Springing Into Potomac
Photos by Eddie Baute
Potomac is not the national specialty for Labradors, but it is the largest specialty anywhere in the world.
Including the sweeps and all the non-regular classes, this year the entry was 1,003. No other specialty attracts so many dogs from all over the world. People from foreign lands go to a great deal of expense to fly themselves and dogs to compete at Potomac. The costs of flying the dogs can be more costly than the owner’s ticket. Many owners from Mexico and distant parts of Canada take a three- or four-day drive to get the dogs there. Many of the West Coast owners also drive themselves and multiple dogs to Frederick, Maryland. Several years ago, when gas prices were extremely high, some people spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars just on gas to get there.
This was the 48th annual Spring Specialty. Potomac also holds shows in the fall, called the Bares Bones Specialty — much, much smaller shows without all the pomp and circumstance. About 50 years ago, George Bragaw had a vision to hold the greatest Labrador show in the world. A few of the founding members are still active. The Clarion Inn at the Frederick Event Center is the hosting venue. Before the Clarion, several other venues had been used, but as the show continued to grow, it outgrew them. There is no other venue in the area that could host Potomac. The major requirement is having such a large grass area to accommodate three very large rings side by side. Plus the large tenting area for so many vendors. Obedience and rally have to be held at a separate venue quite close by.
The Clarion does have a large parking area for all the motorhomes. Penny Kretchner is the RV coordinator and parking chair. This is no easy feat, and requires her to be there four or five days before the show starts on Tuesday. A lot of people arrive on Saturday because there are clinics being held. Another large grass area is also needed for the two match shows held on Monday. A separate area is needed in case of rain and damage to the main rings.
If the Clarion ever stopped hosting Potomac, it would be very difficult to find a comparable venue. Others have been explored, but nothing is as accommodating as the present venue. We have to remember Potomac will always remain as an outdoor show. It could never be the same in any indoor venue. Labrador people and the dogs really like being outdoors. When the weather gets bad, they put on their raingear and mud boots.
Judging has to start every day at 8 a.m., with three rings running side by side. I mostly try to stand outside the middle ring with my eyes bouncing back and forth from ring to ring. The total sweeps entry this year was close to 250 youngsters. The sweeps dogs are showing at the same time as the regular classes. Luckily, all the non-regular classes are after the regular classes.
The big difference between the Labrador national and Potomac is that the parent club is basically run by field people. Recently more conformation people have gotten involved.
There are many factors that make Potomac so unique. First, that any regional club could be the biggest specialty in the world. It is not the size that really makes Potomac so unique — it is so many other factors. First, I think that it has such a large international presence of dogs coming from all over the world. Once I was in some foreign country and awarded a nice yellow bitch. The exhibitor said her biggest thrill ever was that she had placed with her in a class at Potomac. They do give a pin to all the dogs that make a cut in all the classes. People come from every corner of the globe each year just to watch the judging of so many superior Labs.
When AKC allowed for national specialties to give points to the Reserve Winners, Potomac asked for the same. It was not given since it was not a national. Potomac asked for an exception based on the fact that some years roughly 400 bitches were competing. Because of this now AKC will allow all regional specialties to give championship points to the Reserves. It will never happen, but some people think if you win a class at Potomac you should be given points.
The vast majority of the exhibits are owner-handled, compared to Goldens, where the vast majority of the entry is with professional handlers. The breed is very split in that many breeders only show at specialties, with few exceptions. A couple of years ago, some Lab folks came up with a list of non-breeder judges they thought did a very nice job judging the breed. I believe they only came up with 17 names, and hundreds of people judge the Sporting Group. Labs are the number-two breed in registrations and yet how infrequently they win groups compared to Goldens, Springers or Irish Setters.
The reason is twofold: A lot of the top Labs do not go to all-breed shows. But the average Sporting Group judge does not have a great understanding of the breed. They feel they could not do the work they were bred to do, which is so untrue. At the field and hunt classes at Potomac, we see top-quality dogs with those titles. The dogs bred strictly for field trials have been bred for speed in the field. That is why we see silver Labs competing: They result from the cross to Weimaraners. The very best Labs do not fly around the ring like we see Goldens and setters do. May judges mistakenly think Labs are overweight. Yes, some might be heavier than ideal, but they don’t realize a dog in full, great coat appears heavier than it really is. We have to remember what makes a Lab: head, coat and tail. Without a proper coat, they could not do the job they were bred to do. Their thick skin and correct coat protect them from the icy water and sitting outside long days in extremely cold weather.
The Lab breeders have to be congratulated in the tail set and carriage area. Yes, we see some poor tails, but nothing like the percentage of bad tails in Goldens. A Lab with a poor tail is not going to win at specialties. I think the breed is in very good shape and continues to get better and better throughout the entire world. This is because the breeders know what needs improvement. We see fewer short-legged dogs than we saw in the past. Several other areas have improved as well.
