Notes from a dog show: the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship
By Kim Campbell Thornton
December 13, 2008
Whatever you think of dog shows, there’s no better place than this one to get a taste of everything dogs have to offer. Westminster may offer age and prestige, but here in Long Beach in December you’ll find not only the country’s top conformation dogs but also agility and obedience invitationals, a dock diving competition, and demonstrations of herding, drug detection work, service dogs, flyball, rally, freestyle and drafting. A consumer stage introduces show-goers to various breeds and offers grooming and training tips. Pretty much any dog product you could possibly want to buy is available for purchase. But the best part is the breed booths. Each breed club sponsors a booth that’s staffed with real dogs and their people so that attendees can get hands-on experience with the dogs they’re interested in.
We stopped in at the Flat Coat booth, where we met 3-year-old Larkin’s Bounding Through Barbera, who shows in conformation and is owned by Susan Liby of Norwalk, California. He was dressed for the season in a red jingle bell collar. I asked what people want to know about Flat Coats.
“Most want to know if it’s a longhaired Lab or what the difference is between a Flat Coat and a Golden,” she replied. “Or they say, ‘I used to have a dog just like that and it was a mutt.’ “
Around the corner was a sweet Cocker Spaniel seated at an Italian restaurant…hey, it’s Lady and the Tramp! The clubs go all out to decorate their booths in accordance with their breeds’ history or instincts. You’ll find bagpipes playing at the Scottish breed booths, tents sheltering the Salukis, and Victorian nursemaids gathered around Cavaliers seated in a wicker stroller.
On the floor as we made our way to ring 5 to see the Cavaliers, we passed a black standard Poodle with a corded coat. I always try to walk with a shuffle so I don’t accidentally step on some little dog.
We arrived at the Cavalier ring just in time to see the upset win: Patti Kanan’s Ch. Timsar Mister Moonlighter, handled by Bill McFadden took Best of Breed over the favorite, Ch. Pinecrest Rock the Boat (Rocky). Patti herself assured me a few minutes beforehand that Rocky would win. Moonlighter, co-owned by Patti, Cindy Huggins and his breeder, Annette Jones, took Group 3 at Crufts earlier this year, so he’s no fly-by-night. Still, Patti was in shock. “We would have been happy with an award of merit,” she said, as she tried frantically to call Annette in England.
I saw Deb Eldredge, there with her talented daughter Kate, who’s just been accepted to Cornell as an English major. Kate’s showing in Juniors, but didn’t have much luck this morning. I hope she and Queezle, her Belgian Tervuren, have better luck in the breed ring tomorrow. At the Long Beach Kennel Club show yesterday, they went Best Opposite Sex.
Before leaving to go back home to take care of our own dogs, we gave our feet a rest and watched agility for a few minutes. I love that such a variety of breeds and so many old dogs were competing at such a high level. In the 10 or 15 minutes that we spent there, we saw two Chinese Cresteds; a Boston Terrier named Mulligan; a couple of Beagles, one of which was 10 and a half years old; a Lowchen; a Schipperke who was almost 10 years old; an 11-year-old French Bulldog; a 9-year-old Sheltie from Canada; a Swedish Vallhund named Jetta; three Beagles; a Cardigan Welsh Corgi; a Papillon; and three Cavaliers.
On our way out, we stopped to talk with Amy Peikoff, who was competing with her Pyrenean Shepherd, Boo.
Pyr Sheps are one of those breeds I’d like to have “some day” and will join the AKC Herding Group in January. They have a reputation for being shy and standoffish, but Boo was awfully friendly. My plan is that the Pyr Shep will herd the Cavaliers.
Not dog-related at all, we finally realized a longheld desire: we had fried chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s. Yum.
Corded poodle! I’ve only seen one other in my life.
Kate Eldredge is such a wonderful young woman. Cornell! Could her mom and dad possibly be any more proud of her? Not too many kids start college as a published author already!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 13, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
I know; me, too, and that was years and years ago before I even knew anything about dogs.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — December 13, 2008 @ 5:45 pm
Hey, who’s the 11 year old Frenchie in agility? Tessa’s full litter brother from a repeat breeding is about that age, and still showing in agility. Does anyone have the registered name?
I wish we got Eukanuba here.. alas, our Canadian version of Animal Planet is sadly lacking.
Comment by FrogDogz — December 13, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Corded poodle = awesome.
Comment by katie — December 13, 2008 @ 7:25 pm
Just confirmed it - the Frenchie you saw is Gunny, aka Bullmarket Shogun Spirit Dragon,. oa. ,. oaj. (Aka Tessa’s litter brother).
Here’s Gunny’s baby photo — http://bullmarketfrogs.com/meg.....s.jpg.html
Comment by FrogDogz — December 13, 2008 @ 7:35 pm
I don’t have the Frenchie’s name or a catalog where I could look it up. I was scribbling as fast as I could and sometimes I got the name and sometimes I didn’t.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — December 13, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
FrogDogz, I think you’ll be pleased to know that the 11 year old frenchie is:
Bullmarket Shogun Spiritdragon NM77710401 1997-12-01 John E Moore 12140 FREN
:-)
Comment by JenniferJ — December 13, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Thanks, Jen :)
Yes, that’s Gunny.
Comment by FrogDogz — December 14, 2008 @ 9:10 am
Pyr Sheps in the akc=too bad. Never heard of a corded poodle. Wow!
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — December 14, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Corded poodle, too cool!
Put me in the category as someone who wishes the show would rotate around the country because sadly, I don’t think it showcases the best dogs but rather only the dogs who have people who can afford the time and money to make the trip. Lots of west coast dogs and not many east coasters. Yeah, the same could be said for Westminster in reverse, but Westminster isn’t the AKC and the show doesn’t have obedience, agility and all the other stuff.
So great for So. Cal., but sucky for the rest of us.
Comment by Deanna — December 14, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
As much as I like having it here, Deanna, I was thinking the same thing today—that it would be nice if it moved around the country so that more people could benefit from the demos and breed booths. Or if more shows had breed booths or tours led for pet owners to explain the purpose of a dog show and answer questions about breeds or what to look for in a dog. If AKC wants to put money into making itself more relevant to pet owners—and I was at a luncheon today where that was a hot topic of discussion—that might be a good way to start.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — December 14, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
I have not been for a few years, but the Rose City Classic, Portland OR’s January show cluster, has been, and hopefully still is, excellent at introducing the public to dog shows and responsible dog ownership. They bring school classes in, give out literature and t-shirts to the kids promoting responsible dog ownership and always have had an area set aside for info booths from shelters, rescues, assistance dog programs, law enforcement etc… And always multiple health screening clinics and educational programs too.
The shows make the papers and local news nightly and they bus people in to watch. There was always a large public presence when I was there.
I was told that this all got started in the early 90s when BSL looked to be taking hold in OR and the breed and all breed clubs got proactive about public education, fast.
As I say, it’s been a few years since I’ve gone, but I hope they still keep it up.
Comment by JenniferJ — December 14, 2008 @ 11:18 pm
Corded Poodle! What a beautiful animal. I saw one of these on the Animal Planet Channel dog show last evening. I happen to have a 6 mo old female toy poodle and would love this look for her. I am looking for instructions on how to start the cording and the care of. Can anyone help me here? Thanks all animal lovers. SF
Comment by Susan Fitzgerald — August 5, 2009 @ 2:00 pm
Someone here might know:
http://www.furkids.net/forum/f......php?f=188
Comment by The OTHER Pat — August 5, 2009 @ 2:32 pm