a big issue again this year. On Saturday about 50 cars were pulled away by the police. On Sunday the nearby parking of the supermarket was available. That helped of course but still more cars were pulled away on Sunday.

Inside the halls it is very difficult to move around in the morning till noon.

This has to do with the fact that everyone wants to sit nearby their ring.

Visitors are not able to sit around the ring to watch and the entrance of the ring is often blocked when dogs leave the ring while others try to be ready to enter for the next group. It should not be allowed to put cages around the rings but in marked areas only, leaving way to visitors and people who need to go to the rings. And this is so important for the safety in case of panic. There are enough doors that 58 Dog News

can be opened for escape but it is of no help if they are blocked by cages, dogs and stuff. Certain trade stand holders were not very happy either as exhibitors were literally sitting on their merchandise. In fact, and certainly for this show, the fixed good old iron cages are a good alternative as exhibitors are not able to place them wherever they want.

Of course in that case it should not be allowed to use one's own cases, one rule for all. And if those cases are strategically placed, I think it might be a solution for this popular show that we all like so much.

Indeed, since it became general use that all exhibitors bring their own cases, they tend to bring much more than they need, whole sets of garden furniture while the dogs are no longer in their cages. And when there are cages a lot of dogs just sit outside of them instead of in. Instead of saving space I think that more space is used than before, and this counts for a lot of shows, not only for Mouscron. For Mouscron I really think it is time that the committee should consider how to solve this problem and handle their success before its weight is crushing them.

Judges were officiating during this show and only three of them were Belgians. Mr. Spruyt and Mrs. Vermeire were filling the gaps in the judges’ list.

They both judge a lot of breeds and it is always good if you can count on them instead of inviting special judges for only a few breeds. Mr. Fortemps judged only on Sunday. He took Cockers & Spaniel breeds for his account and 104 of them made it pretty busy Sunday. As told all the others came from abroad. Six of them came from France, if you can call that "abroad" as France is around the corner. Mr. Dupas had 190 dogs for his account, 136 of them on Sunday when he had 61 Chihuahuas. Mrs. Roser was also busier on Sunday when she had shepherd dogs. She had 33 entries on Saturday

and 94 on Sunday. Mrs. Banbury was the only UK judge but she was quite busy on Saturday with 127 entries. 52 Bulldogs were ready for her. On Saturday she had only 25 dogs to judge. Mrs. Adriana Griffa from Italy has been on the list in Belgium several times lately. Here she judged Pinsher and Schnauzers and Dobermanns on Saturday, 80 all together. On Sunday she had Shepherd breeds and especially the popular 36 Swiss White Shepherds helped her reach an impressive total of 128 entries. Mrs. Senashenko from Russia had 91 Terriers in her ring on Saturday and 84 waterdogs on Sunday, including 54 Golden Retrievers. Most successful judges were Mr. and Mrs. Opara from Poland. Mrs. Opara had 104 entries on Saturday, 40 American Staffies and all the Dachshunds.

On Sunday she judged the Bostons, Pugs and French Bulldogs and that was good for another 98 entries.

Her husband Mr. Opara had time to prepare on Saturday for a busy Sunday with only 36 entries. On Sunday he accepted all 179 dogs that were entered for him. He finished in time, which was amazing.

He judged Spitzes and Primitiv breeds including no less than 47 Akitas and another 22 American Akitas.

Mr. J. J. Dupas from France was the Best In Show judge. He only needed to chose one group winner as Best In Show and that was the blond American Cocker Spaniel "Very Vegie I Don't Know," bred

by Mr. Laurent Pichard and owned

by Mathilde Leonard-Nolle from France. In his color class he had nine competitors to beat. He was entered in Open class at the age of just over two years. Judge was Mr. Fortemps, group judge was Mrs. Senashenko.

Next year the show will happen on 30 and 31 of January and that will be the 43th anniversary.

Mr Deconinck will welcome you again for sure. He is the protagonist of this club and one of the main reasons why everybody, exhibitors, judges and visitors like to come to this show. Let us hope that this show has a long future ahead.

Dog News 59

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Dog News will now publish the upcoming All Breed and Specialty Breed Show schedules, including judging panels, show superintendents and closing dates exclusively online.

Kennel Clubs that advertise their shows in Dog News can add social media packages to their ads that will include online advertising until their show’s closing date for an additional $150.

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Continued FROM page 42

social media i.e., the Internet, Facebook, email alerts, etc., so consumers are better connected and informed.

However, the tainted pet jerky treats that resulted in over 1,000 pet deaths and more than 5,000 complaints of illness in recent years dating back to 2007 remain a mystery. Most of these chicken, duck and sweet potato jerky treats involved products imported from China, yet the source and the culprit have never been definitively determined nor confirmed. Yet, as the number of sick pets being reported to the FDA has declined, the agency announced last week that it would reduce its biannual reporting cycle to issuing annual reports instead, and this, combined with the announcement of the efforts and intentions of the Obama administration and other Congress members to streamline food inspection programs remain a cause of concern for pet owners, who fear that monitoring of the pet food supply may take a back seat or get lost in the shuffle should a colossal agency be formed.

The FDA maintains that its investigation into pet illnesses from the jerky treats remains ongoing despite the number of reports of illnesses trending downward.

As of Sept. 2014, it had received over 5,000 complaints of 5,800 dogs, 25 cats and three people becoming ill from the treats, with over 1,000 canine deaths. From its last up62 Dog News

The Safety of Our Pet Food Supply

f f O e th e lsa h date in May 2014, it has received 270 complaints, down from the previous period from October 2013 to May 2014, when it received 1,800 complaints. The FDA has implemented an “import alert” after testing jerky treats for antibiotics and antivirals that directs its field investigators to detain shipments of products from companies with positive tests so that these products cannot enter the U.S. unless the manufacturer or shipper can provide third-party documentation that the products don’t contain illegal antibiotic or antiviral residues. In addition to testing the composition of jerky treats to verify that they contain the ingredients listed on the label and only those listed on the label, the FDA has also tested for Salmonella, metals

(arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc.), irradiation level, pesticides, mold and mycotoxins, nephrotoxins (i.e. aristolochic acid, maleic acid, paraquat, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, toxic hydrocarbons, melamine, etc.) and other chemicals and compounds such as endotoxins. It has also completed 72 necropsies, or post-mortem exams, on dogs suspected of having pet treat associated illness. Thirty-nine dogs died from identifiable causes while the remaining specific causes of death couldn’t be found in the remaining 33 dogs and tainted jerky treats couldn’t be ruled out as contributing factors in those deaths.

