Click here to read the complete article 134 – February, 2023 By Caroline Coile photos by Rhonda Cassidy & Michael McGuire The International Kennel Club of Chicago: To anyone who’s been around awhile, it’s one of the Big Ones, the ones you plan for, travel for, and wait for all year. It’s one filled with [...]
In December, I was lucky enough to interview two of our current “greats,” icons to many, each with decades of experience in dogs. For February, I shifted toward the next generation by interviewing twenty-year-old Riley Capton, a first generation handler who boasts numerous achievements in recent years. After successes such as being ranked the #1 Terrier Junior in 2019 and 2020 and placing at Westminster, Riley has continued to work for handlers and is making a new name for herself as a junior’s judge. She currently attends California Polytechnic State University for undergraduate studies in Animal Science on the Pre-Veterinary track. When she is not at college, she works as a veterinary intern under Dr. Dana Bleifer. I asked her the same questions, and she offers a similar but new perspective on the issues.
Will Alexander Drops Some Knowledge About What’s Happening in the Sport of Dogs. It’s Deep… It’s Humorous… It’s Provocative… It’s Will Unfiltered! Will Alexander has an in-depth conversation with Pat Blenkey & Brian Casey. Click here to watch on Canine Chronicle TV!
“As time goes by…” This is the phrase that my primary care doctor uses as she explains a particular test result or new nagging ache. I find it a very acceptable way to say that I’m not 40 (or 50 or 60) anymore!
During the years immediately after university graduation, I got to know a number of Navy and Marine Corps fighter pilots. A recurring “mantra” with these pilots was the need to always maintain “situational awareness,” one element of which is how aware is the pilot of what’s happening to him/her and his/her airplane at the moment and what will be happening in the future. This is of particular importance to fighter pilots since, to lose situational awareness, particularly in a combat situation, can cause a Strike Eagle, Fighting Falcon, Raptor, Hornet or Tomcat driver to have a very bad day indeed.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health analyzed data from more than 46,000 dogs representing over 300 breeds in an attempt to isolate lineage-specific behaviors and ultimately, the genes responsible for them. The data included whole-genome data from over 4000 purebred, mixed-breed and semi-feral dogs, as well as wild canids.
I thought she was the most beautiful girl at the shows, if not the most beautiful I had ever seen. I was the assistant of the late great Garry MacDonald who–though many trials and tribulations (mostly self-inflicted)–Garry always had a home and that was the dog show. He thrived and at 43 years of age was one of the winningest professional handlers this country had seen. She was the assistant of the legend herself, the first lady of Canadian dog shows, Susan Hillman. Somebody once asked Mrs. Clark who Susan Hillman was. Mrs. Clark replied, “if you bred me to Janey, you would get Susan Hillman.”
Ellen Charles sits on her sofa in her Georgetown home. Every once in a while, like dress extras in a film, one of her house poodles (one Standard, Porter, one Toy, Cashew) crosses the room behind her.
Fifteen years ago, I was sitting in my office when the phone rang. It was Rick Beauchamp, an old friend who was a judge, author, and publisher. Rick was passionate about purebred dogs with a special affinity for new breeds he’d discover on his travels. I could feel the excitement in his voice as he described a pair of dogs he’d not seen before on an early morning visit to a small-town desert post office in California.
There are plenty of old and new debate topics in our sport–no surprise as we are a sport based on subjective opinions and interpretations. One issue that has been gaining attention lately is the state of National Specialties. Are they all as “special” as a National Specialty can be? What should breeders and exhibitors expect of a National? Is that expectation based on the population of the breed? In a registry in which the majority of breeds are now classified as low-entry breeds, does the nature of Nationals reflect that change?
