WITH SARA KARL, SANDY NOVOCIN, ABBY PATRIZIO, NANCY STEWART & DEBORAH WILKINS
SARA KARL I’m a Breeder/Judge and BMDCA Approved Judges Mentor from Peyton, Colorado. I was a stay at home mom and now I fancy myself a stay at home grandma. SANDY NOVOCIN I’m a Breeder/Judge and BMDCA Approved Judges Men- tor. I reside in Mt.Airy, Maryland and am a retired elementary education teacher. I have been a breeder/judge since 1998 and have owned Berners since 1979. ABBY PATRIZIO I’m a Breeder/Judge and BMDCA Approved Judges Men- tor from Connecticut. I’m a compliance Officer at a com- munity bank and outside of dogs, I spend time with friends and family. NANCY STEWART I’m a Breeder/Judge and BMDCA Approved Judges Mentor from Scottsdale, Arizona. Outside of dogs, with what little time there is, I love to travel both in the US and abroad and am an avid reader, particularly enjoying historical biographies or fiction.
dog show family for thirty years and most of my time is still spent on dog related activities and organizations. I am an AKC delegate and judge. I enjoy worldwide travel and adventure, bird watching, collecting interesting things on the beach, reading and current events. 1. Your opinion of the current quality of purebred dogs in general, and your breed in particular? SK: I think the quality of purebred dogs now is, generally, good. Bernese are much better quality on the whole but we do still struggle with consistency in size in particular. SN: I think a lot of purebred dogs these days do not really resemble the breed standard as they should. I feel too many people tend to breed to big winners and end up producing dogs that do not actually follow the standard. Many judges see these dogs and assume they are correct. Judges must make sure they know the standard of each breed they judge and not just think they know what they should look like from what they see in the ring. When I started showing my first Berner in the late 1970s, this was a wash and wear dog. We bathed them, trimmed their feet and, perhaps, cut their whiskers. Today, this has become a dog that people spend hours grooming as they scissor and cut them as they were not to be groomed. This is a farm dog and needs to be in natural condition with little grooming actually needed. Movement years ago was not good in the rear. I hardly remember the front as the rears were so close and weak. Today, most of the rear movement has improved but we definitely have some issues with our dogs front move- ment. Tail carriage is to be off the back and we also have some that ruin the side movement as they go around as the picture in your mind is broken when you see a tail that is not as described in the standard. Today we do see a lot more dogs that we, as breeders, might wish to use in our breeding programs. In years past, it was difficult to find a Berner you might want to breed to. AP: Depends on the area of the country but the quality in general is pretty good in most breeds; Bernese Mountain Dog quality is lacking. NS: I think the current quality is very good in most breeds, especially at the specials level. The classes will always have dogs that, probably, would be better left home but people have to learn sometimes by trial and error.
DEBORAH J. WILKINS
I’m a Breeder/Judge and BMDCA Judges Education Committee Chair. I am associated with Abbey Road Bernese Mountain Dogs, est. 1988. I am retired and now spend my time between our homes in Minnesota and Corpus Christi, Texas. We have been a
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