From The CC Vault: One Man’s Opinion

By Ric Chashoudian

Originally published: August 2010

The Wire Fox Terrier, Ch. Starring Joint of Santeric at Great Western winning under judge Peter Winfield from England

I did not attend the Great Western Terrier Show this year. It is one of the few years I have missed since its inception.

Great Western was Margaret Young Renihan’s brainchild. Quite a few claimed it would not fly, but it has become one of the great Terrier shows in the country, second only to the Montgomery County Kennel Club in Pennsylvania. Fred Young, Margaret’s husband, and I became good friends in the late ‘40s. I lived in Sun Valley, California and Fred and Margaret lived about a twenty minute drive away in Burbank. I got a call one day from Fred and he asked if I was going to the Phoenix, Arizona show. I told Fred I was going and he asked if I would take one of his Bedlingtons with me and show it there because it needed only one major to finish its championship. I told Fred I would be glad to and I did. The dog won a major. From then on we became very good friends.

Fred worked for the telephone company after he got out of the service in the late 1940s. Fred was a great storyteller and I used to enjoy talking with him. He and Margaret had three young children who turned out to be great.

The Great Western Terrier Association, in its conception, was held the day before the Beverly Hills Kennel Club Show. The Beverly Hills Kennel Club hired some of the best judges in this country. Great Western would share some of the great judges that Beverly Hills would hire. Only the best of the best would judge there and I would enjoy so much showing there when I was a dog handler. Great Western started to become a very well-known show. Top Terrier handlers from all over the country started to attend, which they still do today.

In the beginning, Great Western had venue problems. The show was and is still held in June. Most of the time in California it is hot. If the venue doesn’t have a lot of shade it can be uncomfortable. I understand it is now held at the Queen Mary Events Park in Long Beach, California and it was a great show this year. The great breeder of Smooth Fox Terriers, Amy Booth, was Best In Show both days with a dog called Ch. J’Cobe Kemosabe Vigilante Justice. Amy is one of those breeders who has a green thumb and keeps coming up with good ones. Amy has had good ones for years.

When I was a handler, believe it or not, I would take close to fifty dogs to this show. I had lots of help and we very rarely missed a dog. I used to give my help a lecture the morning of the show that we DID NOT MISS an entry of our clients. Fifty Terriers is a lot to get ready and have look good but we used to do it. After this show I used to show a few of my handler friends around Hollywood or places that they might be interested in. After all of this, I used to be exhausted and would treat myself to a little time off. I use a walker now because my balance is a little off and I was a litle concerned how I could tromp through the fields at Great Western. I will be sure to make it next year if the venue is as good as I hear it was.

As I am writing this article, Peter Green just called me and told me that he judged a World Show in Croatia. I did not know where Croatia was and he explained it to me.

I told Peter I was writing this article about Great Western and he reminded me that the first dog show he ever attended in the United States was when I drove him out to a match show for Great Western in the mid ‘60s before they had their first real show in 1967.

Peter came to California to work for Mrs. Urmston of Trucote Kennels in Malibu, California. It was a Wire Fox Terrier that he showed for Mrs. Urmston and he won Best In Show with him at this match show which was held inside. It did not take long for Peter to start winning in this country.

When Peter moved to Pennsylvania he would come to Great Western and stay with me. We had a fierce competition between he and I. We left our competition in the ring, went to dinner and looked forward to the next day’s competition. Our friendship remains to this day. To this day a breed win at Great Western is an important win.

A few Sundays ago I went to visit at a small show in Louisiana held in Gonzales. I went because I understood it was going to be Jimmy Moses’ last all breed show that he would be showing in. Jimmy is a man that is gifted with a dog. I have seen many German Shepherd handlers and he is the best I have ever seen. He is also a successful breeder. I go back to attending dog shows in the 1940s. Jimmy gets into his dogs head and with a little help from liver got the job done. Once in awhile a person comes along with the talent Jimmy has with dogs, but it is not often. People like Peter Green, Gabriel Rangel and a very few more have this talent. I enjoy watching people like this show their dogs.

That is all for right now.

Til next time,

Ric Chashoudian

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