Tag Archives: American Kennel Club

Storm Has Something To Say

Posted in Health, Puppies by

Listen up people!

I Have Something To Say

I Have Something To Say

I am going to be a mommy!

___________________

Storm had an ultrasound on Tuesday and it is confirmed that she is pregnant.  By the look of the ultrasound, it will be a good-sized litter.  I don’t have any pictures of Storm having the ultra sound done.  They had to flip her on her side to do the test and she was not at all thrilled with the idea.  I took a picture of the monitor instead.

You Can See 4 Pups In This View

You Can See 4 Pups In This View

The reproductive vet thought her weight was good, but suggested we bump up her food a little.  She will also get a multivitamin 2 times a day along with a bit of plain yogurt each meal.  (This is her regular diet with an extra vitamin.)  Thanks to Gary and Dorene for arranging the ultrasound.

I Like The Idea Of Extra Food

I Like The Idea Of Extra Food

She is due around the middle of April.  For those who want to keep track, I put a counter on my side-bar, (although that date may be adjusted a bit).

Here’s hoping for healthy puppies and an easy labor for Storm!

I Suppose I Will Loose My Girlish Figure!

I Suppose I Will Loose My Girlish Figure!

The vet said Storm could continue to do her regular activity, including training.  While we plan to exercise her and do some training, we are not going to push her too much.

Here is a picture of puppy daddy that I took at the Cobo show in March 2012.

CH IRISH'S I'M A KNOCK OUT

CH Irish’s I’m A Knock Out–Foreman

By chance, Foreman is the son of the dog that made us decide to get a Chessie back in 2006.  :)   Should be a nice litter.

_________________

Thanks so much for all of the birthday wishes for Thunder.  He and Storm celebrated with a trip to the vet for heart worm check.  Our favorite vet is back from maternity leave and the timing was right, so off we went.  Thunder also needed a Lepto booster and his bortadella.  We decided to schedule a dental cleaning for him in April.  His teeth are not terrible, but he has a bit of gum overgrowth and we want the vet to check that out.  As a precaution, we are having blood work done ahead of the anesthesia.

We are supposed to get as much as 3 inches of snow overnight.  The groundhog said we were going to have an early Spring.  Since Spring arrives next week, I would say he was wrong.  I think I will sic the brown dawgs on him.  :)

Have a nice weekend!

Follow-up Friday 2-15-13

Posted in Follow-up Friday, Health by

Today we join Heart Like A Dog and co-host the Golden Life for the Follow-up Friday blog hop.

It’s the the blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

I have had so many questions about the co-ownership of our dogs so that the subject of this week’s Follow-up Friday post.

I am sure there are different reasons people co-own their animals, but we co-own our dogs for breeding purposes.  At its very heart, the AKC is just a dog registry.  So when our dogs are registered, they are registered with at least one of their breeder’s names listed as an owner in addition to ours.  Presto, “co-ownership”.

Often when a breeder has a litter they try to pick out a pup or two that they think might be a candidate for their breeding program.  They may keep the dog themselves or enter into a co-ownership.  A co-ownership allows the dog to have its own people and own home.  The breeder is listed on the registration papers, but the dog lives with us and is our pup.

Thunder 8 Weeks Old

Thunder 8 Weeks Old

If you are a breeder, you want to have the ability to use the best animal you can in your breeding program.  A puppy goes home at 8 weeks, but you have no way of knowing how that pup will mature.  Will it have good hips?  Will its bite be correct?  Will it have the proper temperament?  So many things you cannot control or predict at 8 weeks.  Some breeders may co-own several pups from a litter until such time as they decide not to use the dog in their breeding program.  It is a bit of insurance.

First Duck

Freighter First Duck

In addition to listing the ownership on our dogs’ AKC registration, we also have a written agreement which states what the co-ownership involves regarding the dog’s breeding obligation.  The breeder is responsible for paying and obtaining any health clearances and any costs of the breeding.  If the breeder does the breeding, then the puppies are their puppies.  We could decide to breed our animals on our own and the puppies would be ours, but their co-owners would have to sign off on the breeding as necessary in order to register the litter.

Storm

Storm

I am sure there are many forms of co-ownership and/or breeding rights contracts.  I am being general without getting into specifics of our agreements.

There are a lot of positives to co-ownership.  Mostly, you have a direct line to all of the breeder’s years of experience.  If you want to learn what is involved in breeding, or have desire to breed a litter, this is a great way.  You get a good quality animal, (pending health clearances) and guidance.  When we got Storm, her breeder/co-owner told us that if we wanted to breed Thunder and Storm someday, he would not object.  Eventually we decided that we did not want to go that route, but it was an option.

