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CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS
For you armchair enthusiasts, this has to be the weekend to look forward to, with the long-awaited Super Bowl Sunday, pitting our undefeated New England Patriots against the New York Giants. But wait! There is another contest of champions preceding the football game, an event offering equivalent drama, excitement and suspense. It's the Seventh Annual AKC (American Kennel Club)/Eukanuba National Championship.
Simulcast this Saturday night, February 2, from 8:00-11:00pm, on the Animal Planet (63) and Discovery Channel (39), this premier dog show actually took place in Long Beach, California, last December. Referred to as "the complete canine extravaganza" by its sponsors, 2,444 dogs competed for a total of $225,000 in cash prizes.
For many of us, including me, in real time the AKC/Eukanuba event slipped under the radar, so Saturday I will view it as a totally new experience. Of course, if you want to take a shortcut, the results are readily available on the AKC/Eukanuba website, but it's much more fun to watch the contest with fresh eyes and see how your favorites measure up. Many of these same dogs will be competing at the Westminster show, so you will have the latest scoop right before Westminster airs live on February 11 and 12.
The AKC, the oldest and largest registry of dog breeds in this country, now recognizes 169 breeds, divided into seven major groups according to that breed's general purpose or type: Sporting, Herding, Terrier, Toy, Working, Non-Working and Hound.
Obtaining AKC status is a long process for a breed. The AKC will not consider a breed for registration unless there is an organized American breed club with a registry of at least 300 dogs and three generations of breeding pedigrees in place. This can take a long time for those breeds that are little known or have only regional popularity. For the breeders, having AKC sanction means that their records will be kept by a prestigious national organization as well as providing a venue for national exposure of their breed through event participation.
Let's take a quick look at the four breeds the AKC admitted during 2007 so that we will be a little familiar with them when they parade around the ring on Saturday night.
The Plott is fascinating to me because it is considered one of the truly American breeds, having been bred and refined on this soil for over 200 years. In 1750, a young German immigrating to Bute County, North Carolina, brought along five Hanoverian Hounds, a revered hunting breed from his homeland. Through the generations, the Plott men bred their dogs for hunting big game such as bear, boar and mountain lion, and the dog's fame spread, both as fearless hunters and for their treeing instinct which also made them popular with coon hunters. The official state dog of North Carolina, the Plott is a medium-sized dog that uses its strong nose and aggressive hunting instinct to track, bring to bay or tree big game and raccoons.
References to the Beauceron appeared in a Renaissance manuscript dated 1578. Developed solely in France for herding, in the late 1800s, a distinction was made between the sheep dog with a long coat, Berger de Brie (Briard) and the short coated Berger de Beauce (Beauceron). Used to move herds of 200-300 sheep distances of up to 50 miles without showing signs of exhaustion, this breed fell out of favor as France became more industrialized. To rally support for the breed, fanciers have emphasized its versatility with use in law enforcement and as military guard dogs.
The Swedish Vallhund is an ancient breed, believed to be indigenous to that country back to the days of the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago. Similar to the Welsh Corgi, the Swedish Vallhund is taller, shorter and slimmer than the Corgi, but, similarly, they are bred to work as herders of livestock. Unknown in this country until 1985, the Swedish Vallhund is intelligent, friendly and a good companion dog.
The Tibetan Mastiff is also an ancient breed, but since few Westerners were allowed into Tibet prior to the 1800s, little is known about the early history of this dog. Traditional defenders of flocks along with the women, children and belongings of their masters against predators, both animal and human, these dogs have a long association of working with man. In the late 1950s two Tibetan Mastiffs were sent from Tibet to President Eisenhower, although they were relocated to the Midwest and obscurity. The American Tibetan Mastiff Society was formed in 1974. These large, full coated dogs have a protective instinct, strength, initiative, patience and gentleness.
Seeing these new inductees to the AKC is just one more reason to tune into the canine equivalents of the Super
Bowl. I
Jan Jaeger is owner of Geronimo's, Ltd., Nantucket's pet supply and gift shop and is a member of Dog and Cat Writer's Associations of America (DWAA and CWA).. Her pets at home are Junior, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and three cats. At the shop are the cats, Messrs. Fish and Chips, Flower Bunny, Millie guinea pig and two budgies. Send e-mail to jan@geronimos.com.
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