Approaching the judge should be done during downtime, not between classes, not while taking photos, but when the judge clearly has a break in their assignment. Introduce yourself, explain you are a long-time breeder, exhibitor, or parent club-approved mentor (if applicable).
There is no doubt that social media has done great things for communication amongst those in the sport of purebred dogs. Like any resource, Facebook groups can be a great resource to find breeders, handlers, assistants, dog sitters, etc., but references should always be checked beyond what you read on that Facebook group. I see [...]
Table Talk · July 7, 2021 It’s hard to believe that the 4th of July weekend is over!! I enjoyed spending the holiday weekend at home this year. I hope everyone had a chance to spend some time with family, friends and your four-legged companions! I am quite fortunate that my canine crew is not upset by [...]
As I was getting in the zone this morning, getting my material together for the next CC column, I received an email from my old friend Terry Hundt. She reported the sad news of the passing of our mutual friend Natalie Stebbins. Now, many of you present day folks may ask, just who was Natalie Stebbins? Well, let me tell you who she was! In the “glory days” of dog shows in the northeast, Natalie was one of the strong, clever and quietly powerful forces behind some of the top winners of the time.
Charlotte Patterson picked up food poisoning during her recent judging assignment, but she was able to get right back at it and judge on Sunday. This lady is yet another example of how tough our fancy is! Here is hoping you are on the mend, my friend!
Why did this take so long? Yesterday the CDC announced that as of July 14 it will ban the importation of dogs from 100 different countries. No more tweaks to existing regulations. No more special committees or task forces to investigate the problem. No, this time it’s for real. And you gotta admit that the problem is overdue for some drastic action.
I would like to address an issue that came up from my comments last week: I made a statement about the number of “beautiful” service dogs that I saw in the airport when returning from Westminster. I was not discounting the wonderful work that some of our show dogs legitimately perform as service dogs. No one appreciates the work of service dogs more than I do. I have worked with service dogs in the past, and I find the work service dogs and therapy dogs do is nothing short of amazing.
Out of the Vault - A few pictures from around the Doberman Pinscher ring at the 1960 Westminster Kennel Club. Best of Breed was awarded to Ch. Storm’s Donner handled by Peter Knoop who went on to win the Working Group that evening.