Freighter

Freighter

There are also some negatives.  The biggest being that you are agreeing to keep the dog intact, (no spay or neuter), until the animal’s breeding obligation has been completed.  This is something to think long and hard about and definitely discuss it before entering into co-ownership.  You are promising to be responsible with your dogs so as not to have unplanned puppies.  The time a male dog needs to be available to do a breeding is short.  Wham, bam…move on.  A female involves a longer time commitment.  There is the time of her season, then 60+ days until puppies, and then time to nurse until the pups are weened.  The dog can be out of commission for hunting or hunt tests for quite a period of time.  :)

Storm 3 Months

Storm 3 Months

For our lifestyle, it has been a bit easier for us to co-own our males.  Storm has missed out on some hunt tests because she came into season and she can’t run them while in season.  You aren’t even supposed to have a bitch in season on the grounds of a test so that has caused us a bit of stress when we have wanted to travel for tests and we can’t bring her along.  Also, Storm was late starting her hunt test career and right now she has been running very well in training, but she has to stop and fulfill her breeding obligation.  She missed a lot of tests last fall and will probably miss spring tests if this breeding takes.

Grandfather Thunder

Thunder

But Storm is a great dog and she would not have been available to us if we did not co-own her.  It is just unfortunate timing that she is ready to be bred at the same time she is ready to run Master Hunt Tests.

We are very lucky to have three quality dogs with breeding potential and that is because their breeders have allowed us to co-own these animals with them…

…and that is co-ownership in a nutshell.

Please go to the sponsoring blogs to find out who else is hopping along.

Have a nice weekend!

What To Work On

Posted in dog show by

Last Friday I promised to answer an excellent question that a couple of readers asked about dog shows.

Raisingdaisy and Val wanted to know :

When a dog is eliminated at any point, can the owner or handler find out why so they know what to work on?

At its core, a dog show is nothing more than an evaluation of breeding stock.  The AKC was started in the 1880′s by some sportsmen who had recently held a dog show or put on a field trial.  These two events were held to evaluate breeding stock.  Read more on the history of the AKC here.  Today both events still exist with the primary purpose to evaluate breeding stock.

Jim and Thunder ACC Specialty Show

Jim and Thunder ACC Specialty Show

In a conformation show (or dog show), the dogs are judged against a written standard for the breed.  The breed standard is set by the national breed club and its members, (with approval from the AKC).  I do not know about all of the other breeds, but the American Chesapeake Club  does a lot to educate judges on the breed characteristics of a Chessie and proper conformation.  Read the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Breed Standard and Revisions here.

In a Conformation show the dog is judged against the breed standard, so it is often said that a judge has in their mind the perfect example of breed and the dogs in the ring are judged against that.  The Chessie Standard allows for dogs of a varying range of size, shades of brown color, coat style, etc.  The people who originated our breed did not want a cookie cutter dog.

Thunder Showing in Hunting Class Third from the Front

Thunder Showing in Hunting Class At The National Specialty Show–Third from the Front–All Of These Are Champions But You Can See They Are All Shapes Colors And Sizes

Judges are only human and I am sure that they have preferences within the standard.  So just because a judge may pick one dog over another, it does not mean that there is something wrong with a particular dog, as long as it meets the standard, it may be that the judge prefers another dog more.  Perhaps the judge prefers a smaller dog.  Maybe the judge doesn’t mind a larger well put together dog.  Or it may be that one dog just shows better than another in the ring on any given day.  Generally the judges will not say their preferences, but if you watch them and watch which dogs they give ribbons to, you can usually figure it out.

Open Bitches 2011 Chessie Specialty Show

Open Bitches 2011 Chessie Specialty Show–The Judge Kept 5 Out Of 22–Storm Is Last In The Line

There is a list of things that are a disqualification under the breed standard:

DISQUALIFICATIONS
1. Specimens lacking in breed characteristics.
2. Teeth overshot or undershot.
3. Dewclaws on hind legs.
4. Coat curly or with a tendency to curl all over the body.
5. Feathering on the tail or legs over 1 3/4″ long.
6. Black colored.
7. White on any part of the body except breast,belly, toes or back of feet.

