WORKING GROUP Q&A
involved with the Siberian Husky Club of DFW. This is where I learned the definition of “being used to build a major.” I learned and moved forward as my next Siberian was a far better dog. In 1982, I was at a show in Oklahoma City and, while watching the Group, I saw this lovely large white dog, a Great Pyrenees... and that was the end, so to speak. I searched for reputable breeders and soon found my first Great Pyrenees. Not intending to make the same mistakes once again, I spent time at ringside and stayed to watch the Groups many times. I found mentors who took me under their wings. I was afforded the opportunity to have nicer dogs, and asked for and received advice towards my limited breeding program when the time came. I did finish all my show dogs as owner-handled (from the first point to the last), along with many Group placements and Best in Specialties—with one exception. One dog that was shown and fin- ished by me traveled with a handler for about six weeks because I could not travel due to work. He won multiple Groups over that six-week period and, as a result, that Siberian Husky ranked seventh in Siberians that year. I obtained my AKC judge’s license in 1992 with my original breed being Great Pyrenees, then, once approved for the Working Group (1998), I stopped showing dogs. I became involved with Portuguese Water Dogs, since my wife Sandy and I owned a sail- boat. We did participate in water trials with “JD” (10/01/2006 - 06/21/2020), a retired champion and multiple water title holder. I also was honored to judge the Great Pyrenees National Specialty in 1999 and further honored to be asked to judge again in 2014. I presently am approved to judge the AKC Working Group, six breeds in the Non-Sporting Group, Best in Show, Miscellaneous (which are the new breeds coming into the AKC) and Juniors. I have judged in South America, China, and Japan. I was invited to be involved in the formation of a new Regional Great Pyrenees club in North Carolina. That club has been formed and is known as The RTP Great Pyrenees Club. I am a past member of the BOD of RTP and a past member of the GPCA BOD. I served on the GPCA Judges Education Committee for eight years. Presently, my wife, our PWD, Viking, and I live in Southeast Florida during the winter months. For the most part, we travel the US with our motor home in the summer, ending with the PWD National in the late summer before returning to South Florida. Do I have any hobbies or interests apart from purebred dogs? Yes, I build and fly remote control model airplanes. I’ve also been a boater for a long time. I learned to sail in 1967 on a small one design 19 ft. sailboat; went to owning and traveling on our 40 ft. Trawler. We now live and travel in our 44 ft. motor coach, or as we refer to it, our “land yacht.” Can I talk about my introduction to the Working breeds? As I’ve said, I started with the Siberian, but one day at a dog show in the mid-80s I saw my first Great Pyrenees. With a bit more experience in making majors for others, I went about getting my Pyrenees a bit differently than my Siberian. From there, I was in the mix and once I received my license it became more and more interesting as these were the dogs that were, for the most part, still earning their keep. Certainly, the Herding dogs do as well, but this was just after the split of the [Working] Group. Have I bred any influential Working dogs? No, I never was a big breeder. I had some litters, but not like other Siberian Kennels. Have I shown any notable dogs? I never was a professional handler, so that answer is no. But I did have a Siberian that I showed that placed seventh in the country that year. (Now I know seventh is not that great, but I was showing my own dog and did not have the budget that the first five Siberians had—as in the $75K to over
100K from their Japanese owners.) So, not counting them, we were Number 2, which was fine for me. How important is the handler to the Working dog’s perfor- mance? I think the handler, professional or owner-handler, is important to all breeds—not just the Working dogs. Moving the dog at a speed that the dog looks good and goes down and back without sidewinding is the job of the handler. With some dogs, that is a different speed than the go-around. Yet there are those who do not quite “get it” and think that speed, both down and back as well as going around, is the be-all and end-all. Can I speak a bit about breed-specific presentation? Yes, I can. For instance, Siberians need to be on a loose lead. Stringing the dog up prohibits him from putting his head forward as he moves, and it restricts the front movement. But some folks show them like a Stan- dard Poodle. When the dogs are stacked, some people overstretch the rears, which makes a dog with perfectly good angulation look all wrong in the rear. A perfectly square Boxer can be set up to look off-square and have a sloping topline. Breed-specific presentation for that breed is important. Juniors are judged on this, and some handlers seem to forget it. What about breed character? How do I assess this in the Work- ing breeds? It is important. Most of the Working dogs have done some guard duty at one time or another. How is a Pyrenees, Dober- man, Cane Corso, Bullmastiff or any other [similar] dog going to be able to do their work if they shy away when someone approaches? When examining the dogs, you can get somewhat of a sense of the dog. But if, after the exam, when you walk back up to the dog, it shy’s back or the handler is trying to keep it from retreating, you now know. We cannot reward this in Working Dogs. Does size really matter? Yes, it does. But “proper” size is the answer. The standards give us a size and, in many, there are DQs. (But this does not do any good if no one measures the dogs.) A 24” Siberian dog is going to stand out. It needs to be measured. Not only if it is going to be used, but also to send a message that we do not want them in the ring. Back in the old days, we could get the superintendent to bring the wicket over to my ring before the Siberians or Akitas were to go in. Yes, the entry would go from 47 to 43 sometimes, but it showed that I would measure. So, they just did not try. Do I have any advice to offer newer judges of the Working Group? My only advice is that when they are at a show and have the time, to go observe the Working dogs. Siberians do not move like a Malamute, yet they are both sled dogs. I believe these little nuances need to be learned. They can only be learned from observation. Which Working dogs from the past have had the greatest influ- ence on the sport? The Malamute, CH Nanuke’s Take No Pris- oners, aka Tyler. Others that comes to mind are the Doberman, CH Brunswig’s Cryptonite, as well as CH Rivergrove’s Run For The Roses, a Great Pyrenees. And more recently, GCH Claircreek Impression de Matisse, a Portuguese Water Dog. This last dog also goes back to my point that moving the dog at the correct speed for the down and back and the go-around is important—and they are not necessarily the same. The handler of this dog had it down pat. What can judges of the other Groups learn from the Working breeds? It is my opinion that there are two things that can be gained from observing most of the dogs in the Working Group: Structure and Movement. Is there a funny story I can share about experiences judging the Working breeds? One time, out in California, I had awarded a Ber- nese Mountain Dog a Group placement. We were taking the photo and a person off to my right kept saying, “Vinny… Vinny… Vin- ny!” By the third time, I turned and asked, “What do you want?” only to find out that she was the dog’s owner and the Berner and I shared the same call name.
178 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2021
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