It cannot be stressed enough that pet treats are not a necessary part of a dog’s diet. Before administering or adding treats of any kind to a dog’s diet, owners should consult with their veterinarians or to be on the safe side just abstain from the practice altogether. Proper and frequent hand washing is essential, as is the regular cleaning of bowls, utensils, feeding areas, etc. to protect both pet and human. It may seem like common sense but it’s seemingly becoming less common in society and despite the great modern technological advances our practices remain dangerous to our pets and ourselves. The actions of the FDA and the possible creation of a Food Safety Administration bares watching by all and it’s incumbent upon all pet owners to see to it that the pet food supply maintains close monitoring by whatever agencies are ultimately charged with its oversight.

*

*The Dog News Top Ten List - All Breed

Dog News 63

e d i u G l a viv r u S s ’ n a c i r e m y… x A a l a An G e h , or T s t to Cruf Continued FROM page 33

The idea of going to Crufts was awakened by “our” dog getting a slip of paper in Orlando at the AKC/Eukanuba festivities in December 2013 stating, “Your exhibit is qualified to compete at Crufts in Birmingham in March of 2014!” Fantastic!

We thought and then reality sank in… Remembering statements like “Travel to England with a dog is virtually impossible” and “If it is not impossible, it will ruin your bank account!” was another phrase I received when making inquiries. Well if that did not trigger the curiosity further I am not sure what would.

64 Dog News

We somewhat feel like experts on mastering travel to and from high profile dog shows after loving our visits to Westminster Kennel Club’s New York City locations and the slightly less complicated parking arrangements in Orlando for the AKC event, and could not imagine what the fuzz was about the dreaded parking at the NEC, the enormous convention center in Birmingham. My travel companion Christine Pinkston is a master of organizing and took to the first task of registering the said dog with The Kennel Club (everyone should know that THE Kennel Club is the UK registering body and also the host of Crufts) to get her “Allowed to Compete” number or the “ATC” for short. After a few phone calls where I am sure she got on a first name basis with the entire office staff we had our number and the entry followed, done online and no problemo there!

Now here comes my first advice to the diligent Crufts novice: get a “drop off pass,” a “parking pass” and if you truly are handicapped with a legit permit - get a “handicap parking slip.” It will save you a few miles of walking and keep your hairy dog dry because the chance of sun vs. rain for this time of year I am told is about 1/20. We did not experience any rain and said odds to us were 1/1. I am told that “I should not expect those odds again” and therefore recommend obtaining said permits.

It was Christmas time in America when all of this was going on and it felt very exciting to have yet another exquisite show to look forward to in company of the always welcome February pasttime -Westminster. Wrapping presents and looking for a suitable suit for another green carpet was filling us with cheer and until the moment Delta told us that “all was a go, but no, not really.” Cursing ourselves for even daring to think that up until now everything had been very easy.

Let’s back up a bit and tell you what you should consider when traveling with Rover to England. You have options naturally and after looking at

said options considering the cost and time allowed for direct flights to either London or Manchester with Rover in cargo, we decided that our Rover would get to experience Belgium and France before stepping onto British soil. The reason for this was the cost of flying a big dog in cargo to UK and the fact that you have to rely on “pet experts” removing Rover from the crate, checking the microchip and paperwork before you get to collect said Rover at cargo, it just felt better to do it ourselves for a less expensive penny and arrive in Brussels, Belgium a day or so ahead of schedule.

C

hristine, acting like a bloodhound on a trail, took to the search of the perfect flights for the three of us (we brought my husband Ben as muscle and well trained driver on European roads) and Rover. She called me and happily said: “Delta is perfect for this!” and it sure looked like that until we were ready to purchase and the agent asked: “You have a dog underneath?” Yes, we explained that said dog always travels underneath since fitting an Afghan hound in a carry-on requires more than a miracle. “Well we have an embargo on crates in excess luggage on the 767 on Delta and on the Airbus….

Bla bla…” I had stopped listening.

Cargo? Yes, we could do cargo for cargo rates, and we were right back to square one. Off to the European airlines websites we went and found that both Lufthansa and Brussels airlines flew direct to Brussels and since we had received stress induced rashes from flying without a dog to Charles De Gaulle on a previous visit to Europe and felt it would be better for our own health to avoid that airport with a dog (or without - cough).

The nice lady at Lufthansa booked us and the dog and had us confirm with Brussels Airlines in regards to Rover.

We happily relaxed and started to stress about the snow for Westminster. You have to keep on your toes and stress to a healthy level about something.

ide u G l a v i rv u S s ’ n a ic r e … m y x A a l n a A G he , or T s t to Cruf Suits and shoes, raincoats and umbrellas were ready!

The dog decided to come in season for Westminster and we were glad to have that over with. Not sure if it was allowed to be in season for Crufts. (Rover may be in season and still compete I have now learned.)

The rental car was booked and Ben was in charge of that. Note to self! Book a bigger car next time!

Looking at pictures will not always make sense and we thought it looked like the mini-van here at home but when we finally went to put the luggage in it, it was like playing “how many elephants can you fit in a VW Beetle,” no joke.

Pre-booking does give you better rates and we used “Sixth,” which was easily accessible in Brussels Airport terminal alongside every other internationally known rental car company.

During this time I also booked the reservations for the “Chunnel” - the train-tunnel carrying the cars under the English Channel to and from Britain. Of course I had heard about the Chunnel and all our well-traveled European friends raved about its simplicity, speed and moment of 35 minutes rest during your drive. I hopped online and booked for our, what I thought minivan, and the four of us including Rover. You have

to specify how many of you and what species you are. The rules at booking were strict and do not arrive early and God forbid - not late! The Chunnel in its mystery, gave us a bit of added anxiety.

