Page 261 - ShowSight - August 2019

Foundation Stock Service Q & A
“big ring”, it’s safer to invest in breeding stock once a standard is implemented.
The funniest thing that I’ve experienced at a dog show? I was working my first Caucasian in an obedience ring. We were doing the honoring exercise for his CDX. As I was led out of the arena, I heard spectators laughing. As soon as the door closed behind me it re-opened and I was returned to the ring to applause and laughter to pick up my dog.
He had, apparently, at up from his down-stay almost immedi- ately, his head following me as I left. As soon as the door closed behind me, he stood up, pranced across the ring to a ring attendant sitting where I’d left the ring, laid down at his feet, and woofed towards the door I’d been taken through. He sat there with his tail wagging until I got back to retrieve him.
KARINA WAHLMAN
I live on five acres in a very small town in Northern California in the Sierra foothills. Besides having a job at a local bank, I teach horsemanship lessons.
At this time I am the only one in my breed consistently showing, in either conformation or performance events. Because there are so few of these dogs we most likely will not be able to be fully recog- nized by AKC. The breed is recognized and able to be registered by FCI and UKC.
While my Transylvanian Hounds are very popular at shows, the breed is not for everyone, seeing as an active lifestyle of the owner(s) and room to exercise is needed for a mentally and physically healthy dog.
Would I breed more litters because of AKC? No. The breed has very limited pure and distinct bloodlines, so that needs to be kept in mind when breeding. Just having more is not better.
The funniest thing? I was showing my dogs up in Washing- ton state and my male won breed, and then the FSS group. The nylons I was wearing were given to me by a friend, but they were a “Queen size” as she was considerably larger than me. But I didn’t give that a thought when I put them on in the morning. As I was going through the classes I noticed they were getting looser and looser, but still, it didn’t really register or alarm me. Until. I was in the BIS class. It was me and my dog against the Miscellaneous winner. “Take your dogs around, please.” Hmmm, these nylons are slipping, dang, they’re at my hips. “Take your dog up and back. Fine, thank you. And around.” Oh no! They’ve slipped down to my thighs! If she makes me run the dog any more, they’ll be.... (all these thoughts were the dialog in my head while I’m trying to focus on presenting my dog as best as possible. This was the Best In Show class, after-all.) Bending, stooping and even standing had caused gravity to take its natural course with them. Then she said the worst thing she could have said, “Let’s take the dogs around again together.” No! So I kind of hobbled/ran, which caused my dog to stop gaiting and start trot/hopping, looking at me as he was growing more concerned at each step thinking I was in some kind of trouble. I was—the nylons had slipped down to my knees and were threatening to make their existence fully known to the specta- tors lined around the ring. Needless to say, we didn’t win BIS.
JIMMY WARREN
My wife and I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado and we cur- rently have four Drentsche Patrijshonds or Drents. Two of my dogs are trained hunters and they are all good campers and couch companions. Drents are a joy to own and transition from the home to the field very well. They are exactly what you want in a sporting dog.
I believe the breed is making progress, but it is quite slow with a limited number of breeders available in North America. We are one
of six approved breeders in North America recognized by our par- ent club. Our current breed club has the exact number, but I would say we have somewhere around 120-130 registered dogs in North America. I would say the breed has a way to go!
Do I expect a surge in popularity once we’re in the regular show ring? Yes, getting out to AKC and other organizational events pro- mote the breed. I’m currently a member of NAVHDA and have most of my dogs participating in training and events. My only male scored a perfect Natural Ability test at ten months and several judges were very impressed with his overall appearance and ability. I plan to enroll and participate in some AKC hunting contests this upcoming fall. We will see how things go.
It is very hard work to get a breed recognized! I work full time and only have a finite amount of time to train my Drents and it can be tough. We are two years removed from our first litter as breeders and plan on another soon. Just getting out to shows and training events is sometimes not enough to get recognized, we need more workers and more Drent owners. I’m curious as to how may Drent owners we have in various States?
Would I breed more litters if we were fully recognized by AKC? No, it would probably help foster more interest in the breed once we become fully recognized by AKC but planning and having a litter is hard work. I’m a Drent breeder for the benefit of the breed, I’m not in it for the numbers. Our club is small, we need to be careful to maintain a low coefficient of inbreeding, so the club maintains a vetting process on breeding.
A funny thing happened during my boy “Jackson’s” NA test. I was a first-time dog handler for the event and very nervous, but he performed flawless during all four phases of the test. Once he was pointing a bird and the judges and I could not find the bird, it was between his legs and he was rock solid on his point. A judge instructed me to flush the bird and when I did this it didn’t fly off it just ran with Jackson in hot pursuit only to suddenly stop and once that happened Jackson applied the brakes only to perform a complete summersault and resume his point. All three judges were laughing at this point and it settle both dog and handler down for the remainder of the test!
Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience with a great pruebreed dog! Drents are wonderful to own and make great companions. If you are in the Colorado Springs area and want to see some Drents please give us a call at Hollys Spring Drents, Colorado Springs CO, 80924, 719-502-9544, Hollysspringdrents.com.
PAULA WEBBER
I live on Vancouver Island with two Appenzeller Sennenhun- des. I have had Appenzellers for close to 20 years. I travel to show them in Conformation, compete in Rally Obedience, Obedience and Scent work trials. They also love agility, herding, tracking and tricks. I competed regularly in obedience, agility, flyball and Schutzhund with my first Appenzeller and loved their work ethic. I didn’t venture into the world of Conformation until I acquired my Havana Brown male 4.5 years ago. The Appenzeller is a versatile, highly intelligent breed that can do pretty much anything. They are also a very robust breed with very few health issues.
Currently, there are very few Appenzellers being shown in Con- formation in the US and none in Canada as they are not recognized by the CKC. Personally, I have spent the last four years showing my Appenzellers in AKC Open shows, UKC and IABCA. For the first two years, not one judge I’ve met had ever even seen an Appenzeller before in the show ring so it’s been my mission to get our breed seen by as many judges and venues as possible. There are likely 300 Appenzellers in Canada and the US, however, not many owners show or trial with their dogs. There are only a handful of owners showing in Conformation therefore it will take a long time for full recognition with AKC.
ShowSight Magazine, auguSt 2019 • 259