So, let’s talk about the All-Breed & Breed stats today.

Do you know where these stats come from & who calculates them?

Well, I am going to tell you…

 All AKC dog shows are required submit the results directly to the AKC in a timely manner. AKC, in turn, tabulates this data.

The Canine Chronicle purchases the data directly from AKC and uses it to create the statistics for their system. The Canine Chronicle includes the All-Breed Points & the Breed Points and they have been calculated the same way for over 50 years.

The Canine Chronicle’s All Breed System is based on dogs defeated by winning Best Of Breed, Group Placements, and Best In Shows. All Breed Points ARE NOT awarded for class wins, BOS, Select or Reserve Best In Show.

The Canine Chronicle’s Breed System is based on the number of dogs defeated by winning Best Of Breed ONLY. Class wins, Winners, BOW, BOS & Select wins, DO NOT earn Breed Points.

Now, it is important to remember that demographics will play a part in this system. If your region does not have many dogs of your breed, what are the chances you will be #1 in the Breed system? You might have lots of Best Of Breed wins and opportunities for group placements but not many Breed points.

What if you have lots of breed competition in your area but your average group looks like a Westminster line-up? Lots of Breed Points to be had but not so many All-Breed points. Frustrating, I am sure, but it’s part of the game.

So, you might ask which system is the Real #1 and which one is more important?

All Breed or Breed?

The only system that matters is the one that matters to YOU, and that would be the one that is obtainable by you and your dog.

#1 is #1… one system does not outweigh the other. As long as you reference it at the bottom of the page in your advertising.

One more thing… the next time you see the stats and you think the numbers are incorrect, realize that all the calculations are done by the American Kennel Club using the data that clubs submit to them. If a club does not submit results on time, the data will be askew. If the judge marks his book wrong, then the data will be wrong.

Here’s a tip from an old pro. Remember to check the tear sheets for accuracy before you leave the show, and check the AKC website often for any shows that have not been processed.

Good Luck and Happy Counting!

]]> https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-all-breed-breed-stats/feed/ 0 https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/dick-cooper-the-gentlemans-gentleman/ https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/dick-cooper-the-gentlemans-gentleman/#comments Fri, 07 Jan 2022 18:13:24 +0000 Jane Alston-Myers http://caninechronicle.com/?p=221150 By Joan Harrigan

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234 – July, 2011

Before the advent of four-day clusters and the widespread use of air travel as a means of moving from dog show to dog show, a quiet, even shy, man was setting records in the Midwest. “We used to call him ‘Three-State Cooper,’ for Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin,” former assistant Ken Murray recalls. “He didn’t have to chase Best in Show wins – they came to him.”

Like many of the great handlers of his generation, Richard “Dick” Cooper was born to train and show dogs. His parents, Jack and Ethel Cooper, owned Aragon Kennels outside Chicago in Barrington, Illinois. Dick and his brother, Fred, grew up working with their parents’ show and hunting dogs. Ethel Cooper bred Beagles and Miniature Pinschers, while Jack Cooper one of the country’s top Irish Setter breeders and handlers. He taught Dick how to handle a show dog, and then competed with him in the ring. Since Jack Cooper naturally handled the top winners himself, it was a considerable challenge to his son’s skills. However, Dick’s first Best In Show win wasn’t with one of his father’s Irish Setters, but rather a Gordon Setter. He wasn’t far into his twenties when he handled Ch. Downside Bonnie of Searleway to this win – the first of the 1,000-odd BIS victories he would accumulate throughout his career. Not long after, he went Best In Show with the American Water Spaniel, Ch. Mahoney’s O’Toole, a first for that breed. Read more http://www.onlinedigitalpubs.com/publication/?m=2330&i=74413&p=252&search=Joan%20harrigan&ver=html5

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234 – July, 2011

The recently resurrected International Kennel Club of Chicago has set the dates for its “revival” show: August 26-27, 2023. The show will return to its roots at Chicago’s expansive McCormick Place Convention Center, where it previously set records as the nation’s largest dog show.

 “We’re keeping everything that made this ‘the most colorful dog show in America,’ as a Gazette writer once described it,” says Scott Pfeil, who, with Ken Murray, and Erika Wyatt make up the club’s new leadership team. “And then we’re making it even better.”

 Among the changes: The show will not be benched.

