4 minute read
Local Dogs Bred for Success
Local Dogs Bred for Success
Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent
Caleya King-Davie lives south of Vegreville on a small farm with her husband and their dogs, horses, and chickens. Their dogs are their pets first and foremost.
Caleya has been an executive member of the Canadian Mastiff Club for the past 10 years. Their club is dedicated to the protection and advancement of the breed.
The 2024 Canadian Mastiff Club National Specialty - 30th Anniversary was held in conjunction with the Medicine Hat Kennel Club all-breed shows on October 11 to 13 in Medicine Hat.
Eighteen Mastiffs entered for their National Specialty, and seven Mastiffs entered for the all-breed shows each day.
These were purely conformity shows. Caleya explained that while a dog show may look like a beauty pageant, it’s not. Dogs are not being compared to each other; they’re being measured by how closely they conform to the standard of their particular breed. The reason is that the closer a dog’s appearance is to the breed’s standard, the better that dog’s ability will be to produce puppies that meet the standard.
Dogs are assessed both standing and on the move and compete first within their breed. The breed winners go on to the group (breeds are loosely classified according to their purpose, gun dogs in one group, herding dogs in another, and so on), and at the end of the day, the seven group winners compete for Best in Show honours. Best Puppy awards are also offered at breed, group, and show levels.
Caleya is not a professional dog trainer but is a dedicated preservationist breeder, which means safeguarding the breed hallmarks (conformation, breed type, temperament, and instinct), and astute selection in every generation, combined with mindful care and animal husbandry. Even if the breed’s original function no longer exists, their job as breeders is to produce dogs that can still perform that function today.
“For us, dog training starts as soon as puppies can interact with their environment.
We follow the Puppy Culture and Avidog enrichment & training protocols right from the beginning to help our puppies develop into confident, adaptable adults. As they grow older, they are carefully socialized to different environments and situations, and they start attending classes to teach them how to be show dogs (as well as amazing family pets). We usually take our puppies to dog shows around four to five months of age. I would say the secret to training dogs, is consistency, compassion, and a calm demeanour.
Caleya’s dogs who entered were: Wednesday, who is eight and a half, and Gromit, who is seven years old, Alli who will be four at the end of October, Bambi 10-months-old, and Edgar 10-months-old.
Caleya admitted that she entered this competition because this event gives a chance for dedicated fans of the breed to gather year after year to share their knowledge and passion. Also, a Best of Breed or Best in Sweepstakes win can be the crowning glory of a long history in the breed.
Her winning dogs were Gromit, a Multi Best in Specialty Show winner, and Best Veteran in Specialty Sweepstakes.
Bambi won Best of Opposite Sex in Specialty and Best Puppy in Specialty. Wednesday won Best Opposite Veteran in the Specialty Show. Alli won Select Girl. Edgar won Best Puppy in the Specialty Sweepstakes
In closing, Caleya mentioned she is grateful to their sponsors.
