Tuesday Time Travel
Can you name late and great judge pictured handling a Wire Fox Terrier circa 1957? Find out later this afternoon during Will Alexander’s new video, Will’s Time Capsule on The Canine Chronicle!
Can you name late and great judge pictured handling a Wire Fox Terrier circa 1957? Find out later this afternoon during Will Alexander’s new video, Will’s Time Capsule on The Canine Chronicle!
By Lee Canalizo To read the complete article click here 210 – September, 2012 From the archives of The Canine Chronicle, September, 2012 Sometimes I have a“plan for my next article and sometimes someone’s name just pops into my head and I say, “Where did he/she/that come from?” I seldom question the who, what or [...]
By Deborah Wood It’s the most famous story in the history of dog shows. It was Westminster in 1969. New York was in the grip of a horrific snowstorm. The streets had grown icy as the weather had gotten colder. Walter Goodman was stepping carefully through the ice and snow outside the brand new Madison [...]
“A judge new to any breed is unable to recognize that the current winners may be of a far different type than those of another era. . . . Frequently today we hear exhibitors and judges say a certain dog is the greatest living example of that breed. Unfortunately, this dog may be very showy and sound but is not, in reality, the true type of this breed as were the winners of 20 or 30 years ago.
Many breeds today have lost their true type. . . We must realize that true type is the quintessence of any breed. A healthy farm dog trotting down a country lane has all the attributes that are found in most standards of most breeds – all it lacks is type!”
Once upon a time in the Northeast, there was a group of dog show ladies, the best of friends, who happened to call themselves the “ANJELS”. No, they were not like Charlie’s Angels, not so young or tall and certainly not crime fighters! They were all very involved in the dog world, mostly as judges or wives of judges.
The group (in ANJELS order) was comprised of Angela Popura, the “A”, Natalie Stebbins, the “N”, Jean Fournier, the “J”, Estelle Cohen, the “E”, I was the “L” and Sheila Balch was the “S”!
The moment the first loser stalked out of the first dog show judging qualifications became the central controversy of this sport. Not only has it defied resolution for well over a century, the surrounding furor has never dropped one decibel.
Many of the keenest minds whose opinions you prize will freely admit much of what they learned (and more importantly…carry into their judgments on a regular basis) were gifts from this great sportswoman. Bea started in dogs in the early 1930s with her “Coastwise” Newfoundlands. She also had success in other breeds which included German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Shetland Sheepdogs, and both Sealyham and Dandie Dinmont Terriers. When I say “success” in these chosen breeds, I say it as humbly as Bea would have; she won National Specialties in each of those breeds over her years of her involvement.
It will come as no surprise that I choose to write about Sunny Shay. It might be more of a surprise that she wasn’t the first one I wrote about…she undoubtedly has to be the most influential person to my life in the sport, as this was the start of a lifelong obsession.
From the archives of The Canine Chronicle, April 2010 By Lee Canalizo The sport of purebred dogs is constantly moving forward and sometimes we forget to look back. Our past has a marvelous and colorful history forged by pioneers of the sport who span many sectors as breeders, handlers and judges. These are the people [...]
Looking back…many, many years ago, in a land far away, (namely the German Shepherd Specialty world), I met and became friends with a one-of-a-kind GSD handler by the fanciful name of Lamar Kuhns.