Lost in Translation? American Terriers at the World Dog Show

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194 – September,2015

By Leandra Little

Granted it’s an effort to get your terriers across the Atlantic to compete in the World Dog Show. First you have to find an accredited vet to fill out the USDA paperwork; then have that stamped and finalized within the ten day time limit before departure by APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service). That’s just part of it. Rabies vaccine must be current and microchip verified. Of course it must be the right type of chip, too. Then pay the airlines whatever exorbitant amount they are willing to accept to transport you and your entries to the show, in the right-sized travel bag. I brought two Norwich Terriers and a gracious friend, Barbara Johnson. I wanted to experience first hand what it would be like and also to see the European (and Russian Norwich) I’ve only seen on the pages of Facebook… an eye education experience so to speak.

Apparently, it’s not an experience many other US (and Canadian) fanciers care to share. While Italy was by far the most represented with 8,141 entries, the US found itself in 25th place with just 116 entries sandwiched between Latvia (119) and Lithuania (115). Just 31 of those US dogs were terriers and not all showed up.

Perhaps it was the logistics; perhaps it was EU rules against cropped and docked breeds. Still the WDS website, while strictly prohibiting cropped ears other than for medical reasons, made no mention of docked tails being a disqualifier. Or perhaps US fanciers were discouraged by cost or judging panel. Ron Menaker was the only US judge on the panel and he unfortunately had to send regrets due to illness. Mr. Menaker was replaced by American Judge William Gregory Roadhouse.

Lydia Frey was another “only.” She competed in Junior Handling with her Bedlington GCH LAMZ Let Them Eat Cake CA. One of 73 Juniors, Lydia certainly held her end up for America.

“I had a wonderful experience at the World Dog Show. I went there mainly to show in Junior Showmanship and ended up winning Best Junior Handler. We only showed in the breed on the World Show day and did not get anything.”

This was Lydia’s first venture overseas. “I saw some very nice dogs shown, and would love to see them over here in the U.S.” While her two-year-old didn’t place, he was certainly not undeserving: “My dog Tony won 1st Award of Merit at the 2014 Bedlington National Specialty, and Select Dog at the 2015 National Specialty. He has only been shown selectively as he matures. I also won Best Junior Handler at Westminster this year with him.”

UK Judge Martin Phillips had an overall entry of 53 Bedlingtons. Along with GCH LAMZ Let Them Eat Cake, there were three other US exhibits and the best placement of the three was a third in the Open class of six (where Tony failed to place). Phillips had no other US entries in his assignment of Irish Soft Coated Wheaten and Norfolk Terriers.

Lesley Crawley, for her part, had 3 US Border Terriers in an overall entry of 63 and 5 Norwich amongst 61, although two of those were absent. Perhaps it’s just as well for the two that were no-shows because in an interview after the show she reported that ,“Judges were told not to judge those with docked tails by the Italian authorities.”

Events did seem to bear out her contention. The day before the WDS at the Club Show, Martin Phillips excused the Norwich Terrier, Highwood’s Copper Red for having a docked tail. (See sidebar) Despite many requests for clarification sent to both the FCI and Mr. Phillips, no answers have been forthcoming. Later in his assignment after the Copper Red confusion he did judge my two docked bitches and placed them 2nd and 3rd after the natural-tailed exhibit. Crawley did the same.

Of course one can speculate, were the judges told perhaps to ignore dogs with docked tails in the sense that the absence of the tail should be ignored? A question of confusing interpretation. After all, Judge Andrew Hunt at the same Club show awarded Best of Breed to a docked Japanese Norfolk. Junior Dog Fudou of Forest Scene, owned by Niki Masayuki bested 9 other Norfolk to win the breed. The next day Fudou under Martin Phillips was 4th in a class of 7. It does give one pause to wonder… was something lost in translation? Nevertheless if the judge is operating under “instructions” to ignore dogs with docked tails rather than to ignore a docked tail…. there it is. Doesn’t matter what the intention of the authorities was, what counts is where the rubber hits the road and that’s in the ring.

During that same interview Crawley was candid about her entry: “..a bit shocked at breed type; extremely unsound.” When asked her overall impression she said, “In general appalling. If they don’t do something about improving the ribs, because many are too short in length and not deep enough… they will be in serious trouble.” She went on to explain that the ribs were very shallow in depth in many of her exhibits “They should come down below the elbow in depth.” She allowed that the Americans were better in that regard.

She went on to say that, “movement was very bad coming and going. I gave up trying to find a sound dog. One needs to have a slightly longer back to improve movement. In the USA they are even more extreme requiring a short back over anything else. If you have straight stifles with limited or no extension there is no reach, no drive. You need propulsion. A box can’t move and that’s what I saw here today, boxes. If the ribs are not broad enough, deep enough or long enough the lungs and the heart cannot expand properly. If that’s coupled with UAS, health problems ensue, it’s not just the throat. You are more likely to get better construction with a slightly longer back. Fast is not good movement.”