What makes Potomac so unique is that it does so many things that no other show offers, even nationals. In all the classes, a pin is given to all the dogs that make a cut, including the Best of Breed competition. Many people say how memorable it is to even place fourth in a class.
Last year was the first “Roundtable.” It is for judges who have demonstrated that they do a good job as non-breeders in judging the breed. They have been seen judging by at least one person on the committee. The concept is if we feel that on a scale of one to 10 they would be rated 6.5 or 7, then we can take them to a higher level of maybe 8.5. If a judge does a very poor job of judging the breed, we are not interested in trying to make them barely passable.
Potomac is the only regional I know of that holds a Top 20. The top-winning Labs of Mexico and Canada are also invited to compete. The winner of the Top 20 this year was from Canada. The actual judging takes place Tuesday evening, but nobody gets to watch it but for a few exceptions. After the judging we had a “Roundtable” discussion, which lasted more than two hours. It was a mix of breeders, breeder-judges and judges who aspired to be really wonderful Lab judges. It was a great learning experience for all of us, including me. To be a top of judge of any breed you need to have a passion for the breed and be a continual student of it.
Wednesday evening is the Gala for the Top 20. It is a spectacular production. The ballroom is decorated beautifully, and each dog is brought in separately to a song of owner’s choice. This year the theme was a sock hop, and all the handlers dressed 1950s style. Spotlight were used to highlight the dogs, and the owner-handlers got all decked out. It really is a very entertaining evening. Nearly all the Top 20 compete each year. The Labrador national gets few dogs competing in its Top 20.
The International competition is also unique to Potomac. It is for any of the foreign visiting dogs. This year we had 12 visiting dogs competing for Best and Best of Opposite Sex. The competition was extremely strong. The two winners receive beautiful crystal globes. They are small enough to be in boxes about 10 inches wide, which can fit into suitcases.
This event is held on Thursday afternoon after the Stud Dog and Brood Bitch classes. There is no entry fee, just an entry form to indicate which country they are representing.
There is also a Generations class, which is for three generations of the same breeder. It never gets a large entry, probably because most breeders do not want to bring dogs that will not be shown in other classes.
It certainly was fun to see two different teams being shown this year. It is hard enough to show a brace of Labs, but especially difficult to show a team. This year because of the extreme cold weather the dogs were bouncing with energy.
On Monday there are two match shows that run side by side. They start with older males in one ring and young bitches in the other. This year it was judged by a lady breeder from Japan and another lady from Mexico. Each show had more than 80 entries. It is a good training experience for pups making their debut at Potomac. A separate grass area is used so the rings for the regular show will not be damaged. This year there was some light rain during the matches. There is a 4 to 6 class so it is great to see really beautiful puppies that are the future of the breed.
The Field and Hunt classes show non-Lab people that a top show-quality Lab can still do what the breed was bred to do. The Field dogs today have been bred for speed in the field, which is not what the breed was bred to do.
The Stud Dog and Brood Bitch classes are taken very seriously at Potomac. A couple of years ago I had 20 in the Stud Dog class. It probably was the most challenging assignment ever. The 20 stud dogs and their 60 get were quite a sight to see. The quality was so deep. There were several sires whose get I had given big wins to that did not even place in the class.
The Stud Auction is a huge feature at Potomac. People offer a stud fee for auction on their top sires. This year there were quite a few frozen-semen breedings up for auction. I have never heard of any other breed that has stud auctions. Several Lab clubs do it.
It is very costly to run a show of this magnitude. The Stud Auction usually raises around $40,000, which is a large contribution to the show’s general expense.
The huge merchandise table is probably only outdone by Westminster. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday three ladies work all day selling mostly clothing. Other items are sold as well, including wine with the Potomac logo on the label. This year rain gear and warm jackets sold out because of the weather. Most of us really did not bring enough warm clothing. On Friday I had many, many layers on and was still cold.
While there are so many things that make Potomac unique, I believe the most unique part of the show is the great, great depth of quality. It takes a dog of top quality to place fourth in any class. This past year at the AKC weekend in Orlando, I judged Labs one day. The quality was super. Six of the Top 20 Labs were competing. My Winners Dog was BOS at Potomac. My Winners Bitch was also Winners Bitch at Potomac. The point is that some of the top Labs do go to some of the top shows. The Reserve WD puppy all four days in Orlando did really well at Potomac.
Best of Breed this year was a chocolate bitch from New Hampshire shown by her owner-handler. Many exhibitors had never seen her before, and we believe it is the first time a chocolate has ever won Potomac.
It takes a huge committee to stage Potomac. Krista Beal is show chair and has so many committee people helping. There are 37 different committees! Several of them have three or four members. Purina Pro Plan is a huge sponsor of the show. We have to thank AKC.TV for livestreaming all three rings for three days, and the breed ring on Friday.
Unfortunately, the weather was miserable this year, but the dogs loved it.