Westminster with all the glory came and went and being an “adopted” American I love this show from start to finish. Our Rover did well and we were starting to get slightly jittery over the impending task we had in front of us! Weather in New York, our base of operations, was less than cooperating and several storms came and caused flight delays, mayhem and travel impacted roads. Needless to say the Tuesday of our departure had predicted possibilities for a storm but it evaded the metro area and went south. Selfishly we thanked Mother Nature for sparing us and dumping it on Virginia. Someone had to take the blow.

The night before we feverishly ate too spicy red sauce and sorted through the piles of papers needed. Checked on the Chunnel reservation, the car, the flights, the pet passport! The blessed pet passport!! Per recommendations for an easy experience in the “pet passport control” before entering the Chunnel check point in Calais we had all vaccinations, necessary worming and de-ticking (not needed we found out, but we had it). transferred to a European EU passport as well as carrying the USDA stamped international health certificate from Rover’s veterinarian here. Rabies certificates and everything USDA had to have her microchip clearly stated on each page. All was in order! The only thing we slipped on was the downloading of maps to the TomTom. We slept until 30 minutes before the actual departure from the house…. TomTomless we would have been more than lost, we would have been finished!

So back to my life altering moment in Terminal One at Kennedy. I have never run for a flight in my life; this was a first. I will never complain about airport security but I can complain about TSA’s lack of compassion, willingness to do their job and downright childish behavior. You can figure out the rest. All onboard we got the thumbs up from the purser and the captain that the dog was tucked away down below and in a last minute weak moment we had switched Rover from her nice and super safe metal crate that cannot be disassembled to a good old Vari Kennel model sturdy in fear of the rental car again. We could not figure out the height of the car to my satisfaction to fully know the metal crate would fit, this also turned out to not be a smart move! I also used too many pull ties on the crate door but you cannot be careful enough.

Scissors in my suitcase would take care of that in Europe.

The flight was a breeze and I must recommend Brussels Airlines to anyone. Excellent service, excellent legroom in coach, food and drinks galore and even free wine! It was greatly appreciated after the departure hall security line drama. Arriving in Brussels at zero dark thirty felt like torture but the airport was nice and quiet. I breezed through the passport control on my Swedish papers leaving my American travel companions behind in a sea of non EU travelers only to find bags and dogs popping up in minutes. They even had managed to get the wheels on the plane. I learned after losing quite a few wheels in transit to always tag them separate and so far have managed to never pay extra for them claiming it’s a part of the crate. It had worked again! My travel partners emerged and we went through customs or lack thereof. There was no one there to look at our carefully prepared papers for the dog! Almost and I mean it - disappointed Continued on page 66

Dog News 65

ide u G l a v i rv u S s ’ n a ic r e … m y x A a l n a A G he , or T s t to Cruf Continued FROM page 65

we walked another 75 feet to rental cars.

By the time we were done with paperwork we had the clerk’s life story and a set of keys. Thank God for years of cheap driving habits and packing clown cars in our youth because the supposed “minivan” would not have fit another sweater after we were done stuffing crate, luggage and people in it. Off we went in search of grass to pee on… for Rover. The only downside if you have a grass needing dog is the lack of it inside the airport but we found a red lined bicycle trail that took us to grass within six minutes. TomTom woke up and we drove in sparkling sunlight and blue skies in search of France.

The trick to an excellent road experience in Belgium and France on that two-hour journey is lots of small coins for the restrooms and appropriate knowledge on how to use your credit cards! Chipped cards go below the machine with a pin code and nonchipped slides on the right with a required signature and sometimes identification!

We learned fast and jittery from too much French coffee we emerged per instructions from our good friends the Latimer’s onto the correct exit towards the Chunnel (well signed in both English and French) and took the 90-degree turn onto the pet passport checkpoint (also easily found) to an abrupt STOP and a line of people and dogs snaking the parking lot, the entire parking lot!

Still in sunlight we got chatting to people from all over the continent and stood in line behind an American bullmastiff living in Holland. We left our dog in the car and brought her into the miniscule building full of people and dogs at the very last minute. Microchip scanned, compliments on excellent English exchanged and their excitement over seeing Americans we emerged with another piece of paper to keep track of, heading off in search of our train. In summary: the whole queuing experience went on for about an hour, and well inside the “hut” some people had problems with lack of microchip on the correct paperwork or lack of pet passports period. Some were sent to a nearby vet to have their dog’s information transferred and confirmed by a veterinarian onto pet passports so our move to have done this at home was nothing short of brilliant! Thank you Owen for the suggestion.

66 Dog News

By now we were exhausted even though going on 24 hours without sleep might not seem like much but with the novelty of all the steps in our journey it was very exhausting. So far so good though and we continued around the corner to check in for the Chunnel. Passport control for UK and then we were told we were really early for our 4pm train that I had booked because not knowing how much time was needed for the Brussels - Calais leg of our journey I had gone for an afternoon train. The French wanted 60 Euros to go on the next train available but allowed us to wait a mere 45 minutes for a no-charge moveup. And we did just that. More coffee.

More grass for Rover and interesting shopping in a HUGE outlet before the train was to swallow us up so - hey you never know, and I bought yet another bottle of Amarula.

Back in the car we were waved down a long ramp and we steered the swollen clown car onto the train cart and it truly felt like we were taking the subway in New York but with a car. I thanked my lucky star that we traveled without my dear friend Teri who has a tendency to freak out in cramped quarters and needs psychological counseling after long tunnel rides. I sent her a message and accompanied it with a picture from the cart and promised her we will take the boat if she is ever doing this trip with me. The reply came quickly “I CANT EVEN LOOK AT THE PICTURE.” I did feel a tad bad after that. The train carts were shut, instructions in French and English to move to the next cart in case of an emergency, felt a bit like “please jump out the side of the airplane in case of an emergency” but we promised to oblige. I woke up 35 minutes later but we had gained an hour of time, and we debarked in Folkstone and were reminded to please drive on the correct side of the road, the left, that is. Ben obliged and we got TomTom to direct us to Birmingham and our hotel in Sutton-Coldfield.