She reiterated, “Judges were instructed to not put up a docked or cropped dog.”

Unequivocal. Webster’s defines that as “having only one possible meaning.”

In Borders there were three bred-in-the-US entries all with the Meadowlake prefix. Two were in the Champion Dog Class. One lives in The Netherlands and the other resides in Italy. While neither placed, both were judged Excellent. The third Meadowlake entry is owned by a Russian and was entered in the Open Bitch class. She placed 4th out of 7 but was also rated Excellent by Judge Crawley.

Similarly there were 3 US Cesky Terriers (23 entered); all owned by Loren Moreno of Toms River. While none received the CACIB or CAC, all were rated Excellent.

In Ring 1 Judge Evgeny Kuplyauskas’ assignment included Australian, Australian Silky Terriers, Irish Glen of Imaal and Jack Russell Terrier puppies. In his entire assignment, there was just one US entry, DBF Woodsong Midnight Rendezvous, in the Junior Puppy Bitch class. Owned by Beth Snedegar with her breeder, Candace Lundin DVM, Rendezvous did not place in her class of 13 but was rated Very Promising, the top rating for a puppy.

Judge K’s counterpart in Ring 21, Judge Lynette Brown (Australia) had 125 additional Jack Russells and Judge Dan Ericsson (Sweden) completed the assignment with bitches in Ring 22. Candice Lundin (DBF Russell Terriers) came with her husband, Frank Zureick, friends and co-owners including Nita Bitner, Peggy Jackson, Beth Snedegar and handlers Rebecca Cross and Kelsey Jesseph. Doreen Cross and Paula Becker rounded out the “invasion.”

“We were able to take 6 Russell Terriers across the pond by convincing our co-owners to go with us, each bringing one of the dogs. The Russells are small enough to ride under the seat in the cabin. Lufthansa is the best airline for that purpose although we did have to fly on different days since each flight only accepts a limited number in the cabin.” Lundin and company stayed with Italian JRT breeder Monica Fonzo of All Jacks Kennel who owns a B & B in the mountains overlooking Milan. Monica was able to provide extra crates, ex-pens and additional equipment.

“Only one of our Russells (“Kato” Ch. Monamour Afterglow) was eligible to compete in the Club show the day before the WDS since he did not have a docked tail like our others. In 2013 Kato, a Smooth Coat, placed first in the Junior Dog class at INTERRA in Budapest. In Milan, Candace handled Kato in the Champion class, “But we were overlooked. It can be hard for the smooths competing against the hairy Jacks!”

Despite Dr. Lundin’s docked-tail entries, not all were overlooked. DBF Stanley Cup, handled by Kelsey Jesseph, placed 2nd in the Champion class. There were 27 Champion males in the ring including Monamour Jp Part Time Lover (Japan) who earned the CAC (French for Certificat d’aptitude au Championnat, distributed by each country. CACIB is the international certificate). When the Lundin contingent saw Stanley go over 25 other JR’s emotions welled, “We were thrilled. Stanley had won the Junior dog class in 2014 in Helsinki as the first American-bred Russell Terrier to ever compete at a World Dog Show, and so he held the title of Junior World Winner going into Milan.” Emotions rise and fall at these shows… holding one’s breath becomes a practice in showmanship.

While Stanley’s litter brother DBF Hart Trophy aka “Puck” handled by Dr. Lundin’s husband, Frank, did not place in the huge open class of 25, he still earned an Excellent rating. DBR Russell Terriers were second in the Breeders class with Puck, Stanley and DBF Woodsong of KBR. Talisman DBF Rough Rider, handled by Mr. Zureick came close to a placement. “After the cut, the judge moved Teddy up to 4th in line and at the last moment, moved one dog in front of him, pushing him back to 5th. Our hearts dropped–so close!” Teddy was the only rare bi-color black & white Russell Terrier at the show.

Lundin sums up her experience this way, “We would definitely attend the World Dog Show again, but probably with fewer dogs. We were able to take so many to Milan only with the help of co-owners and the hospitality of a co-breeder in Italy. Difficulties included getting our gear from the vehicle to the ring set-up. There were no unloading zones, and it was a long walk from the parking area to the right building and through the vet checks…. The other difficult thing was how classes are structured. The dogs, bitches, and puppies were each in separate rings under different judges and the judging was going on simultaneously. Fortunately, we had all dogs and only one puppy, but the puppy ring was a long way from the dog ring. We had to split up and wait at each ring.”

