Rarefied Heirs – A Column On Our Rarest Breeds

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158 – April, 2025

By Lori Sternola

Wayne Cavanaugh’s article in January on “The Sanctity of Standards” gave me much to think about. After growing up in dogs on the West Coast, I returned to our sport in 2021 after a 25-year break living abroad and raising kids. In ways, I found our sport much changed. What was familiar, unchanged, and delightful was the passion we find in individual judges, exhibitors and breeders who are truly devoted to our sport, and to their breed or breeds. Being new to my current breed (Harriers) but not to the sport, gave me a valuable perspective around standards and breed education. As a student of my breed, I’ve watched as much judging as I can, attending seminars, and interviewed a number of people with tenure in the breed. I’ve been surprised by how many of our lifetime colleagues share history with this rare and intriguing breed. You would be surprised at how many of our well-known faces have a “Harrier story”. I owe thanks to so many of them for sharing their stories and experiences with me.

For 2023, Harriers stood at Number 190 in registrations out of 200 AKC breeds. Often, fewer than 30 are registered in any given year. To put that in perspective, Harriers are less popular than the Entlebucher, the Chinook, and the Otterhound. In Doug Johnson’s Breeders’ Seminar given in Doswell last fall, he made a comment that will always stay with me. It went something like this:

“Many of our rare breeds have fewer than 1,000 living dogs in the world. There are 25,000 polar bears and people are losing their minds.”

By no means was he (or am I) belittling the plight of polar bears. But his comment certainly put things in perspective for me. Our rare breeds require intentional stewarding if they’re going to survive. And those of us devoted to them are wearing it. If we step aside, it’s not as if there are a dozen other breeders or fanciers to take our place.

Click here to read the complete article
158 – April, 2025

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Posted by AnthonyA on Apr 12 2025. 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.