Page 148 - ShowSight - June 2020
P. 148

                How are me and my dogs keeping busy now that dog shows are on hia- tus? We aren’t staying as busy as the dogs would like. They would like to go for even longer walks, chase more squirrels and bark at more deer! But I find myself actually finishing some projects that I start. My house should be spotless, but it is not—messy house, happy dogs. I have been very busy with puppies! My girls tend to all come in
season around the same time and only cycle once a year, which makes staggering litters difficult. I already had breeding plans in place and all breedings were successful. So I have been busy with puppies, inquiries, evaluations and placements. With so many folks staying home, it is a perfect time to get a puppy—as long as there is a plan in place for when things get back to “normal.”
Do I have any specific goals in mind for my return to the show ring? I have two youngsters that were just about to finish, each only needing a couple singles. One was a puppy, but has since turned a year old, so it’s a little disappointing she will not finish from the Puppy Class. The other has all his points from the Bred-by Class. They’ve blown their coats during this hiatus, so in the meantime I have some new puppies that will need to get started. My current special was about to retire, but I may keep him out for the rest of the year and maintain his #1 Belgian (All-Systems) status.
How important is the owner-handler to the future of the sport? Owner-handlers are extremely important to the sport—past, pres- ent and future! I have been on both sides of the leash, the pro- fessional-handler and the owner-handler. If it weren’t for all the owner-handlers, the pro-handlers would have a hard time finishing their client’s dogs for lack of numbers. Without the entries owner- handlers bring to the ring, dog shows would sorely suffer. There are many good dogs that might not be shown if it weren’t for their owner-handlers. And without dedicated breeders, there would be no dogs for anyone to show!
The funniest thing that’s ever happened to me as a breeder-own- er/handler? While waiting for photos, one of my puppies snatched her specialty rosette from my hand and ran to sit at the feet of the judge who awarded it to her!
LANA FERGUSON
I live in Kamloops, British Columbia. My breed is Dobermans and I have been in dogs for 48 years.
Do I have any hobbies or interests apart from breeding and showing dogs? I love curling and enjoy a round of golf when possible.
How often do I breed? Do I breed to compete in conformation or performance? It varies depending on the ages of the girls we have at the time. Lately, it has been a couple of litters a year.
Do I compete in the AKC National Owner-Handled Series? Not really as I live in Canada.
What has been my greatest challenge as a breeder/owner-han- dler? I think the biggest challenge is all the traveling that we have to do. For myself, I have to take all my dogs, so it’s a lot of work. Then home, unpack and get ready to go again.
What has been my biggest thrill as a competitor? There have been a few, for sure. One of my biggest was my first Best in Show with my first home-bred girl.
How are me and my dogs keeping busy now that dog shows are on hiatus? We have a litter on the ground so that keeps things hop- ping for sure. Also a couple of young dogs that we are growing out.
Do I have any specific goals in mind for my return to the show ring? I am really looking forward to shows starting up again. As I
mentioned I have a couple of young dogs that I am looking forward to showing.
How important is the owner-handler to the future of the sport? I think the owner-handler is very important to our sport. There are many great owner-handlers out there and when you run into a good one they are hard to beat.
The funniest thing that’s ever happened to me as a breeder/own- er-handler? I must admit, on this question you have me stumped. Nothing really comes to mind. I have seen some funny things for sure, but I don’t seem to be involved in them.
THERESA GOIFFON
We live in Siren, Wis- consin, which is located in Northwestern Wisconsin. It is a rural area, and our home is situated on many acres provid- ing lots of places for our Ter- riers to explore. Our breed is Australian Terriers.
We have been in dogs for over 50 years, but showing and breed- ing the past 15 years.
Do we have any hobbies or interests apart from breeding and showing dogs? When not spending time with our dogs and family, we
enjoy gardening and fishing.
How often do we breed? Do we breed to compete in conforma-
tion or performance? It depends on the year, how busy we are and if we are showing a “special.” Typically, we have two to three litters most years. We breed for breed sustainability and for others, includ- ing families and select other breeders in the USA and Europe.
We personally compete in conformation, but many of our bred- by puppies participate in and are titled in most performance events. Many have made historical records for our breed.
Do we compete in the AKC National Owner-Handled Series? Yes, we do and we enjoy it. Often we have been fortunate to com- pete in both the regular Groups and Owner-Handled Groups.
What has been our greatest challenge as a breeder/owner-han- dler? In our breed with a small gene pool, that would be our greatest challenge at the present time. To find quality lines that complement ours, yet are diverse from our lines, is not easy. We often work with breeders outside of the USA.
Then, of course, the other challenge becomes that our standard states our breed is to have a docked tail and, in Europe, they are not allowed to dock. One day, if the standard was to change to either docked or natural, this would be a great benefit in our small gene pool with respect to working with breeders outside of the USA.
What has been our biggest thrill as a competitor? We have made so many great memories over the years. We have traveled the coun- try and even made a trip to the World Show in Finland where we exhibited two of our dogs.
Our multiple Best in Show wins, handled by two of my young daughters, will always be a highlight and blessing to our family.
But, I guess if I have to pick one memory, it would be watching my daughter Lydia at Madison Square Garden show her bred-by and owner-handled Australian Terrier, Jake, that won the breed. We were so proud. What made that extra special was that at that time, Lydia worked at a nursing home as a CNA and we had tak- en Jake to the nursing home many times to visit with her elderly patients. When the residents found out they were going to be on television, the entire nursing home was abuzz and those wonderful elderly residents stayed up very late to watch their favorite CNA and
BREEDER/OWNER-HANDLER Q&A
  146 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2020


































































   146   147   148   149   150