If someone were to enter a Chessie with any of these disqualifications, then the Judge would in fact excuse the dog from the ring and note the reason for the DQ in their judge’s book.  Any dogs that are DQ’d, (or excused), are not counted to determine the points awarded to the winning dog/bitch.  (An summary of the meaning of points is here.)  This really doesn’t happen because most people are familiar with the standard and do not enter dogs that would be DQ’d under the standard.

Bred By Exhibitor Class-Freighter Is In The Front

Bred By Exhibitor Class-Freighter Is In The Front

A dog may also be DQ’d from any event for attacking a person.  Obviously, this is  something you don’t want to happen.  The AKC takes these incidents very seriously and it is documented and may end up that the dog can no longer compete in any AKC events.  More on DQ and the reinstatement procedure, here.

Next, a dog can be excused from the ring for reasons short of a DQ.  For example when Storm was a pup, (entered in the 6-9 Month Puppy Bitch Class), the judge startled her in the ring by approaching her from behind and very quickly.  After that she was not going to stand still to let him touch her.  Rather than letting her handler (who was also inexperienced), reset her, the Judge excused her from the competition.  It is unfortunate that he did not take a minute or two to let a puppy become comfortable in the ring.  The Judge would note in his judge’s book why she was excused, (probably that Storm would not stand for inspection).

Storm is being a good girl

Storm Is Being A Good Girl

At that same show, the Judge excused Smokey’s mom due to her color, (tan/ash).  She was already a Champion, but he felt that our parent club should specifically call out that color (even though it is brown, a dilute but still brown).  He told the handler the reason and noted it in his judge’s book.  It caused a bit of a stink, but nothing that anyone could do about it.

Tule and Smokie

Tule and Smokie At The National Specialty Show 2009–They Took Third In Brace

So in one case we knew we had to work with Storm on making sure she would allow the Judge to touch her, but in the other case, there was not much to be done about that except not enter a tan/ash dog if he is judging.

Beyond that, Judge’s are fairly quiet about why they make their choices.  Sometimes they will give encouragement if they like a dog.  For example, maybe the dog is young and they might say: “I really like the dog so bring him/her back when the dog  matures”.  Or if someone asks after the show, the Judge may share the reason he or she picked a particular dog.  For example, when Thunder won his first 3 Point Major from the 12-18 Month Dog Class, one of the other competitors asked the Judge why he selected Thunder.  The Judge responded that he liked the way Thunder moved.  He felt that he could do the job he was bred to do.

Jim and Thunder ACC Specialty Show-Hunting Dog Class

Jim and Thunder ACC Specialty Show-Hunting Dog Class–Thunder Was Excited

But I do not want to give the wrong impression.  Most Judges do not volunteer why they made their choices.  They have a lot of dogs to judge and they do not always have the time.  In this way a dog show is different from other performance events where the Judges have time to let you know why you are out, or you can even look at score sheets.  In conformation the Judge’s are not scoring on paper, but in their heads.  They may have only a few minutes to look at each dog.  It is up to the handler to present the dog in the best light possible.  This means stacking the dog properly, moving the dog correctly and making sure the dog will let the Judge touch it.  We have found the Conformation classes that we attend at a local club very helpful in helping both the handler and the dogs work on these things.

I hope this very long explanation answered the question.

Follow-up Friday 1-25-13

Posted in dog show, Follow-up Friday, Photo Challenge by

Today we join Heart Like A Dog and co-host Terrier Torrent for the Follow-up Friday blog hop.

It’s the the blog hop that:

Lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

This week, my posts were all about the dog show we attended last weekend, so today I am following-up a bit.

In reading comments, I realized that some readers are not familiar with how a dog show works so I am going to explain the basics of an American Kennel Club Conformation Show.  These are the very basics of what you would see if you were going to watch any breed of dogs being judged.  Of course there are nuances and exceptions.

Freighter Waiting For His Turn

Freighter Waiting For His Turn (Can You Spot Storm In The Background Being Nerved Up?)

The first thing to know is that dog shows are a process of elimination and dogs are judged against their breed standard.  The standard for any particular breed is set by the members of the parent breed club.  Standards may be changed from time to time, but it is not an easy process and changes must be approved by the AKC and the breed club members before they can take effect.  Standards are not changed very often.

For any particular show, the dogs are entered in “classes” broken down by breed and sex.  Each class has specific rules set by the American Kennel Club.  For example, Freighter could have been entered in the 12-18 Month Class, but since his breeder was showing him, he was entered in the Bred By Exhibitor Class.  He could have been entered in other classes such as the American Bred Class, Open Class, or the Amateur-Owner Handler Class.  The class names are fairly self-explanatory regarding which dogs can be entered in each.  If you want more details about the different classes, follow this link.