The weather continued to be spectacular and we started to doubt the tales of dreaded English spring weather. Christine squealed of joy over all the cute sheep and the car ride got more delirious by the hour! After a 12-dollar cup of Starbucks with no half and half just “semi skimmed” and my God it is not enough to tame the oily mess, we embarked on the last leg. It felt Continued on page 84

Dog News 67

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Dog News 69

I

n spite of the bitter cold, the NBA playoffs, the KANYE WEST concert in front of the DOG NEWS offices, and PRESIDENT OBAMA visiting NYC, the WESTMINSTER weekend went off without a hitch. This was the second year that the WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB hosted the very popular Agility competition, which was held on Saturday. This year WESTMINSTER added the AKC’S MEET THE BREEDS. The combination of the two events brought record crowds to the Pier, so much so that they closed the box office. The addition of these events plus the dog show makes for the most public and national exposure for pure bred dogs. Once again, FLORENCE, the lady behind the men of Westminster, keeps the whole show up and running and yet still has time to attend social functions.

The men in orange, HARRY MILLER and his crew, kept the loading and unloading running smoothly. Exhibitors are getting accustomed to the dual venues of the Piers and the Garden. What surprises me is that there aren’t as many class dogs entered as I thought there would be given the move to the Piers. The group judging at the Garden has a special mystique that adds to the night’s excitement. This year there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. DAVID MERRIAM, the consummate gentleman, made a little speech about Westminster and its place in history before he made his selections for reserve best in show and best in show. The final line-up was star studded and the ribbon could have gone to any of the seven dogs. Congratulations to all the finalists and special congratulations to 15-inch Beagle MISS P, as she is known to her family and friends, formally known as CH. TASHTINS LOOKIN FOR TROUBLE and her owner EDDIE DZIUK, breeders and co-owners LORI CRANDLEMIRE and KAITLYN CRANDLEMIRE and her handler WILL ALEXANDER. TAKE THE LEAD’S cocktail party following the group judging on Monday evening was its usual sell out. The guests included PATRICIA HEARST-SHAW, JODY LONGMIRE, DIANE & LUKE EHRICHT, DEBBIE & RON SCOTT, DOTTIE COLLIER, TOM BRADLEY, FLORENCE FOTI, PAUL CAMPANELLA, PAM BEALE, MATT STANDER, JEFF PEPPER, MARI-BETH O’NEILL, MARY MILLER, PETE PHOTOS, POLLY & BOB SMITH, JUDY & DOUG LUNDGREN, CHRIS & ALAN KALTER, LUC BOILEAU, CHUCK WINSLOW,

70 Dog News

MOE MIYAGAWA, BONNIE BIRD, EDDIE DZIUK, JASON HOKE, JOAN KEFELI, JOHNNY SHOEMAKER, ERNESTO LARA, DOUG JOHNSON, JAMIE HUBBARD, RITA & DOUG HOLLOWAY, CONNIE MILLER and CURTIS SMITH. Getting home from the Garden, PAT & CHUCK TROTTER repacked and flew off to judge in Australia. BOBBY PAUST and CHUCK NELSON are judging in Madrid. Every year during the Westminster weekend the DOG WRITERS OF AMERICA ASSOCIATION holds its awards dinner. Two of DOG NEWS’ regular columnists were recognized for their works. Congratulations to Irish Setter fancier and DOG NEWS writer CONNIE VANACORE on being elected into the DOG WRITERS OF AMERICA ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME. For the second year in a row, DOG NEWS columnist SHARON PFLAUMER has won the AKC Reunite Microchipping Awareness Special Award writing competition, including a $1,500 prize for her article about microchipping dogs and pet recovery. Plus SHARON also won the Designated Dog Special Award for the best story about service dogs that go far and beyond for their disabled handlers. Sad news to report, SANDI GORDON-LENTSCH, of Dimond Rhodesian Ridgeback fame and past show chair of the GREATER PHILADELPHIA DOG FANCIERS for many years, passed away last Friday. Our sincere condolences to her husband JEFF LENTSCH, who is battling illness at this time and would love to hear from his many friends at 530 Kettle Run Road, Martlon, NH 08053.

the Gossip column

By Eugene Z. Zaphiris

Dog News 71

Continued FROM page 30

documented. Frau Merker is present at every game – when her busy life permits – animating the German players.

Munster has always played an important role in the country’s history. It is located at North Rhine-Westphalia, and recognized as the cultural centre of the region. It is also the local government place and where the Treaty of Westphalia* was signed. This is a cosmopolitan city, and its history goes back more than 1,200 years. Many Germans call Munster the most beautiful place in the whole country.

The Munsteners venerate their history. They are proud of their castles, churches and of the many antique buildings as for instance the town hall, the municipal wine house, the Salzstrasse, (the city’s old mercantile street), the Munster’s Munster’s Picasso Museum, the St. Paul Cathedral with its magnificent treasury among many others.

Munster (as most of the German

72 Dog News

S M A L L M UNSTER L AN D ER G ER M AN Y

rare BREEDS OF THE WORLD

cities) is also known for its favorite transportation vehicle: the bicycle.

There are over 100,000 bicycles crossing the city and every household owns at least two. The city is also famous for its high quality educational system having tents of schools including important Universities.

If anyone intends to go to Germany with a dog, it is good to know that the law is super rigorous concerning any kind of accident related to the animal. The complete responsibility of the owner and any damage caused by your animal is your legal responsibility. So, it might be a good idea to get a personal liability policy for your dog. This insurance costs around 70 Euros per year. On the other hand, if your dog weighs 2 ounces, it might not be so necessary.

German bred or Germany resident pets must now have their own “passport” issued by a vet to travel between countries inside the European Union (From Pets in Germany) I hope that this “short” presentation makes our readers a bit more familiar concerning the homeland of the Small Munsterlander, but before talking about our star let’s point out that Germany is heaven for dogs.

Germans love animals, especially dogs, and one can see dogs everywhere. They are welcome in public vehicles, many restaurants and stores. The thing these dogs have in common –no matter the breed, size, or coat - is the behavior in urban places. The dogs are well educated and obedient.

The Small Munsterlander was known by the name Kleiner Musterlanderin Vorstehhund and is now registered under the name Kleiner

Munsterlander, and in the United States the dog became known as the Small Munsterlander name.

This is a multitasking hunting dog, and commenced to gain the limelight recently and vigorously not only in the FCI countries but everywhere else.

This breed of dog has been working with the German hunters since before the 12th century. Their function was to discover and retrieve birds both from the water and from the land as well. They went as far as hunting boar and deer, beside other games, and sometimes even hunting with falconers.