 “Benched shows are part of what drew up to 60,000 spectators to the show in the past, but also kept exhibitors away,” Pfeil continues. “We’ll do it one better and have ways for the public to interact with every breed and see many of them in action. With more than 300,000 square feet at McCormick’s Lakeside Center, we have the space to show off what purebred dogs can do.”

 “Our vision is to build on the legacy built by Louis and Seme Auslander,” Wyatt adds, referring to the renowned judge and former head of the IKC and his wife. “We intend to develop a Festival of Purpose-Bred Dogs — a celebration of the purpose-bred dog and its role at humanity’s side.”

 Another change: Saturday-night groups will be held in the elegant Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place, with seating for more than 4,000 spectators. Negotiations are taking place for television rights.

 The show will include an abundance of educational opportunities and lavish celebrations, as well as prestigious competitions still to be announced.

 The International Kennel Club of Chicago, a continuation of the Chicago Kennel Club, founded in 1900, was for decades one of the top shows in America before leaving McCormick Place and finally holding its last show in 2017. The area around McCormick Place has since been revived and is now home to many dog-friendly hotels.

 An IKC show is being held in Grayslake, Illinois in February of 2022, but Pfeil and Wyatt stress that the 2022 event is being held to comply with AKC rules and is not the International yet to come, which they intend to restore to its former glory as one of the country’s crown jewels of dog shows.

 The club’s new leadership team echoes the sentiment of the late Louis Auslander, who once said: “The International Kennel Club represents our city, and we don’t intend to be second to anybody.”

Does your breed have a Quick Reference Guide or a Standard-At-A Glance? Please send it to Jane.Myers@caninechronicle.com and we will share it with the fancy.

242 – April, 2017

By Joan Harrigan

Elliott Weiss remembers when he first met Julia Gasow. It was 1967, and he was handler Ted Young, Jr.’s apprentice. Gasow, known as “Julie” to her friends, had been breeding her Salilyn English Springer Spaniels for three decades. Weiss, Young, and Gasow met at an airport, where they were booked on the same flight. “I was just a kid,” Weiss recalls. He was in awe of her—“she was a brilliant breeder—one of the best of the century”—and he was content just to listen to her conversation with Young.

 Twenty-five years later, Weiss, who had retired from handling in 1993, was in his first or second year as an AKC judge. He was asked to participate in a panel discussion at the Detroit Kennel Club, and was seated between Julia Gasow and Ruth Cooper. Looking at the two women, Weiss said, “What the hell am I doing here—I’m the junior varsity!” His voice catches as he remembers Gasow’s quick response— “you have a lot to offer, and you don’t even realize it!”

Julia Gasow lived a long life—she passed away at age 94, on April 10, 1999. Her kennel, Salilyn (named for her daughters Sally and Linda) lives on the record books and the pedigrees of today’s Springers. Her Ch. Salilyn Condor (“Robert”) won Westminster in 1993, handled by Mark Threlfall. Ch. Salilyn Aristocrat (“Risto”) is still the top-producing sire of all time, in all breeds, with 188 champion offspring. Aristocrat’s son, Ch. Chinoe’s Adamant James, was the last dog to win successive Westminster Bests in Show, in 1971 and 1972. Robert’s daughter, Ch. Salilyn ‘N Erin’s Shameless (“Samantha”), owned by Carl Blaine, Fran Sunseri, and the Gasow estate and handled by Kellie FitzGerald, won Westminster in 2000. And another Aristocrat descendant, Ch. Felicity’s Diamond Jim, was BIS at Westminster in 2007, also handled by FitzGerald.

Gasow was the first female delegate to the American Kennel Club, representing the English Springer Spaniel Club of Michigan. She was the president of the Detroit Kennel Club. She literally “wrote the book” about her breed—The New Complete English Springer Spaniel was published by Howell in 1984. Three years later, she was the first inductee to the Quaker Oaks Ken-L Ration (now Pro-Plan) Hall of Fame. She won many other awards, and qualified as an AKC judge. However, the mere listing of the awards that she won for her breeding program and that her dogs won in the conformation ring doesn’t do Julia Gasow justice. As impressive as her accomplishments were, the person behind them is far more interesting. And, as her friends remember her, Julia Gasow represented the kind of “doger” (her word) who is hard to find today.

