Four Days In Sacramento...

I remember attending the first Northern California Terrier Association event exactly 10 years ago. It has grown to over 600 dogs, with close to 800 entries during this time but more important than the quantity factor is the ability of these people to keep the quality level of the show at a consistent best. Combined with the Sacramento Kennel Club two-day event, the teams of Rich Vida, the Williams' (Karen and R.C.), Rosemary Blood and Judi Bloom join with the terrier folk headed by Virginia Latham-Smith, Marlene Quarles and Darlene Evans, to name but a few, to carry off four top days. They are fortunate, of course, in having a particularly good venue in the Cal-Expo Building, which provides ample room both inside and out for set-ups, with, I might add, no additional costs added on for grooming spots. No matter who is paying, I can't stand that practice. In addition, the place was kept spotless and there were no horrendous dog smells, as often happens at many other Clusters of this size. That must be one of the reasons the entries have increased so at the all-breeds—I believe increases of close to 400 dogs were in order this year. On the first night, the Wire Fox Terrier bitch shown by Tracy Deloria was the victor, whilst the next two nights at the Group Show and the All-Breed show, the Airedale bitch shown by Peter Green was adjudicated best. On the last night, a class Bichon dog shown by Tray Pittman gained the top award. The make-up of the Best line-ups were quite different Saturday and Sunday—as far as I was concerned, some spots were better one night, others the next. But that's what dog shows are all about—differences in legitimate opinions. It's only when games are played and scenarios predetermined that one can object to anything. I am in no way implying that was the case here at all; I'm just making an overall observation about the group representatives. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. I'll tell you this, though, it is always a pleasure to come to these shows, and this year was no exception. I was shocked to read in Sari's column last week that someone allegedly based a donation of $5,000 to some cluster, provided at least one person on their list would be asked to judge. I mean really, has someone gone completely bonkers? If, as rumored, a delegate may be involved and if this is the case, he or she should lose the delegate seat for sure. Is AKC investigating this? From what I hear, yes, but so far no one at any level is saying publicly who it may be. The formation of a Political Action Committee to raise money for political activities to defeat anti-dog and anti-dog ownership legislation sounds good on paper. But these PAC's seem to get involved in all sorts of areas outside of their originally intended basis. Should one contribute to this sort of organization, which may be supporting individuals on a one-issue basis? I'm not too sure I believe in that. If it was limited in scope, perhaps I would feel better, but to send money to any organization without knowing specifically who they will endorse is not my cup of tea. For example, if Tom DeLay were to come out against anti-dog legislation, would I want my contribution to go to him? I know I would not want that to happen on any basis whatsoever. That's one of the problems with politics and dog issues. My feeling about any extreme is to very carefully analyze where they are heading and what their real goal is. I say it never hurts to talk to anyone about anything, but I don't want others to represent my viewpoint in advance without telling me just what they are going to do or say. We're off to what used to be the Cherry Blossom Circuit. This is now something of the past, on par with the Old New England Circuit. Too bad as times change, due to so many extraneous factors. The Cherry Blossom is now four days in Maryland at two different fairgrounds! Oh well, with the price of gasoline these days, that may make more sense than when these changes were originally made, don't you think? •

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