The history says that this breed first showed up precisely in Munster, selected from crossing the German Longhaired Pointers with Wachtelhunds (Longhaired Spaniels). The goal was to breed an outstanding multipurpose dog that could not only point but also track wounded or dead game.

The exact forefathers of the breed were never known. Even in the beginning some noblemen making a rudimental registry the little hunter became better known and somewhat taken notice only from the 18th century on. The changes in German laws (as well as in most of

S M A L L M UNSTER L AN D ER G ER M AN Y

European countries) regarding dogs had been altered, and ownership of hunting dogs once forbidden to servants became permitted to own for everybody. The poor peasants of that time needed a dog, not for the “hunting sport” but to help them to feed their family. This was the Golden Era for the hunting dogs badly needed for their abilities not only in the water or the field, as they are easily trained and efficient hunters, but also for protecting and guarding their master’s belongings. The Small Munsterlander do not mind if the hunt takes him from the land into the water and has no problem working tirelessly for hours.

This is not a fast moving, but a very resistant breed.

This is a capable and agile pointing dog, self-confident and easily adaptable. Although a natural hunter that loves the outside life, they are mild-mannered and good-natured dogs that are very affectionate, making a great family companion. As with every other breed, early training is recommended, and if living in the house - being reckless and full of stamina - the dog needs to be regularly exercised.

The smaller stature of the Small Munsterlander Pointer is distinctive among longhaired hunting dogs. A medium sized pointing dog of Spaniel type, this breed is elegant and balanced, and has a distinguished air and clean, flowing lines. In proportion it is just slightly longer than tall, and it has a flat glossy coat of good density and medium length. Males should stand between 20.5–22 in (52–56 cm), and females should stand between 19.75–21.25 in (50.2–54.0 cm) at the withers.

The Small Munsterlander has a smooth, flat coat of brown and white or roan, with fringe hair on the tail, front legs, and the thighs of the rear legs.

This is an elegant, confident and strong dog. The Small Munsterlanders are intelligent and require adequate exercise and mental stimulation. Small Munsterlanders, like many other German breeds, are

rare BREEDS OF THE WORLD

Continued on page 76

Dog News 73

CLiCK The Take The Lead Westminster Cocktail Party PHOTOS BY GAREEN BASS

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Dog News 75

Continued FROM page 73

somewhat slow to mature and often start to show their full potential at about 2.5 years of age.

Equally adaptable as a hunting dog or family companion, the Small Munsterlander is bright, willing to learn and quick to obey. (From the Standard) The very first registries that approved the Small Munsterlanders allowed every coat colour variation (except black).

Due the crossings made with some German shorthaired breeds the first roan coat colour variety showed up between 1920/30.

Nowadays the predominant and most seen colour is liver and white.

Founded in 1899 the Versatile Hunting Dog Club (Jagdgebrauchhund Verein, or JGHV) officially recognized the Small Munsterlander Pointer. This entity tests before approving every German hunting breed. It took years for the breed standard to be accepted; finally in 1921 Dr. Friedrich Jungklaus published a serious and scientific book standardizing the Small Munsterlander. The book is so accurate, and the description is so precise concerning the physical and mental characteristics of the breed that Dr. Jungklaus’ book was helpful as a model for the present standard, and basically preserves its valour and usefulness for the fanciers, and of course for every other serious dog breeder.

Our dear readers may find the complete standard at the FCI, and in the UKC breeds section.

The Small Munsterlander was recog-

76 Dog News

rare BREEDS OF THE WORLD

nized by the United Kennel Club in 2006. The Small Munsterlander Pointer is being recorded in the AKC Foundation Stock Service - The AKC provides this service to allow purebred breeds to continue to develop while providing them with the security of a reliable and reputable avenue to maintain their records.

Note: The Large Munsterander differs from its smaller cousin the Small Munsterlander not only by its size of 23 to 26.5 (58 to 65 cms) inches but by its black and white coloring as well. Each breed has its own standard. *The Treaty of Westphalia is a very important mark in the history of Europe - in 24 October 1648, the day when Peace of Westphalia officially ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) with the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic.

Dog News 77

CLiCK

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The Rockwall Cluster PHOTOS BY KARIN JUSTIN

Dog News 79

MR

And

“WEBINARS,” AN AGGRESSIVE STAND...

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Continued FROM page 57

nd as for the AKC’s stand on the FCI I could not agree more. It should have been done years ago when FCI threatened the late and great Michele Billings over a Brazilian assignment for a new club forming there without FCI approval. As many of you know FCI’s South Asian section blackballed or put into effect a ban on a number of American Judges who may have accepted assignments for non-FCI clubs in an FCI county. An uproar in America arose as well it should have and the Board took a stand as outlined in Jim Crowley’s letter, which is shown on the right. No doubt this will force FCI to either compromise out in this matter or alternatively go to war with AKC and possibly the other non-FCI countries such as Canada, the U.K., and Australia. The biggest effect should this go to the extremes will be upon a small number of American judges who seem to be everywhere all of the time on FCI panels and of course the Mexican FCI judges who appear in the States with such regularity. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, won’t it! More to come on the Board Minutes--literally too much to digest in one lump sum however I will take a personal stand on the upcoming elections--I would vote for Tom Davies for sure and never vote for Bob Amen no matter the ballot-after that I honestly would not know how to vote nor how to instruct my Delegate to vote.

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e d i u G l a v vi r u S s ’ n ica r e m y… x A a l n a A G e h , or T s t f to Cru Continued FROM page 66

like forever but we managed to find the hotel and checked in. The dialect of the staff is adorable but quite frankly we had a hard time understanding the slightly north midland twang and Rover got to chase some real English ducks floating in a picturesque stream behind our country style manor hotel, a Ramada with more stairs and elevators going one floor in all different directions up or down that I have ever encountered.

We found guests in all parts of the hotel searching for a room or an exit. We loved it!!

