2007 FCI Tai Chung International KC photos courtesy of www.99520.com
We left to judge in Taiwan the day after Montgomery, which is the reason I like to think I made the error in reporting the Smooth Fox Terrier winner’s name and owner—even though the picture was correct—in naming all the breed winners and group winners in the October 12 issue. In my haste to leave, I wrote the winner’s number as 129 instead of 139, and hopefully, had I been here to proof the page, I would have picked up on the fact that the winner and Group 4 placer was Ch. Torquay Demetrio, owned, of course, by Clay Coady and Marcelo Santiago. Sorry about that.
Along similar lines but not quite as grievous—maybe it was more grievous to some—was my decision not to name one of the new dogs I saw for the first time as “truly having impressed me.” I perceived my mentioning of Maripi’s Lakeland as a possible conflict of interest. I, who always espouse the philosophy of “judge the dog, not the relationship”, fell victim to that which I preach so vehemently against. I saw, for the first time at Montgomery, this homebred Lakeland, which I really thought to be of an unusually high quality—an easy group placer for me, along with the Kerry (another first-time-seen exhibit), or so I thought anyway. Well, in talking to people, I was pretty verbal about these thoughts but didn’t write them due to my personal longtime relationship with Maripi in Airedales. I thought about writing of the Lakie and decided not to at the last moment. But when confronted with the omission, which I forgot I had even made, I realized why I had done so. Whether or not I should have is moot. I did it but probably should have first issued a caveat to the effect that I felt so strongly about the exhibit, notwithstanding my relationship with the co-owner and breeder. That’s my story, glory, accept it or not.
As for Taiwan, we left on Tuesday after Montgomery for Taipei, thinking there were two days of shows there. As things turned out, it was only one day of shows and these were held in Tai Chung, about a 50-minute ride away on the “bullet express.” We were invited by the Kennel Club of Taiwan, which was recently recognized by AKC, insofar as registering its dogs is concerned. With that recognition, of course, comes the eligibility of all their recognized judges to judge here in the States as well. The lead host was Alex Zee, who is well known in America for exhibiting toy poodles and is an all-breed judge in Taiwan. Along with Susan Kow and a myriad of others, they made us feel most welcome to their island country, which is so close to Mainland China. Certainly, they treated us in high fashion, along with Paul Stanton from Sweden, an ex-pat originally from the U.K. Paul was traveling with a fellow judge who was not on the panel, Torbjorn Skaar, also a Swede, he by birth.
The show itself was held on Sunday and was labeled the 2007 FCI Tai Chung International KC in the catalog, but was thereafter referred to as a KCT National Dog Show. It was, however, held in FCI fashion, with 10 groups being held. I was scheduled to award the Open Best in Show and to adjudicate upon Group 1 (Sheepdog and Cattle Dogs), Group 4 (Hounds), and Group 6 (Gundogs). Unfortunately, Gene was bitten by a Doberman in the middle of his assignment, so I took over his Baby BIS assignment, whilst Paul finished his Working Dogs and did his Working Group, while I did his Group 5 (Spitz and Primitive-Type Dogs) too. Where there were numbers, I found some excellent breed representatives and judged a new breed for me, the Taiwan dog, for a first. This dog is FCI-recognized, I think. Gene was also set to judge 19 White Poms that fell to me, and I must tell you, there were some fetching ones of these white Poms. They’d be a hit in someone’s breeding program here, for sure. I understand one was sold through the Internet from the breeder to either Belgium or France, where it is having great success as a show dog. No wonder—they were all quite appealing.
Overall, the dogs were of good breed type, with the great majority of them imported, I think, from other countries. Presented nicely, the handlers were basically considerate and polite, and the show itself moved professionally and was even and easy to follow. My steward spoke perfect English and was most helpful, and the venue was a very clean and acceptable secondary high school. Gene’s bite was treated most competently at a nearby teaching medical hospital, and no one could have asked for more apt and accommodating a reaction to that situation. Overall, the trip to Taiwan was both a nice dog experience, one well worth repeating, and a marvelous opportunity to see a proud country at work.
I must say, I have had mixed feelings about the decision of AKC to extend breed approval, virtually assuring a group on the first application to most everyone. I know there are some people who definitely deserve, on paper, such consideration. Whether or not they can also perform as a judge due to a longtime history in the sport remains to be seen and determined. If someone proves incapable of so performing, you can be sure of one thing—they’ll have no breeds taken away from them. And while it’s a nice reward, I guess, for the select few, who is going to decide and choose the wheat from the chaff? Everyone’s going to be considered equal, which, of course, they will not be! Here we go again, letting mediocrity be the deciding factor in judging approvals instead of talent and ability being the main consideration. And, of course, no attention was paid or even mentioned about changing the system whereby people get additional breeds after judging a breed only five times. In many instances, people are credited for having judged a breed when only one, two, or three exhibits show up! What kind of system approves people without their first being exposed in-depth to a breed? A system that stresses mediocrity and not talent or ability is what our foundation is based upon. That’s how I see it anyway. •
