The Keeshond Club of America National Specialty

by William Given

Time passes quickly and the Keeshond Club of America National Specialty is rapidly approaching. This year’s National is being held in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The dates are May 23-29, 2016, and you can expect copious amounts of sunshine as well as precipitation.

There should be an assortment of vendors offering unique Keeshond gifts as well as items we all can use. If you are coming to the National, we look forward to seeing you, allow a few extra days to enjoy our wonderful state. If you ski, there is plenty of snow up in the mountains. If you enjoy baseball, the Colorado Rockies have a homestand scheduled with the San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Springs is the home of the Garden of the Gods, the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, and the Air Force Academy.

The seven day National event will kick off with an all-breed agility competition to be held at the Latigo Trails Equestrian Center in Elbert, Colorado. Two other events are scheduled for Monday, they are the Super Raffle drawing and a Ramp Class. The super raffle tickets are $10.00 each and will be limited to 200 tickets sold. The ramp class will begin at 7:30 pm and is a great opportunity to get puppies and young dogs unfamiliar with the ramp some good practice.

Tuesday morning brings the Rocky Mountain Keeshond Club Obedience and Rally competition center stage. Ms. Patricia Maynard will be judging obedience and rally will be adjudicated by Ms. Karen Lamb. A learn and enjoy K9 NoseWork demonstration is on the schedule with a time to be determined. Additionally, there is a Donors Circle Seminars planned on Canine Pain Management which will be presented by Dr. James Gaynor, DVM, MS. The exact time has yet to be determined.

Wednesday will see the beginning of conformation competition with Dr. Robert Smith officiating Puppy and Veteran Sweepstakes, and the 4-6 Beginner Puppies, then Non-Regular Classes as well as Bitches being judged by Mr. Ronald Horn. For those who have never experienced the opportunity to watch the 4-6 month puppies compete, I can tell you that it really is a “do not miss” event. The evening will be capped with the Top Keeshond Event starting at 6:30 pm with the Welcome Party getting underway at 8:00 pm.

Conformation competition will resume Thursday morning with Dogs, the Veterans and Best of Breed, all judged by Mr. Kenneth Buxton. Following the judging for Best of Breed the young people take center stage for Junior Showmanship adjudicated by Dr. Robert Smith. The Keeshond Club of America’s Breeders Education Committee is hosting a seminar on the topic of neonatal care. The seminar is being presented by Dr. Joni Freshman DVM, MS, and will cover fading puppy syndrome, toxic milk and identifying the first signs of illness. The time has yet to be determined.

The KCA opens Friday morning with the Obedience classes judged by Carol Evans. The day will also see the National Futurity and Maturity will be presided by Terri VanSchyndel. The evening activities will conclude with the KCA Annual Meeting.

Saturday morning’s competition opens with Rally being judged by Mr. Ronald Horn and Dogs by Ms. Loraine Boutwell. This will be followed by Veterans and the Non-Regular Classes, and Mrs. Mary Ellen Meyer will be judging Junior Showmanship. The Rescue and Companion Event will top off Saturday’s activities. This year the event will begin at 7:00 pm. There will be a costume contest and a crate float contest with the audience judging the contests, and there will be door prizes for some lucky individuals in the audience.

The National will wrap up on Sunday with the Bitch competition and the Specials judging. Mrs. Mary Ellen Meyer will be officiating bitches and selecting this year’s Best of Breed winner. After the 2016 National Specialty winners have been chosen, attendees will gather to celebrate a great week in Colorado with the annual award banquet.

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Posted by chesliepickett on May 3 2016. 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.