Detroit Kennel Club 2010--Bred by Exhibitor Dogs

Detroit Kennel Club 2010–Bred by Exhibitor Dogs

Championship points are awarded to the male and female that are named Winner’s Dog and Winner’s Bitch.  Winner’s Dog has defeated all of the class males and Winner’s Bitch has defeated all of the class females.  There may also be Champions (or “Specials”) entered in the show, but they don’t really effect the class dogs/bitches except that should a class dog be awarded Best of Breed, any Specialss defeated would count towards the number points the Best of Breed dog would earn toward its Championship, (more on that later).  Specialss are usually competing for points toward their Grand Championship and for Best of Breed, hoping to move onto the Group Competition, (Chessies are in the Sporting Group), and ultimately Best in Show.  It is a big deal to be named Best of Breed, or place in the Group competition, and of course being awarded Best in Show is a huge deal!

Smokey Best Of Winners and Best Of Opposite Sex

Smokey Best Of Winners and Best Of Opposite Sex 2011–3 Point Major

Jodi  wanted to know how the points are determined.  Sadly, it is not quite as simple as 5 dogs defeated=5 points.  Every year the AKC puts out a Point Schedule which sets out how points are calculated.  It is adjusted every year based on a formula and how many dogs have competed the previous year, (not the number of dogs that enter, but the number that actually show up and compete in the shows).  It is also divided geographically.  Michigan used to be in a division with Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, but last year the AKC changed the divisions so that now Michigan is grouped with Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Some popular breeds get a lot of entries, say Golden Retrievers or Labrador Retrievers, so they need to defeat a lot of dogs to earn points.  Some breeds are more popular in a particular geographic area so it would take more dogs defeated to earn points.  On the other hand, if there are few dogs of any breed competing in a particular area, a breeder may have to travel to earn Championship points.  For example, Chessies are not even listed in the Point Schedule for Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi.

The point schedule for shows held in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin is as follows:

Point Schedule

In order to become a Champion a dog must earn 15 points, including two “majors” under two different judges.  A “major” is any show where 3 or more points are awarded.  Should a class dog earn Best of Breed, that dog can count all of the dogs defeated to calculate the points, (any Champions entered are counted to determine points).  A dog awarded Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed can count all of the dogs of his/her sex defeated to calculate points including Champions of the same sex. The class dog or bitch designated as “Best of Winner’s” can take the points of the other sex.  Sometimes there will be enough of the other sex to bump up the number of points and the “Best of Winners” will take those points.

Thunder Major Win From the 12 to 18 Month Class 5-18-2007

Thunder Major Win From the 12 to 18 Month Class 5-18-2007

Thunder earned one of his two majors that way because there were enough bitches entered to make a major for them and he was awarded Best of Winners so he was also credited with a major win.  Even though the Best of Winner’s may take the points of the other sex, the other sex does not forfeit the major, both the dog and the bitch were awarded a major win.

Thunder Best Of Winner's-A 3 Point Major

Thunder Best Of Winner’s–A 3 Point Major

Are you confused yet?   If you are interested in learning all the nuances of dog shows, check out the AKC Rule Book.

Raisingdaisy and Val wanted to know :

When a dog is eliminated at any point, can the owner or handler find out why so they know what to work on?

This is a great question; however, since this post is quite long and it is not a simple answer, I post about this next week.  :)

One more question about picture taking at the show:

Sand Spring Chesapeakes wanted to know if I used the sport setting on my camera to take the pictures at the show.  I did not.  I used the “P” or “Program AE” setting.  The reason I did not use the Sport setting is because it will not show the focus points in the view finder and I find that if I am careful with picking the correct focus point, my pictures are less blurry.  “Program AE” on my camera will automatically set the exposure, however I can make changes to Aperture and Shutter Speed should I feel the need.  One other change that I made from Saturday to Sunday is that instead on setting the camera’s drive for low-speed continuous shooting, I changed it to high-speed continuous shooting and it worked much better to get the dogs in motion since they are moving so fast!

As you can see from these two pictures, my new camera works much, much better to capture fast moving dogs in low light.  :)

Thunder--Old Camera

Thunder 2010–Old Camera

Freighter 2013--New Camera

Freighter 2013–New Camera

This has been a bear of a week for me.  I am looking forward to this weekend.  Have a nice one!

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the link code to insert in this post.  To check out the others in the hop, go to either co-host.  :)