A glance at the monthly statistics confirms that plenty of Herding breeds rise to the top of the game. However, this only reflects their accomplishments since the formation of the Herding Group in 1983. Countless Herding breed superstars launched their careers from the Working Group, and even earlier. Before AKC implemented group divisions in 1924, Herding breeds competed from Non-Sporting.
Theories abound about how humans and dogs became such an integral part of each other’s lives. According to the experts, Canis familiaris was domesticated somewhere between 33,000 and 15,000 years ago. DNA evidence supports the belief that our vast array of modern breeds of dogs are all descended from the grey wolf, and additionally, that it is highly likely that “domestication” took place more or less spontaneously in multiple locations in the world. Just how that happened, we may never know for sure. Some have surmised that dogs basically “self-domesticated”.
From the end of the ninth century, the early inhabitants of Hungary – the Magyars – kept their sheepdogs in the lowlands of the Carpathian Mountains. Only in the second half of the 19th century was the breeding of pedigree dogs begun, on the initiative of Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860), politician, theorist, writer and the founder of the Hungarian Academy of Science.
Sometime in the next few days, an eight-week-old Chesapeake pup will move into my house. Named Bo, for Pro Bono, because if there is ever a project undertaken voluntarily and without charge, it’s a puppy. Whether he’ll be welcome or not in my canine society depends upon whether the two dogs already in residence think it’s nice to have someone to boss around. Although they are litter sisters, they can’t stand the sight of each other and thus have never settled the issue of who is boss and who is bossee.
MRS. JANE FORSYTH HEADS THE
MORRIS & ESSEX 2015 PANEL AS BEST IN SHOW JUDGE
Question:
What Do Some Kennel Clubs and the United States Government Have In Common?
Answer:
Neither of them knows how to work together for the benefit of their constituents.
Puppies and young dogs are well-known for assuming an amazing array of extraordinarily unappealing shapes and sizes before they reach any sort of fixed maturity. You may look at a very handsome and promising youngster that has a good many outstanding qualities one day, only to find a month later that he has gone completely course.
Nothing has captured the attention of the dog show world quite as effectively as social media…
It is an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with fellow breeders and owners/handlers who have our dogs. The quick and easy exchange of information on ring timing, assistance, emergency coverage and engaging immediate help for a dog or person who goes down, is invaluable. Many a life has been saved due to the quick actions taken via a post or directions obtained off Google+!
John Berger says, “Without ethics, man has no future,” and the same can be said of dog shows. A code of ethics allows organizations to communicate ideas such as rules a group must follow or personal ideals of right and wrong, but no matter the definition, people understand a code of ethics differently because they have contrasting opinions on morality. The dog fancy needs the AKC Code of Sportsmanship (approved by the board in 2006) to communicate the sport’s guidelines for behavior.
Here we go again. I know the end of the year is closing in because AKC is performing the annual changing of the Judging Approval Process. Just like the annual waterfowl migration south, or the daily changing of the guard at Buckingham?Palacie, it appears that AKC feels the need to change the approval process for judges on what seems to be a yearly basis.