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242 – April, 2017

]]> https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/julia-gasow-salilyns-gracious-lady-2/feed/ 0 https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/american-kennel-club-expands-its-pack-in-2022-mudi-and-russian-toy-bring-recognized-breeds-to-199/ https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/american-kennel-club-expands-its-pack-in-2022-mudi-and-russian-toy-bring-recognized-breeds-to-199/#comments Tue, 04 Jan 2022 15:16:47 +0000 Jane Alston-Myers http://caninechronicle.com/?p=220926

New York, NY – The American Kennel Club (AKC®), the world’s largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, announced today that the Mudi and Russian Toy have received full recognition, and are eligible to compete in the Herding Group and Toy Group, respectively. These additions bring the number of AKC-recognized breeds to 199.

 “We’re thrilled to have two unique breeds join the registry,” said Gina DiNardo, AKC Executive Secretary. “The Mudi, a medium-sized herding dog, makes a great pet for an active family committed to keeping this worker busy, and the small, loving Russian Toy thrives on being close to its humans, making a wonderful companion for an owner who can be with the dog a great deal. As always, we encourage people to do their research to find the right breed for their lifestyle.”

 The Mudi joins the Herding Group, and is a medium-sized, versatile, all-purpose farm dog from Hungary. The breed is courageous and useful for working the most stubborn livestock. It’s loyal and protective of property and family members. Mudi are very energetic, enjoying a good run. They are playful, affectionate, and can be calm and relaxed at home. They don’t have many grooming requirements. Occasional baths and a combing or brushing will do.

 Joining the Toy Group, the Russian Toy dates back to the Russian aristocracy. These dogs may be little, but they pack a ton of personality. They are elegant, lively, active and cheerful. They are intelligent with a strong desire to please. Russian Toys thrive on human companionship, loving to snuggle and be close to their family. They can, however, be slightly aloof with strangers. The breed has two coat types – longhaired and smooth. The longhaired coat should be brushed two to three times per week and given baths monthly. The smooth coat needs weekly brushing and occasional baths.

 AKC Recognition offers the breed the opportunity to compete at all levels of AKC-sanctioned events. Recognition does not necessarily mean that the breed is a newly created breed. Many of the breeds that gain full AKC-recognition have existed for decades, and some are ancient. To become an AKC-recognized breed there must be an active following and interest in the breed by owners in the U.S. as well as an established breed club of responsible owners and breeders. There also must be a sufficient population of dogs in the United States geographically distributed throughout the county. Breeds working towards full recognition are recorded in AKC’s Foundation Stock Service® (FSS®). Additional information on the process can be found at akc.org.

268 – December, 2021

By Sandy Weaver

Have you ever visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC? It has one of the world’s most impressive collections of art in all it’s forms. Describing the sculptures, paintings, mixed-media and graphic works with words is challenging and might inform you a little bit about the depth and breadth of the collection, but there’s nothing like actually seeing it in person. With paintings from the Old Masters straight through the Impressionist, Cubist and Modern Art movements, the walls, floors and even ceilings are covered with a wild variety of art.

Can you remember your first dog show? Were you astonished at the wild variety of dogs there, and at the sheer number of different breeds represented? And how many times did you think, as you watched the rings at your first show, “How on earth does the judge decide who the winner is?”

As you grew in your knowledge of dogs and conformation, and especially grew in your understanding of the breed you loved, you began to understand how judges could make their choices. You studied dogs and watched the judging process, maybe even taking notes about what each judge seemed to prefer so you’d know what to take them in the future.

Judging dogs is very much like creating art, and just as a roomful of artists, given the exact same tools, will create completely different pieces of art, a roomful of judges, given the exact same dogs, may very well make quite different choices.

And just as Cezanne, Rodin and Picasso wouldn’t be wrong in the artistic choices they made, judges aren’t wrong just because they chose differently than you might have.

They’ve simply taken words – the Standard – and created a different mental picture with it. As they judge, they compare the living beings in front of them with their mental picture, make the tradeoffs necessary to balance virtues and faults, and hand out the ribbons. Factored into their choices are probably the dragons they fought in their own breeding programs, including bad bites, big ears or low tail sets. This is a very human thing – when they’ve been focused on a problem and how to solve it for years, the problem stands out more for that judge, no matter the breed they’re judging.

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268 – December, 2021

338 – December, 2021

By Caroline Coile

Are you one of the people who was outraged by the claims that your tax dollars were being used to torture beagle puppies by letting insects eat them alive? And researchers ripping out their vocal chords so they couldn’t scream? And drugging them?