F

orty hours of no sleep is no easy feat to beat but we all felt refreshed on Thursday morning. Our friend and local speed demon Joseph Lee Brown came and delivered a fourth travel companion, Mr. Canalizo, on that bright morning. Mr. Canalizo was also found half hour later lost in a corridor looking for his room. The joys of the Ramada’s moving corridors continued Hogwarts style. After bacon, eggs, blood pudding and God’s delicious creations and more rocket fuel coffee we were ready to tackle day one of Crufts. The speed demon kept us on alert and took back roads to the monstrosity of the convention center hosting the dog show. And yes, we parked ¾ of a mile away and hiked over to the building. After checking in we were faced with a choice of five halls filled with rings, vendors, activities and anything else you can think of. I just stood there for a bit taking it all in. We synchronized our phones after we located wi-fi and decided to meet up again three hours later. This might have proved 84 Dog News

to be a lifesaving procedure since we all found ourselves lost within the first hour of exploring.

Here comes my next suggestion for all Crufts virgins planning on attending: one day to shop, one day to show and one or two days to watch judging. Either can naturally be swapped for another but do not think you can do all three in one day. I was told this and quite naturally did not believe it. How hard can it be? We can handle Westminster and Eukanuba/AKC quite smoothly and enjoyable in one day? Well this is absolutely massive and unbelievably large compared to either event. With an entry of 22,000 dogs over four days and probably thousands and thousands of vendors it’s a massive task for the organizers to take on but they do it brilliantly. The show guide is a key to success and the “book” weighing in around the size of a Chihuahua will get you safely to where you want to go, shop, watch and possibly eat. In combination with a daily catalog weighing the same you are ready for action. We located our rings for the next day and the benches circling the rings that would hold the 252 Afghan hounds entered.

Two rings going at the same time is norm for the bigger entries we were told, which makes the seats (yes, seats) along the middle line prime real estate for avid fanciers. No ring barriers or ropes just the seats going around the green carpets make up the area of daily action. This makes it different from the elegance of the purple, gold and green at our beloved Westminster and the blue carpet and white horse railings stylishly separating the action in Orlando.

But the set up worked excellent and there are never any empty seats ever at this show so the wall around the rings were massive but you could always see what was going on.

We dared watching a bit and shopped a bit and the three hours allocated flew by! The in-house bank, the overseas visitors lounge hosted by Dog News and Our Dogs, the Purina and Eukanuba “catch your breath and have an espresso and napoleon cake as long as you register” booth/café were visited.

We ran into old and new friends and waved to familiar faces in the crowd from “back home”. It was simply wonderful! We took the bus back to the car-park and passed out after another meal at the hotel in company with more Afghan hound peeps who had arrived for the Friday action.

Now here is the next piece of advice: no electricity at these shows. Do anything you need to do to hairy dogs before leaving the hotel and that’s it! Very refreshing actually. We had an unloading pass and sat on another line to unload but at least we were dropped off right by the entrance. We rolled Rover to the bench and fresh waves of cooked breakfast sent us to the café next to the ring. I was in heaven! Cooked breakfast on real china - ringside! Our neighbors on the bench had their young male and the husband was showing him. The dog was hilarious just like any yearling Afghan hound can be and they kindly let us use their grooming table later in the day. They also offered us tea and biscuits and we had a grand time with them all day long. Remember what I said about not being able to watch anything else if you show. It is very true… I never even got to the rings next to us for more than a few minutes.

The classes are enormous and placements in a class Continued on page 93

THURSDAY & FRIDAY MARCH 19 & 21, 2015

SATURDAY & SUNDAY MARCH 20 & 22, 2015

CLOSING DATE MARCH 4TH

Dog News 85

Letters to the Editor RE: COMPANION CLUBS, QUESTION FOR BOARD CANDIDATES I guess I am at a loss to understand this proposal. We already have problems getting new members into our clubs as it stands now. I won’t dismiss the concept until I understand more about the thinking that went into the suggestion, but it doesn’t make a great deal of sense LATE ANSWERS TO THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Have you tried navigating AKC’s redesigned web site and if so what did you think of it?

DEBORAH A. LYNCH I tried navigating the new AKC website from a few different angles. First, as a prospective puppy buyer of my breed.

There was a lot of breed information in a new format which was interesting.

I am not sure that it was done with input from the Parent Club, some of the pictures could have been more interesting and of better photo quality. It was very difficult to navigate to the Parent Club, it took a few tries to find it. The first button for the puppy buyer to use was the AKC Breeder Classifieds, then Rescue, then Parent Club Breeder Referral. The AKC Breeder Classified had only one ad nationwide from a high volume breeder, but there were several listed under the Parent Club Breeder Referral tab. It seems that one of the principle goals of the website would be to assist puppy buyers in finding their way to AKC Breeders - this needs to be more efficient and easier to navigate. The next step was to look for health information. Generally much of this would be found under the AKC 86 Dog News

Dog News will consider all letters for publication but reserves the right to edit these as required.

Letters will not be considered for publication unless full name and contact details are supplied, including telephone number. Letters may be mailed to Dog News 1115 Broadway NY, NY 10010 or emailed to dognews@harris-pub.com.

at the outset. Where are the members of a “Companion Dog Club” going to come from? I would hope that the unintended consequences of establishing such clubs will be discussed and thoroughly vetted before going forward.

Tom Davies (speaking for myself as a candidate, and not for my club) Springfield Kennel Club

Canine Health Foundation.

However, it was alarming to see that there were no links for AKC/CHF under OWNERS. Under the Care for Your Dog link there was AKC Pet Insurance, Veterinary Search, and AKC Veterinary Network. Also there were no links to the AKC/CHF under these tabs. Seems like Veterinarians would like to know about the work of AKC/CHF. There was a link to AKC/CHF under the BREEDER tab, under Canine Health Resource Center. I could find no references to AKC/CHF under the CLUB link even though that would seem to be a natural location.

Some more work needs to be done here. Under the Club link for individual breeds there was a very good link for downloading the breed standard and a picture and illustration with a link available to paste to your website.

While this could be a very good idea, I have always understood that Parent Clubs own the copyright to their breed standards and how they will be protected from use by the unscrupulous is a question. The “Get Involved” link is a great idea. In this case it didn’t work and instead of sending me the information for the local specialty club it listed two training clubs couple hundred miles away. This can easily be fixed as it is cor-

rect in another part of the site. Also, listing all of the training clubs by zip code is very useful. So, all in all it needs some work, but that is to be expected for a such a large undertaking. The guiding principles should be to highlight helping the consumer find the right AKC breeder, and provide them with information that will support their experience with their puppy in terms of fun, training and health care.

