PEKINGESE Q&A
ear fringes, flat head on top. All the features should look right as a whole. Go down and check elbows in, springy ribs to smaller waste (pear-shaped), down the hocks, and up to the high tail set. Check the topline. Lift, heavier in front than back (large chest, wide in front). Back to the head for a better look since it’s a head breed. Check the finer details. Check the coat quality. Heavy bone set. Overall presentation should be compact, and well put together, with a beautiful coat to complement the whole dog. The dog should be able to move smoothly, like a Rolls Royce, not choppy like a tugboat, with little to no bounce. (I forgive a little bounce in puppies.) The rolling movement will look like a goldfish in water from behind in a mature dog. The overall presentation should look great, rather than focusing on any one feature of the dog. The dog/bitch should hold himself with pride and confidence, and have a good expression. The coat is a beautiful trait, but isn’t everything. Ear fringes should be beautifully shaped around the face, almost heart-shaped from the flat top of head to the framing. Coat should flow over the body, and I prefer to see some of the shape of the dog under the coat rather than it being so profuse that the coat is the only feature that stands out. The skirt behind should be flowing, and touch the ground, and is preferred for the sides as well. Typically you will not see much of the feet, maybe a little. It’s the icing on the cake. The best way to attract newcomers to my breed and to the sport? When someone new shows up ringside, I tell them to go out there and have some fun, don’t worry about winning yet. My first couple of years had nothing to do with winning. I watched, learned, and gathered as much information on the breed, grooming, handling, the show world, settling into my comfort zone in the ring, and ditching the nerves. After the second year, I got more serious and purchased a very good show dog that has kept me busy for many years now. It’s easy to get hooked into the show world, start a breeding pro- gram, and start selling and showing puppies all in the first year. That’s probably not the best approach because a new person is likely to get it all wrong from the start. I knew that. Taking the time to learn exactly what you want to accomplish in your breed, and in the show ring takes time and patience. Finding a good mentor or two is the key to it all. My best advice to a newcomer is to slow it all down, take it all in. The rest will follow. Encouragement and information is what is needed to keep a newcomer coming back. I believe it’s important to share informa- tion, become a mentor, and be available to answer their questions. My ultimate goal for the breed? I have only recently bred my first litter. I want to focus on healthy, loving, outgoing, well-mannered, high quality dogs that will enjoy happy lives. They should be smart and beautiful. We are on the lookout for that next great show spe- cial, or that next rally obedience king, or both. These little dogs are meant to be part of the family. We want them to feel loved, enjoy individual attention, and they should enjoy plenty of activity in their lives as it suits them. I’ve had great success so far. The biggest misconception about the Pekingese? I come across a lot of lay people who have claimed to have known a Pekingese or two in their day, and they believe the breed to be a yippy and snappy dog. This description really doesn’t fit the nature of the Pekingese. I’ve owned Pekingese for 27 years, and my dogs have always been well mannered and dignified. They are good watch dogs and sentries, and will alert you to something that is amiss in their environment. My Darwin will even let me know when a spider is crossing the rug or in the bathroom, quick to point out that I should remove the little eight-legged friend. I remember the first time he did this and at first I didn’t notice his eight-legged friend, and I went back to what I was doing. He insisted there was something amiss, so I went back
to look. Then it occurred to me what he was looking at, this tiny spider in the corner. I kindly removed his eight-legged friend from his space and all was well again. My Pekingese are sentries in my yard. They station themselves at various spots in the yard on the lookout for newcomers. They will let me know when a neighbor friend walks by, but let others walk past without much notice. Maybe the misconception was misinterpreted. Pekingese do not like to be annoyed or fussed with unnecessarily, and especially by children. Maybe the misinterpretation was that they were fussed with by children to the point of annoyance. Or perhaps they were cranky because they didn’t have air conditioning “back in the day.” The second misconception is that a Pekingese cannot move. Maybe it’s true for some, but even my most dignified can fly across the yard to chase away a squirrel. They can move pretty fast when they want to, although they are sometimes stubborn about it. I also believe exercise plays a great role in whether a Pekingese can move or not. I make a point of exercising all my dogs, they go for walks around our park in mild weather. They do slow down a lot in the heat, and we make a point of walking them later in the evening on hot summer days. Anything over 70 degrees is a little warm for a fully-coated Pekingese to take anything, but a very short walk, and we always have a nice ice pack waiting at the door for his or her return. I always smile when the judge tells us to make a small circle around the breed ring. I picture this same dog flying across my yard at full speed. Small circles in the breed ring are for stubborn Pekes. That’s the real reason they won’t walk, isn’t it? My favorite dog show memory? There are so many. I would say showing my special, Darwin, has been a blast over the last five plus years. He is just such fun to show, and wins just enough to make it a fun time every weekend out. He’s almost six now, I just can’t believe it, all this time has gone by. My favorite moments in dog showing can be summed up this way. All those owner-handled Group One’s and Two’s are pretty special to us. We had a special top 20 Bow Tie Affair that we attend- ed in Reno that was a blast, and what a trip that was. Traveling with friends to various dog shows has been so much fun and carries many happy memories; attending the Owner-Handled Championship in Orlando, and winning Select dog at the actual Orlando champion- ship the very next day; the moment I realized we won BISS at the Canfield Pekingese Specialty; the moment I realized we went Top 10; the moment we earned Darwin’s Silver Grand. Then there is the moment I held our first litter of puppies after persevering though some wicked hardships; the moment I received the AKC DNA Test Results back on our first litter of puppies that was multiple-sired only to find out that every last puppy in the lit- ter belonged to Darwin, against the odds—all because of a long shot moment tried by two willful ladies late one night who believed in a dream that couldn’t be let go. (Nothing to lose, try for those Darwin puppies anyway. Picture perfect.) And of course sharing all these experiences with my friends who also share their own wonderful experiences. I want to thank so many people who have supported us; my many friends who reached out to us during our first litter, you know who you are. Thank you, Debbie Zink, for sharing all your show world experiences in class, training me to show my dogs, and help- ing me believe in the dream. Thank you, David Fitzpatrick, for matching me up with two beautiful dogs, Darwin and Adelaide, and for all your support through thick and thin. Thank you, Kathy Torchia, for being a great friend, believing in the dream, and for helping me in every possible way with conceiving and birthing our first litter of puppies. A special thank you to my husband, Mike, for all his support in his wife’s dream, staying up late nights to help
168 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2020
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