Welcome to the world of “It’s all how you say it.” And as dog breeders and exhibitors, it’s a world you need to be aware of, as you could be the next target.

Let’s break this down. And by the way, here’s a link to the actual research article: Enhanced attraction of sand fly vectors of Leishmania infantum to dogs infected with zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (plos.org) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009647

“28 puppies” turns out to be 12 dogs, “varying in age from 3 to 4 years old.” The 28 puppies refers to a different acquisition of puppies by the NIH for a project at the University of Georgia. The “expose” includes a record for each dog that includes a long list of drugs and treatments, a list non-dog-owners might assume is a torture recipe, but we all recognize as the regular schedule of DHLP and worming medications!

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338 – December, 2021

298 – December, 2021

By Chris Robinson

I’ve been a hunter since the state where I live decreed that I was old enough to take the Department of Natural Resources’ firearms safety instruction and thus old enough to be trusted with a firearm. The fact that I was a graduate of one of the first firearms safety courses that the state offered says that I’ve been a hunter for way more years than I care to count. During that time, I’ve hunted with lots of different dogs, some memorable for a variety of reasons on days that were glorious in their splendor and on others when any sensible person would have been sitting by a roaring fire with a good book in hand and a glass filled with some fine adult beverage at their elbow.

My personal breeds of choice over the years have been Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and, until arthritic knees followed by a knee replacement that was just semi-successful limited my upland bird hunting to “posting”, Brittanies. But, I have also hunted over many other breeds belonging to others and the truth is that I’ve enjoyed all of them. Some, to be perfectly candid, I’ve enjoyed because they were so quirky or so abysmally trained or their owners were so colorful or so obnoxious that I knew they’d provide “fodder” for future stories that I’d write.

My current Chesapeake, Bo, or to use his “fancy” name, Ch. Sprucegrove’s Rippling Waters Pro Bono SH, loves to hunt and I love the joy that hunting gives him. Yes, show dogs can hunt and a lot of them are very good at that job. I’ve often wished that I was as good a shooter as my show champions have been hunters. Way more often than I’d like, they’ve heard the words “No bird.” What’s worse, when I or my hunting partners miss, especially when we’re hunting pheasants in heavy cover such as sorghum, switchgrass or corn, they’ve all given us “the look,” the one that says, “Hey, you just made me do a lot of hard work for nothing!” Bo, in particular, makes no bones about the fact that when he does his job, he expects the payment of a bird for him to fetch. He’s a bit more forgiving when we’re hunting waterfowl because then all he has to do is make the retrieve but even there, his patience has limits. If there are too many missed birds in a row, he’ll lay down with his “Let me know if you ever hit one” look.

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298 – December, 2021

]]> https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/why-hunt-with-a-dog/feed/ 0 https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/american-kennel-club-hires-camille-l-bakker-as-executive-field-representative/ https://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/american-kennel-club-hires-camille-l-bakker-as-executive-field-representative/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2021 14:10:33 +0000 Jane Alston-Myers http://caninechronicle.com/?p=220585

The American Kennel Club is pleased to announce that Camille L. Bakker of Angel Camp, California has been hired as an Executive Field Representative in Conformation. She starts effective January 2022 and will be based in the northern California territory.

 “Camille’s knowledge of dogs and AKC events has given her a solid foundation to excel in this new role as an AKC Executive Field Representative,” said Sandra D’Andrea, Field Director, Conformation. “We are thrilled to welcome her as the newest member of the AKC Staff.”

 For several decades, Bakker has owned, bred and handled Italian Greyhounds and Bichon Frises. She is an approved mentor for both breeds, a Judge and an All-Breed Juniors Judge as well as a member and officer of Specialty, Group and All-Breed clubs. Bakker has been attending AKC events since 1973 and has served as a Show Chairperson for specialty and all-breed shows. In the past, Bakker was a handler’s assistant for 11 years and a kennel manager, handling a multitude of breeds. She is also an AKC Breeder of Merit.

 Camille L. Bakker has a Bachelor of Science in Paralegal Science from Humphreys College and works as a Paralegal, Supervising Legal Secretary. She has been dedicated to breeding, owning and handling dogs in AKC events for the past 30 plus years and is now beginning her newest endeavor as an Executive Field Representative.