It’s National Specialty Season!

by  Pilar Kuhn

Signals of Fall are popping up everywhere. The temperatures are finally cooling off and pumpkin spice aromas waft from coffee shops at the shows. Montgomery County Kennel Club has always been my husband’s “Christmas Morning” and for us it’s also like a big family reunion. The American Bouvier des Flandres club holds its National Specialty in the Fall, too, so October means National Specialties for both of our breeds. Yes, it’s National Specialty Season!

I will never forget my first time attending a National Specialty. There were more than 100 Bouviers present and the sight was amazing, in fact overwhelming, and it gave me goosebumps. I love my breed and in this particular forum I wasn’t alone. This wasn’t an isolated Bouvier sighting. They were everywhere! And they were impressive. I met people at the National I had heard of for years. Kennel names finally had faces and personalities. My eyes continued to pour over every dog and bitch as I studied conformation and evaluated what I liked about some and may not have liked as much about some others. My mentors were there and answered my abundant questions. I even received some unexpected grooming mentorship that finally connected the missing dots in my mind on how to groom my dogs well. The entire week of “all things Bouvier” made a long-lasting impression.

I also remember my first time attending a National Specialty for Scotties. It was the spring “Rotating Specialty” for the Scottish Terrier Club of America (STCA) hosted by The Scottish Terrier Club of Greater Houston. Rod and I were not yet married, but I had already met many of his friends and mentors and I appreciated seeing them again. I also remember looking around the hotel ballroom set up for the display of Scotties, my soon-to-be second breed, and, again, got goosebumps. I guess it’s safe to say that large amounts of fine canine specimens excites me and most certainly puts a huge smile on my face. The STCA also has a standing National Specialty at Montgomery County KC every year. If you have never attended Montgomery County, you should. Even if you don’t own a terrier, you should make it a must-attend dog event. It is an extraordinarily impressive sight to behold with so many terriers in one location. Although we were not able to attend this year, we kept our ears close to the ground, we kept our eyes on www.caninechronicle.com for photos and results, and held our cell phones close waiting for the latest scoop from our friends.

Some people question whether National Specialties are worth the effort, club expense, personal expense, vacation time away from jobs, and other sacrifices. One of the most important reasons to attend a National Specialty is the opportunity to go over as many dogs as possible to educate or remind your hands and your eyes about your breed’s conformation. It is the one concentrated timeframe where breeders from all over are available to talk to, ask questions of, learn from and continue to foster and mentor on-going breeding relationships. Many conversations about planning potential future breedings occur and in no other place can one experience these invaluable activities in such magnitude.

Many people wait all year long for a trip to the National Specialty. A placement or a win in a class at a National Specialty warrants bigger brags. Happy exhibitors encourage the club members who work tirelessly to put on National Specialties. It is quite the volunteer job and one of the main challenges is finding “worker bees” to help put on these events. But when a job is well done, exhibitors and spectators appreciate it.

So to those of you who have already participated in your National Specialty, we look forward to hearing an abundance of stories. And to those of you who have yet to compete at the year’s remaining Nationals, good luck and remember to have fun celebrating your breed with like-minded folks. The like-mindedness and appreciation of any purebred dog is cause for huge celebrations regardless of ribbons and trophies.

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Posted by admin on Oct 11 2012. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.