As for overall type, “The JRT’s that show in Europe do not have a uniform type, any more than we currently have in the USA. The JRT’s in Australia however tend to be lighter, slightly squarer dogs than those in Europe. As to the popularity of the JRT’s, Italy probably has more JRT breeders than any other country and so that accounts for the huge entry this year (248).”

For additional excitement, nothing could compare to the American Staffordshire Terrier assignments… spread out over four rings. This didn’t involve any American exhibits though. Few were there. Four were entered in all: one lives in Italy, another in the Ukraine and one was absent. The multi-Best in Show winning US GCH Ko Bo’s Prometeus bed by Viktor Koszoru (Hungary) and owned by Marissa Gittelman was on hand however. He placed 4th in the Champion class of 32.

As mentioned previously, the only American Judge at the World Dog Show was the very able William Gregory Roadhouse. Greg has bred American Staffordshire Terriers since 1984 and was recently approved by the AKC to judge Am Staffs here in the US. He was a last minute substitute for Mr. Menaker. In a conversation he related, “I got a call perhaps three days before the show by the Italian Kennel Club authorities.” Fortunately Mr. Roadhouse has a job where he is flexible so he was able to drop everything and come to the rescue. His assignment included Intermediate, Open, Champion and Veteran bitches. “There were 440 entered and I had about 125.”

Mr. Roadhouse’s most surprising revelation regarding his assignment though was not the nice entry but that there was a uniformed policeman in each ring. “There were at least four fights. In the very first class they had to stop the judging because there was a fight outside the ring.” According to Mr. Roadhouse, apparently this happens amongst the Am Staff fanciers in the EU every year. He said, “No way should it be tolerated!”

As for the quality of the exhibits, he found that they were equal to those in the US. “They breed a lot more in Europe.” When asked about breed type he mentioned that the Eastern Europeans brought more of the bully type “shorter muzzle, bigger bone.”

He added, “No problem with the dogs; the owners were a little crazy. If you’re in dog shows you have to realize you’re not going to win every time. If you don’t, you should get out.” Apparently this message has not gotten through to several of the Am Staff fanciers overseas.

When asked about the issue of cropped ears, he mentioned that despite the U.S. Standard which states, “uncropped preferred” he found 70% of his entry had cropped ears. This in spite of the WDS rules regarding, “Subjects with docked tail and/or cropped ears.” The regulations specified, “We would like to remind all exhibitors who are owners of those subjects belonging to breeds for which the FCI breed standard still provides for ear cropping, to deliver at the entrance of the show, the original veterinarian certificate attesting that ear cropping, if practiced on the subject, was made for curative reasons…” Mr. Roadhouse highly doubted that this had been enforced.

Despite these anomalies and the fisticuffs, he enjoyed his assignment. “I’d recommend for anyone to go over and see it. There were over 20,000 dogs there. It was good to go see what they’ve done with our breed.” He added that the judges were treated very well by the Italian Kennel Club.

The only American BOB winner was the young Scottie bitch GCH Whiskybae Lochraven Lollypop who was BOB CACIB in a field of 117 (21 absent). Lighting up the eye of UK Scottie expert Judge Margaret Herd (kennel Brueik), Lolly was one of four US Scotties in the ring although six were entered. Shown by Rebecca Cross, Lolly was bred by Carla LaCoe and Anita Ravensway and is co-owned by Anita and Carla with Judy Boughton. According to Anita, “Lolly won her first big show in April of 2013 when she won WB/BOW at the Atlanta Scottish Terrier Specialty. She had just turned a year old. She went on that year to finish her championship at the Hatboro show Montgomery County weekend taking WB/BOW; then BOS her first day out as a champion and Select Bitch at MCKC.”

Lolly has won BOB at four Scottish Terrier Specialties here in the US including the National Rotating Specialty in 2015. Respected breeder/judge Sandra Anderson judged her at the Scottish Terrier Club of Greater Dayton on March 29, 2014 when Lolly was a new arrival on the scene. Sandy recalls, “I liked her very well since I awarded her BISS in Ohio. She is what I want in a Scottie. She has a varminty eye with ears placed well up on the head. She is nice and low and has a well-angled front with a rear to match. She is in good condition and has a body that possesses power and purpose.”

The other Scottish Terrier from the US on hand is owned by Dr. L Carol Blain and Lori Tuttle (see also West Highland White Terriers). Silver GCH Kingsview Just Ebony was shown in the Open Bitch class by Dr. Blain. Ebony with Carol’s handling has been a top-ten Scottie in the all breed system for the past three years in the USA. At the World Show, according to co-owner Lori Tuttle, “she made it to the final cut before standing 5th at the end. Her breeder, Mrs. Julie Coley from England, was there to see her strut her stuff.”

