Poodles In Paradise

By Gay Dunlap

Never easy if one lives on the west coast but ever worthwhile, no matter where one lives, is the journey to Salisbury, MD for PCA, the Poodle Club of America’s extraordinary national specialty. A four-day event, it is held here every year at the Wicomico Civic Center, and, once there, easily accessible from the club’s designated host hotel and other area hotels as well. Preceding the conformation competition and beginning several days prior are performance events…tracking, retriever hunting, working, agility, obedience and rally. I particularly regret missing the retriever hunting and working tests but time constraints did not allow.

The theme this year, Poodles In Paradise, transported us to Hawaii, thanks to club member, Bradley Odagiri, who was in charge of the ring and floral design. Bradley, a native Hawaiian, personally arranged for thousands of dollars in blossoms and buds from his island state to be flown stateside, at which point he proceeded to turn the Normandy Arena into an island paradise. The entire floor of the arena was covered with actual sod, somewhat reminiscent of the old Boardwalk Kennel Club shows, although far more beautiful owing to the magnificent floral display and charming white picket fencing demarcating the actual rings.

The show was touchingly dedicated in memoriam to Poodle breeder and popular judge, Bill Cunningham, who sadly left us far too soon on April 5 and also to Poodle breeders, Doris Anne Bernsen, Broad Bay Poodles, and Arlene Scardo, Alrich Poodles. Following the judging on Thursday afternoon we were all invited to lift glasses of champagne in a toast as PCA recognized Wendell Sammet for his many years in the sport of dogs and his dedication to Poodles. It was indeed an awesome sight to see Wendell still running around the ring at a youthful 88 years young!

Conformation judging began at 9:00 Wednesday morning with James G Reynolds adjudicating in Ring 1 a total of 85 Standard dogs. Judging of 29 Miniature dogs by Scott P Wolfe overlapped the Standards slightly, starting in Ring 2 at 10:00, followed at 1:00 by Doris Cozart judging 29 Toy dogs. Both Cozart and Wolfe are highly respected Poodle breeders. On Thursday the same time frame was in effect with the same judges adjudicating and in the same order, 152 Standard bitches, 51 Miniature bitches and 58 Toy bitches.

Friday morning the two rings had been transformed into one gigantic ring for Best of Variety competition, to be followed by Intervariety Competition. Mr Scott judged a total of 33 Miniature specials, Mrs Cozart, 38 Toy specials and Mr Reynolds, 55 Standard specials.

In Standards, Winners Dog and BOW was the English dog, Afterglow Maverick Sabre, breeder owned by Michael Gadsby and Jason Lynn with John and Sandra Stone sharing ownership. Winners Bitch was Gala Brighton Lakeridge Reflections Of Me, owned by L’Dyne Brennan & Debra Ferguson-Jones, bred by Allison Cowie, Alan Waterman and D E Angelo. BOV went to the black Standard, Ch Aleph American Idol, bred by Elizabeth Brown and Jacquelyn Cohen and owned by Brown and Paula Morgan. BOS was GCh Ch Brighton Mikamoto bred by Cindy Rochow, owned by Robert McL Smith III and handled by Kaz Hosaka.

The Miniature winner of the BBE class in dogs, Clarion Camelot Convergence, went on to claim Best of Winners and Best BBE in show. He was bred by Ann & Katherine Kennedy with Mary Ellen Fishler and is owned by the Kennedys and Deann Winslager. Winners Bitch, also from the BBE class, was Mipar Rebellious bred by Michael Parks and owned by Parks and Henry Ellis. BOV was the White Miniature bitch from California handled by Leslie Simis, GCh Durandel Bella Donna, bred and owned by Rene Wanger. BOS went to Ch Karadale Clarion Born This Way also bred by Ann and Katherine Kennedy and owned by Katherine along with Vigil & J Haggett, M Watson, S Rosa Dulski and P Rellihan.

Mrs Cozart chose as her BOW in Toys, the 16-month-old black dog, Baliwick Behold And Believe, bred by Ianthe Bloomquist and owned by Ms Bloomquist and Mark Waldrop. Winners Bitch was Smash JP GB, bred by Yukiko Umura and owned by Yukiko Owada. BOV was Ron Scott & Debbie Burke’s bitch, GCh Smash JP Sakura also bred by Yukiko Omura and handled by Kaz Hosaka. BOS was the dog, GCh Makays Cowboy Tough owned by Kadie Bonds, Tawnya Bobst and Mickey Kern, bred by Bonds with Donna Schuchart and Diane McCann.

A Parade of Champions was held in the late afternoon on Wednesday and, on Thursday, Poodle breeder Gina Wieser judged Veteran Sweepstakes for all three varieties. New this year was the baby puppy competition for pups between the ages of 4 and 6 months, judged by show chairman, Barbara Furbush. Of the 34 puppies entered, her choice for Best of Breed was a 5- month-old Toy puppy dog, Saratoga’s Studious Scholar, bred and owned by Paul Redding and Jim Wasilak.

Poodle Breeder Jack McGillivray delivering the final honors in the Intervariety competition chose the Standard, Ch Adeph American Idol for Best Of Breed. Best Opposite Sex also went to the Standard, bitch GCh Brighton Mikamoto. Best BBE in Show was the Miniature dog Clarion Camelot Convergence and Best Puppy in Show was also a Miniature, Jaset From The Transylvania Hills, shown by Daniel Chavez for his owner Rebecca Shostak and bred by Carmen Telea.

Dennis McCoy, current president of PCA, calls this show “the greatest Poodle show on earth!” “A time for Poodle people to get together, renew old friendships, make new friends and look at Poodles from all over the US and around the world.” The opportunity to watch them do what they were bred to do, work in the field, and then to watch them put their intelligence to the test in agility, obedience and rally trials makes for a long week but vital to understanding the true nature of this incredible breed. Although some seem unhappy with the drop in entries, 825 dogs seemed quite impressive to me. Entries were more impressive, I understand, when PCA was held in June with schools closed for summer break. But much has changed since then, the least not being the fact that the airlines have put embargos on placing dogs in the hold during the summer months.

Certainly, the depth of quality at this show cannot be denied. When a respected breeder judge shared with me his joy and pride over the many outstanding Poodles showcased this year, the passion he conveyed was palpable. In the mind of a passionate and dedicated breeder it doesn’t get any better than that. Finally, I have always marveled at the preparation required to show this breed competitively. To enter the ring after copious hours spent bathing, brushing, combing and scissoring…the meticulousness of the trim…only to lose has all the earmarks of a tragedy until one realizes that it is not about the win but rather the passion that rests in the heart and soul of every Poodle fancier. And that’s what it’s all about.

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Posted by admin on Apr 29 2013. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.