australian terrier Q&A WITH KERRIE BRYAN, GRACE MASSEY, CHERYL MECHALKE, KIM OCCHIUTI, ALEXA SAMAROTTO, TERESA SCHREEDER AND JULIE SEATON
and went straight to her brother. I was mortified. The judge laughed and said, “Good choice. He is my Best of Winners.” GRACE MASSEY My name is Dr. Grace Massey and my kennel is Firewalker Australian Terriers. I have been involved in Australian Ter- riers for over 16 years as owner/handler and over ten years as a breeder. This is my second year as Vice President of the Australian Terrier Club of America, and I served on the Board of Directors previously for 7 years. I contribute to the ATCA as the columnist for the AKC Gazette Australian Terrier Breed column (since 2007) and as the editor of the ATCA Calendar (since 2014). I am currently the chairman of the ATCA Schol- arship Fund Committee and serve on the Australian Terrier Breed Sustainability committee. I live in Gloucester, Virginia. I am a Marine Research Sci- entist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science/ College of William & Mary, studying hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. I am also a Motorcycle Safety Federation RiderCoach at Thomas Nelson Community College, teaching basic and safe riding motorcycle skills. As a member of the Australian Terrier Club of America’s sustainability committee, I would have to say I am most con- cerned about the decrease in the number of litters registered each year with AKC. The committee is currently conducting a study of the 2008-2017 global number of Australian Terriers to find out if this trend holds true worldwide. We are also looking at the number of Aussies that are imported/exported between countries as well as the average number of pup- pies born per litter each year as an indicator of the health of the breed. My biggest fear, as we move forward in addressing the sus- tainability of our breed, is that we begin to breed for quantity and breed diversity at the sacrifice of quality. We still need to breed to the standard while choosing for temperament and health. It will be a fine line that our future breeders will have to walk. I believe that one of the biggest problems facing Austra- lian Terrier breeders today is the limited recognition of our breed as a wonderful pet by the general population. We need to advertise our breed so it is better recognized. Most of the people that contact me about puppies for a pet have previous- ly owned or presently own an Australian Terrier. By no means do I want the Australian Terrier to become one of most popu- lar pet breeds. However, I would like to have people who have never owned an Aussie to call and visit so I can have the opportunity to further educate them about our wonderful breed and give them a chance to experience them firsthand. My advice to a new breeder or new judge would be: “Breed to the Standard” and “Judge to the Standard”. We have a Stan- dard to describe the ideal Australian Terrier. Read it often! As a new breeder, one should, as often as possible, be going over other breeders’ dogs and asking them to explain what they see as their dogs’ attributes and faults. The more hands-on experi- ence you have, the better you will get at seeing the structure that should underlie our beautiful Aussies. Once you feel the
structure, watch them move. You will see how the structure affects the movement. An Aussie is a working terrier, and the Standard describes him as more than a pretty face or profile when standing still. Of course, even if an Aussie moves well but doesn’t have type, i.e., doesn’t “look” like how the Aus- tralian Terrier as described in our Standard, then he isn’t any better than the one that looks good but can’t move. Both, however, can be useful with careful planning in a breeding program: one to help improve structure and the other to help improve type. To judges I would ask: Please don’t judge only faults, but look at the overall quality of the Aussie. No Aussie is perfect, but we should be working toward it! Breed for temperament and health. Our Aussies are pets first and foremost. No matter how close to the standard they are, if they cannot live long healthy lives as members of the family then we are doing a disservice to our breed! I was walking my Aussie Flame, BISS CH Aussome Chero- kee Firewalker, into the building at a show site after taking him out to relieve himself, and as we got in the door a very little, very fluffy Pomeranian puppy came bouncing out in front of us, making cute little squeaky noises. This puppy was so fluffy you couldn’t tell which end was the front! My big bad Australian Terrier male, who was not afraid of anything, took one look at the little Pom, jumped back and tried to climb my legs to get away from him. I could not stop laughing at his reaction! From that day, till the day he died at 14 and-a-half years old, he would RUN from fluffy squeaky toys! CHERYL MECHALKE I live in Colorado. I am a Data and Configuration Manager for an Aerospace Company. This is a real concern in our
breed and our National Club has created a committee to address the issue. I personally believe that getting Australian Terriers out and about in the general public eye is one of the best ways to generate interest in the breed. I am always happy to see
Australian Terriers doing many things and I am always willing to stop and visit with people who come to shows and want to learn about the breed. I have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people and they now have Aussies living in their home, even if their puppies are not of my breeding. I don’t feel qualified to answer regarding the quality of other breeds. Regarding Australian Terriers, I have noticed that the over- all quality of the dogs is improving and the breeders that I associate with are striving to breed dogs that are sound of body and mind. The biggest concern I have about your breed: this is a dif- ficult question to answer as it is complex. I am concerned about the overall dog, as a complete package. I firmly believe
288 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , M ARCH 2019
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