Page 249 - ShowSight - August 2019

Foundation Stock Service Q & A
ing the chemistry of 1.5 million gallons of recycled water for cool- ing tower use. The power plant crew introduced me to the flavorful world of American BBQ and so on my non-dog event weekends, I like to experiment on the pellet grill smoker with different meats, rubs, sauces, and techniques. The dogs don’t seem to mind my merging classic tastes with non-traditional technology.
The Jindo is far from full recognition with under 30 AKC-FSS dogs, but that is actually not a bad situation to be in at this time. There is a significant amount of education and counter-education about the Jindo that needs to be shared among dog fanciers and pet owners first.
I expect that there will be a handful of dog fanciers that will be interested in responsibly building up the AKC Jindo population, but I also expect that a surge of popularity will be seen among the unregistered or foreign rescue dogs that are erroneously represented as Jindos.
It is difficult for me to predict if the education platform that AKC full recognition offers will be able to outpace the misconcep- tions set up by dogs that are not representative of a quality Jindo.
Do I believe there are enough workers to go around? There are only a few of us, but more than numbers, we need a variety of skills to ease the burden. For instance, this natural introvert finds that going in front of the camera to promote the breed is far more dif- ficult than translating pedigrees, importing dogs. or starting up a library of frozen semen.
Would I breed more litters if we were fully recognized by AKC? If the puppy homes are there, I would probably breed more combinations.
The funniest thing that I’ve experienced at a dog show? At Sil- ver Bay Kennel Club’s inaugural AKC Open Show, most of our Jindos experienced their first indoor ring. The ring was a spacious ring completely covered with a beautiful blue carpet. The Jindos, including the very experienced one, decided that the center duct tape holding the carpet pieces together was suspicious and should not be touched. They all jumped over it during their down and back. A fellow competitor who saw and laughed with us later gifted us with duct-taped flooring for raising the next Jindo litter.
RUSS KUBYN
I have lived my entire life (a long time) in the Greater Cleveland area. I am a lawyer with my own practice, which once took up the biggest part of my day. Nowadays spare time is filled with training classes throughout the week, and workshops and shows on week- ends! I own horses and do ride occasionally as well!
How is my breed faring in its quest for full recognition? My wife, Stacey, is mostly involved in this aspect of our dogs as she is uses social media and keeps up with the day-to-day Club activi- ties. (We are members of the Caucasian Shepherd Club of America, Inc.—CSCA) I hear things are progressing. And to do my part toward getting the Breed fully AKC, I am showing our dogs in the AKC FSS division of “Open Shows”, winning my first “Best In Open Show” last June!
Do I expect a surge in popularity once we’re in the regular show ring? Up to now, the most common question I get is “Wow, what kind of dog is that?” I assume once the breed gets more recognition, it can’t help but get more popular. As with everything there’s good and bad that comes with it. For example, as with ice cream. Who can say something bad about it or use it it to get in trouble. You’d think it wouldn’t be possible, but it happens, even with that.
Getting a breed recognized is hard work! Are there enough workers to go around? I don’t know if anybody will work “harder” than me, but I’ll bet that we’ll get a lot of people who can come close! And that’ll be fine.
Would I breed more litters if we were fully recognized by AKC? Again, that’s Stacey’s area. But, I don’t think so. We don’t pump
them out for numbers, we do it because we care about producing quality dogs.
The funniest thing that I’ve experienced at a dog show? When we first started in dogs we bought a show quality young adult Rott- weiler. As a total novice, I tried my hand at taking her into a Ger- man style show. After gaiting her around the ring, the judge pointed at me! I raised my hands, yelped and put on a show myself. Puzzled why my group of people were just staring at their feet. I quickly found out that being picked “first” means that you’re picked last!
STACEY KUBYN
I live in Chardon, Ohio. I established Esquire Caucasians since 1990—the first US kennel for the Caucasian Shepherd Dog. I’m an attorney, close with family, and enjoy time with many friends in the US and around the world. But I feel that I live and breathe my dogs and the Caucasian Shepherd Dog breed (FCI #328) so never quite feel “outside of dogs”!
How is my breed faring in its quest for full recognition? Great, now that Jackie Michalik with her keen business sense, superb orga- nizational skills, ethics and love for the breed is leading our Breed Club: The Caucasian Shepherd Club of America, Inc. (CSCA) ded- icated to one breed as described by the well established worldwide FCI#328 Caucasian Shepherd Dog Breed Standard! The Club is comprised of 100+ members from coast to coast and growing. The Club provides owner support and education, publishes a newslet- ter, runs an informative public chat group on Facebook: “Ethically AKC!: Caucasian Shepherd Club of America, Inc.”, and is affiliated with 501(c)3 Breed Rescue, working hard to ensure every Caucasian Shepherd in the US has a home. These broad measures, experience, and excellent quality dogs in the US are building a strong breed foundation for full AKC recognition.
I anticipate a surge in popularity balanced by Breed Education opportunities. Attracting mainstream dog fanciers interested in the magnificent FCI#328 Caucasian Shepherd Dog breed (versus a mishmash of variant off standard types) will only help our cause of breed dogs as good as anywhere in the world!
Do I believe there are enough workers to get my breed rec- ognized? Yes, our Club Members will carry through to full AKC recognition.
Would I breed more litters if we were fully recognized by AKC? No, I’ll stick to carefully bred one to two litters per year, most years, with some breaks in between. I hope, however, to continue helping conscientious newcomers establish their own serious show/breeding programs incorporating dogs from my line.
The funniest thing that I’ve experienced at a dog show? Recently watching my husband, Russ, win an AKC “Open Show” despite a slight wardrobe failure!
NANCY LIEBES
Mioritics are just getting started here in the US. Although there have been a few people who have produced a few litters in recent years, we are nowhere near being organized. We’re working on starting a club and I have put together a small group of longtime AKC breeders of similar breeds who are interested in getting the breed off to a healthy start here.
Do I expect a surge in popularity once we’re in the regular show ring? We don’t know what to expect. This is a very attractive breed and wonderful to know and live with. But they are large dogs who have a strong protective nature and can be hard to handle when they decide someone needs to go away. They also are absolutely devoted to the family which is quite endearing. Because of this when the guarding instinct clicks in it can be surprising and hard to manage. This is why I would like the original organizers and owners of the breed here to be experienced dog people. I have heard of litters in
ShowSight Magazine, auguSt 2019 • 247