The benefits that come from this approach will speak for themselves.

CINDY VOGELS As a show chairman, I mostly use the Judges’ Directory and the Online Event Plans. It looks like neither has changed much, although I heard that there have been fixes made on the Judges’ Directory since the launch.

There was much chat among the Soft Coated Wheaten folks about the breed pictures available on the site, but for some reason, they don’t show up for me! What I’m told is that anyone can upload breed specific pictures onto that breed’s page, so they change constantly.

While I understand the move towards social media participation, perhaps there should be some official vetted pictures that remain constant and a separate section for a rotating gallery.

LAST CHANCE TO SEE EUROPE’S LARGEST CANINE ART GALLERY AND LIBRARY AND TO TOUR HISTORIC KENNEL CLUB BUILDING With the largest dog library and collection of dog paintings in Europe and a history that spans more than 140 years, the Kennel Club can rival London’s most popular museums.

The Kennel Club has occupied 1-5 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, since 1956 but due to redevelopment work in the area it will be moving to another site later this year, so this is one of the last chances to see the Club’s long-standing home.

The Kennel Club is offering free guided tours to members of the public, breed clubs and canine societies. Anyone who is interested in finding out all about the Kennel Club, how it started, its growth and its continuing efforts to improve the health and welfare of millions of dogs in the UK is welcome.

Visitors will have the unique opportunity of viewing the world famous Keddell Memorial Trophy, awarded to Crufts Best in Show, and the famous painting ‘A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society by Sir Edwin Landseer, that is currently on loan to the Kennel Club from the Tate.

They will also be invited to peruse the world’s biggest canine library.

The Kennel Club Art Gallery’s current exhibition, which showcases the winning photographs from the 2014 Kennel Club Dog Photographer of the Year competition, will run until 27th March and can also be seen as part of the tour.

Ciara Farrell, Kennel Club Library and Collections Manager, said “As the largest of their kind in Europe, the Kennel Club’s art and library collections are a must see for any dog lover.

“The tours that the Kennel Club runs offer a fascinating insight into the history of the Club and how all of the work that it does impacts on the future of dogs. Any dog lover or lover of art wanting to come on one of the pre-arranged group tours, a private tour or who wants to see the library and gallery should get in touch.”

All tour places must be booked in advance.

Private group tours are available on request for a small charge of £5 per person, or open tours will take place free of change on the following dates: 11th March 2015 24th March 2015 Further dates will be announced in April 2015.

If you would like to attend one of the tours, contact the Kennel Club on 020 7518 1064 or email artgallery@thekennelclub.org.uk. For more information visit www.kennelclub.org.uk/artgallery.

Laura Quickfall London, England

KENNEL GAZETTE JUDGES’ CHOICE The Kennel Club is bringing back the Kennel Gazette in the near future and it is hoped that the first issue will be published sometime in spring.

It has been decided that the Gazette will retain some of the previously popular items such as Judges’ Choice and it is hoped in future it will feature two breeds to allow increased exposure of vulnerable and less well known breeds. The first two breeds that will be showcased will be the Beagle and the Bracco Italiano. Over the next few weeks the Kennel Club will be contacting judges of these breeds for their choice of dogs.

Laura Quickfall London, England

Donations also came in from American Kennel Club dog breed clubs with members nationwide, including the American Tibetan Mastiff Association, Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America, Tibetan Terrier Club of America, English Springer Spaniel Foundation, Spinone Club of America, Collie Club of America, Schipperke Club of America Rescue & Health Foundation, Borzoi Club of America, American Shih Tzu Club, The Vizsla Club of America, Australian Terrier Club of America and Western Fox Terrier Breeders Association.

The trailers house and deliver essential supplies such as fans, lighting and generators; cleaning supplies; maintenance items; and animal care items including crates and carriers, AKC Reunite microchips and an AKC Reunite universal microchip scanner, as well as bowls, collars and leashes. These supplies can be used as co-location shelAKC REUNITE AND LOCAL AKC DOG CLUBS ROLL ters, where people can evacuate with their pets, as well as OUT HELP FOR PETS IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY, emergency animal shelters for displaced animals.

CALIFORNIA “The AKC dog clubs in the San Diego area want to San Diego, CA - Local AKC dog clubs and AKC Pet help our local community and its pets be prepared for Disaster Relief, a national program spearheaded any disaster and its aftermath,” said Del Sur Kennel Club

by AKC Reunite that is dedicated to keeping pets Delegate Andrew G. Mills. “We are all very proud to doand their owners safe in the aftermath of tornadoes, nate these trailers to the County of San Diego Department floods, wildfires and other natural or civil disasters, of Animal Services to assist in the agency’s future disaster presented three trailers in the state of California to response efforts.” officials from the County of San Diego Department “Safe, effective pet sheltering solutions in times of diof Animal Services on Saturday. saster are incredibly important, and AKC Reunite is helping Remember the pets in despair after Katrina? communities across the nation prepare by mobilizing AKC Remember the plight of pets displaced from their Pet Disaster Relief,” said Tom Sharp, AKC Reunite CEO. families in Missouri and Oklahoma after those states “The trailers will provide animal care services during the were hit by epic tornadoes? With AKC Pet Disaster first critical hours if a disaster ever hits San Diego County Relief, there is now a way or surrounding areas.” to effectively help the Dan DeSousa, Deputy pets and their owners afDirector for the County of  fected by such disasters, San Diego Department of and San Diego communiAnimal Services said, “These ties will be prepared to new trailers will allow us to roll out help to pets and set up extensive emergency their owners in need when shelters to assist pet owners a disaster is declared, during future natural disaswhether it’s a wildfire ters. We’re excited about evacuation, an earthour improved ability to care quake response or the unfor our county’s pets and thinkable. AKC Pet Disasthank the members of our ter Relief trailers help to local dog clubs and other create a safe, temporary donors for their efforts in home-base for at least 65 helping us acquire AKC Pet pets immediately after a Disaster Relief trailers.” disaster is declared.

