BREED IN REVIEW: West HigHland WHite terrier
MARLEEN BURFORD
MELINDA LYON
The whole time I was growing up, my mother told me that when I had my own place I could have as many dogs as I wanted, but not in her house. Well, the first thing that I did when I graduated from college in 1968 was to buy a dog, a Dalmatian. Obedience classes led to trial competition and eventually a Utility Dog
My love of the West Highland White Terrier came about in 1972 when I returned to Louisville from Nurse Anesthe- sia school. In the interim a friend had gotten a Westie and I immediately fell under this little white dog’s charming spell. Once I was settled into my new profession I decided to get a Westie myself. My original Westie was well bred, but ulti- mately I came to recognize that she was pet quality. However in the meantime I had shown her at a match and gotten my first ribbon. That was all it took and I was hooked. Shortly thereafter, I purchased my first show quality Westie in 1973 from a longtime, successful Westie breeder/exhibitor. As is my practice, I jumped in with both feet, embarking on my journey and learning experience of the next 40 plus years. I happily showed my dogs for 20 years before deciding to apply to AKC for approval to judge in 1992. With the opportunity to judge a few matches, plus the honor of being invited to judge the Sweeps for the WHWTCA specialty and I discovered that I enjoyed the challenge of judging. I had also observed some instances of judges that I felt perhaps displayed a lack of clear understanding of our breed. This helped create my desire to hopefully make a difference and preserve the integrity of the breed that I had come to love so much. This was the begin- ning of my real learning experience that continues today. DAWN MARTIN
title. A compliment on his conformation led to the breed ring and an owner-handled champion. Puppies. More titles. High in Trials. A win at Westminster. Lots of friends all over the country. Then, I had always wanted to have a West Highland White Terrier. My first, Frasher, was a gift from my husband and a champion-to-be. Learning about grooming. Puppies. Winning from the Bred-by Exhibitor class competition. Best of Breed wins. Best in Show. Working and performance titles in Agility, Rally and Earthdog. Now, we have a pack of Wes- ties. In 2004, the American Kennel Club presented me with a bronze medallion honoring my 25 years of judging for them. Breeding outstanding, typey, healthy companion dogs with a stable temperament is a passion. Judging dogs is influencing the future and just plain fun! WAYNE KOMPARE
My first wife Kathy, now owner of Hunt- ing Horn, and I purchased a Westie puppy (Flash) from a local breeder in 1973 and my life has been strongly intertwined with Westies ever since. Within a few short years, we were heavily into dog shows, formed our kennel (Kilkerran Westies), and were blessed with our foundation bitch Ch
Dawn’s Highland Scots, established in 1979, has produced over 100 Champions and more then 250 performance titled Wes- ties. National specialty highlights include winning WD, WB, BOW, BOS and Stud Dog at Montgomery County Kennel Club in 2002 under Anne Rodgers Clark. Since per- formance has been a big part of my career
BISS Kortni of Windy Hill (BISS at the New York Specialty from the classes over several specials). My judging experience was limited to Westies, and I judged several regional Westie special- ties in addition to regular shows. Before I received my AKC license, I judges Westie Sweepstakes at Montgomery in 1988. After 30 years working for IBM, primarily in finance, I decided to try something a little different when I retired in 1995: I first became a fine art appraiser, but I quickly switched to an area that I knew a lot more about, namely wine. I became a wine appraiser in 1997, and have been certified by the Appraisers Association of America in wine since 2000. Also, in 1997, I was a founding member of the Westie Foundation, and was the president of the Foundation from 1997 to 2010.
in West Highland White Terriers, it was a highlight to have won the Most Versatile Westie at our nationals in 2014—nine days of competition is grueling for both dog and handler. CH Dawn N’ Glencarron Back N’ Time RA TDX TDU NAP NJP ME RATO ROM, “Hank”, is a conformation Champion, but in 2014 he competed in Tracking, Agility, Barn Hunt, Rally, Obedi- ence and Earthdog—earning several new titles and qualifying scores. In 2016, I will be judging West Highland White Terriers Nationals at MCKC and I have previously judged the Roving and regional specialties across the country. In addition to con- formation, I judge Rally, Tracking, Earthdog, Juniors and Barn Hunt. One could say my life revolves around dogs.
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