Another top winner was the Lakeland ex-patriot Hi-Kel Terrydale Just Daniel bred by Maripi Wooldrige and owned by Nadezhda Mikheeva (Moscow, Russia). Daniel was CACIB and CAC dog from the Open Class of 6 under UK Judge Elaine Baldwin.

Ms. Baldwin also judged Smooth Fox Terriers where there were three from the Absolutely Kennels (James Smith). US Ch. Absolutely Superstitious, another ex-pat (Germany), is owned by Friedrich-Wilhelm Schoneberg, Dana Gabel and Mr. Smith. Superstitious was first in the Open class (6) and was CAC dog as well as Reserve CACIB. Mr. Smith had two other entries. Absolutely Oh My who placed a respectable 2nd in the Junior Bitch class of 9. Absolutely Well Played was also 2nd in the Open Bitch class of three. Mr. Smith did not respond to an e-mail but another respected Smooth Fox breeder mentioned in a message that, “UK Judges do not necessarily see our breeds the same way we do.”

There were 59 Kerry Blue Terriers entered including puppies and veterans. Balboa Fred Perry was CAC and Reserve CACIB from the Open Class. Bred by Roberto Tasselli (Italy), Fred Perry was the only Kerry Blue entered with a connection to the US. He is owned by Carolyn Daffern of Sun Valley.

Two rings were needed to handle the West Highland White Terrier entry of 104 (actually present). UK Judge Jennie Griffiths had two from the US in her assignment. In a Champion Class of 18, Ch. The Boss De New Gryffindor owned by Fred Askin did not place. However, he is the sire of NSASE In The Zone who was also entered. Enzo, bred by Pennsylvania breeder Linda McCutcheon, is owned by Lori Tuttle with Dr. L. Carol Blain. Enzo’s dam was bred by Lori who always does her own handling.

“We competed at the Club show on Friday judged by Mrs. Lynette Brown of Australia. He won his Open class and the CAC, which is awarded to the top class dog from the Intermediate and Open classes. The CAC is sort of like Winners Dog except puppies don’t compete for it over there. At the World Show on Saturday, Enzo won his very large Open class (9) and was awarded RCAC. These two wins qualified him to be awarded his Italian championship. We are over the moon with this result!”

Enzo was Best Puppy in Show at Columbia Terrier and won the Sweepstakes at the National Roving Specialty in 2014. At 26 months old, he is more than half way to his Bronze Grand Championship. He is Lori’s fifth generation of Westies and her 25th OH Champion. According to Lori, NSASE is an acronym for “No Small Amount of Self Esteem” which is the description of the Westie personality in the standard.

When asked if she thought the judges found the better dogs overall she responded, “I think we were very fortunate to have two prominent, knowledgeable Westie experts with international experience. They clearly knew what they wanted and were very consistent. The dog that Mrs. Griffiths put up for the CACIB and BOS (Bonjorno Rokoko-Latvia; Champion class) is an outstanding dog that I have had my eye on for awhile, and the bitch she put up for Best of Breed was just lovely (Stella Trantino Santo-Latvia; from the Intermediate class).”

As for how the US Westies compare, “I think that Westies certainly fall into “styles,” both of type and presentation, wherever you look, and that really I saw some of each there, just as I would see at a very large entry here. So many that I liked; I saw a lot of good fronts and movement, and since we were told that chalk and spray were not allowed, we were perhaps able to see the dogs true coats and they were more naturally presented.”

For complete results, go to World Dog Show 2015 Results. Although no information is given about parentage, breeders, ownership or much else it makes interesting reading. Many kennel names are familiar. Similarly one can go to YouTube and find the videos. Thanks to everyone who helped with this piece. It is so appreciated.

From a personal perspective, I was very happy to see my homebred Norwich Intl.-Ch. Littlefield Knave of Hearts at Stoppelhopser (owned by Regina Waschkawitz/Germany) go second in his Open class of 7 as well as several Littlefield descendants being shown and placing honorably. At the same time I was disappointed to see my two docked-tail Champion girls go 2nd and 3rd in their Intermediate class both days… but both were rated Excellent by both judges and each got a turn at second. (Where’s the ‘smile’ emoticon?) As Judge Roadhouse says, you can’t expect to win all the time. Truly! Happily no fights broke out outside the Norwich ring. Instead a lovely luncheon was provided by fellow fancier Uliva Guicciardini (Degli Acquisti Norwich) and friends. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I got to see a good cross-section of Norwich at the shows. Congratulations to all from the US who crossed the Atlantic to compete or observe, regardless of the outcome. That in itself is an accomplishment.

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Posted by ralbee on Sep 22 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.