Individuals, corporaThe purchase of the tions and other interested trailers for the County of parties can donate to trailer San Diego Department projects in local areas or of Animal Services was across the country. Donamade possible by more tions are tax deductible and than $65,000 in donations accepted at http://www. and grants from the memakcreunite.org/donate. Apbers of Silver Bay Kennel proved organizations that Club of San Diego, Del raise a minimum of $1,000 Sur Kennel Club, Bahia Sur will have their logo featured Kennel Club of Chula Vison the AKC Pet Disaster Reta, Cabrillo Kennel Club, lief trailer.

Hidden Valley Obedience Learn more about how Club, The Obedience to get involved in AKC Pet Club of San Diego County, Disaster Relief at www.akInc. and AKC Reunite, the creunite.org/relief. nation’s largest non-profit AKC Reunite pet identification and reRaleigh, NC  covery service. 

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e d i u G l a viv r u S s ’ n a c i r e m y… x A a l a An G e h , or T s t f to Cru Continued FROM page 84

can be 30 minutes after you sneak away to catch a glimpse. So needless to say by the time it was over in our rings we had seen nothing of any other breeds judged that day. Oh well. We had a fantastic day and were actually invited to go in the group ring. Humbled by the kindness shown to us as strangers showing at the most prestigious show in England and one of the most prestigious in the world alongside our American crown jewels we made our way to the holding area outside the group arena.

Thirty-five minutes later our little caravan made it over to the very far corner of the building complex making anyone complaining about bus rides to MSG or walking to the group in Orlando shut up really quick. Rover was installed in a corner and we got summoned to do pictures for THE Kennel Club gallery and got interviewed by dog media and local media, I believe. Each exhibitor wears his or her’s Best of Breed ribbon on the lapel and it felt perfectly normal!

The gentlemen behind the scene told us they had been doing the back stage work for years and years and other who frequently “were invited” to the staging area due to their dog’s success greeted them with sir names.

It was all very organized and low key as in stress level. You got perfectly clear instructions and they had stewards everywhere to direct you around, outside and inside the ring.

No worries for green competitors like Rover and I. We watched a stunning Wire Fox win the terrier group and Gabriel Rangel was backstage cheering it on. We got to see last year’s Best in Show take a lap of honor before the hound group since she came from that group and were told that is the norm.

We did not place but watched a Belgian Irish Wolfhound capture the group and then the competition for the evening was over. Back to the car through a side door and now the TomTom took us directly to a must visit for any Crufts goers enjoying a

crazy good time and delicious Indian food. The Andrew Brace Facebook party at the Tandoori place in Shakespearian Henley-on-Avon. I was not sure what to expect but let’s leave it at a damn good time with fun people from all over the world and food with less than clad butlers serving drinks. I was too tired to comprehend all that went on but our table had hiccups from laughing and we smiled all the way home to Ramada.

Mr. Brace also secured us a table at a restaurant serving food since 1513 with the spirit of Shakespeare very vivid the following evening and I highly recommend talking to Andrew about visiting “Duncan” at the Blue Bell, also in Henley-on-Avon.

T

he following day was “watching” day and finish shopping day for us. I failed at both completely and had to rush to complete my purchases in between running to different rings. I had a strengthening meal in the Purina VIP cube and was offered champagne. Yes, champagne! I tried to watch standard poodles in ring 4 hall 2 and Tibetan terriers shown by my new friend in ring 18 hall 4. It looks easy but included a quarter-mile hike with wall-to-wall people. (Here I realized we had been lucky to actually compete on a weekday when the crowds were a bit more manageable.) It was a day of constant phone texting to people seated ringside to see where the action was.

I did manage to see the eventual Best in Show winner go Best of Breed and was elated for my friends Jason Lynn and Michael Gadsby and Ricky the poodle of course. I was also introduced to a couple of juniors competing in the Young Kennel Club final with their charges. It was very uplifting to see so many promising and excited youngsters with their family dogs actively and fiercely competing for top honors. YKC had their own humongous ring in hall three, the main hall of the event, and competition went on all weekend. This competition is different from the international junior handling final taking place that same week. Winner of the YKC will go on to compete at the World show in Helsinki.

As we all know we have two separate events in America called “Meet the

Breeds” and the two AKC-run events take place in New York and Orlando each year.

Naturally Crufts has its own “Meet The Breeds” called “Discover Dogs” that goes on for all four days. It was massive and the task of filling the booth all weekend is impressively done by the breed clubs. I would have needed another day for Discover Dogs alone but managed to see a little each on our non-show days.

Finally it was over; we had to leave.

We did not want to but with sore feet and the swollen mobile packed to the risk of exploding we steered south on Sunday and arrived at the beautiful channel city of Folkstone on yet another bright sunny day. The daffodils and crocus were blooming and we wore t-shirts and strolled on the waterfront promenade. We had managed to find another hotel built during the last century and enjoyed winding staircases and miniscule elevators and spectacular views over to France. A pub meal at the Grand Hotel where Rover was welcome to join us inside the restaurant perfected the evening and we fell asleep after watching Best in Show on our IPads tucked in heavenly beds with open windows and the birds chirping…

The return trip to France was very uneventful and for nine “stirling” we got to hop on the first available train and headed towards Brussels in Monday rush hour.

The rental car magically returned to normal size after we dragged our luggage out of it and we checked into the Sheraton located in the terminal - another brilliant solution for anyone traveling with a dog to anywhere in Europe. Thank you Carrie and Lisa for that suggestion! The next morning we waved goodbye to Europe and zoomed through security with three times the lines than at Kennedy, thank you JFK, and after Ben’s bags got the lucky number to be searched again. He is magnetic I swear.

All in all - do your homework! Make extra time for getting lost and enjoy the United Kingdom, its people and the wonderful show called Crufts. It is sort of another world or another galaxy!

Dog News 93

AS OF JANUARY 1, 2015

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94 Dog News

Lost Dutchman Kennel Club Group Third Judge Mrs Denise Aklynne Ross Best of Breed Judge Dr. Michael Woods

GCh. Jakar Pamir Anam Cara Summer Storm Owned by Donald and Georjean Jensen Bred by Amy Donnell and Tara Schultz Presented by Bruce & Tara Schultz AKC Reg. Handlers & PHA • www.schultzdoghandling.com

Dog News

February 27, 2015