Totally Terriers

For Terrier lovers, Montgomery County is their favorite weekend of the year. It actually is not a group show, but rather an all-breed show only offering classes for Terriers. It is one of three clubs that do this. The others are Progressive Dog Club and Metro Mile Hi Kennel Club, both of which are only for Toy breeds.

There are 31 Terrier breeds, and of these, 23 breeds held their national at Montgomery this year on Sunday, October 6. Four other breeds held supported entries. Including sweepstakes, theentry was 1,617 with 1,294 actual dogs. Very happy to say, the entry was only down 20 dogs from last year. This is amazing, since nearly all shows are way down this year.

The Hatboro Dog Club show on Thursday,  October 3, had 1,730 dogs, of which 951 were Terriers — more than half the entry. The second Hatboro show the next day had 1,830 dogs, 1,018 of which were Terriers.

On Saturday, the Devon Kennel Club show had an entry of only 1,543, which was 300 less than Friday. Devon is held at a separate location, and many of the Terrier people do not want to move for the one day. Also, in past years Devon did not work well with the Terrier clubs. Several breeds hold their sweeps at the other location on Saturday, or choose to do other things.

I have been attending this weekend for at least 65 years. This was the first time I ever remember the weather being picture perfect all four days. We all remember some years that Montgomery was a sea of mud. Devon had to be cancelled several times. Several years it was brutally hot for man and beast! This year the judges were able to keep the dogs out in the sun for all to see so well.

It is always a great pleasure to judge Terriers this weekend. Thursday I judged Glens and Kerry Blues. On Friday I judged Airedales and American Hairless. I am judging quite a few Terrier breeds at the AKC National Championship show in Orlando in December, so I could not judge them over this weekend because of the moratorium time wise.

At Montgomery I got to watch several breeds I had not seen earlier in the weekend. I thought the quality in Smooths was especially deep this year. Last year there were some very good ones, but this year the depth was the strongest it has been for several years. Some young pups did extremely well and will probably set records in future years. In many of the breeds we saw so many youngsters of great promise.

There were only 26 Wire Fox, which was two more than last year. The entry was small but had good depth of quality, even in the classes. One day a puppy Smooth dog of Amy Rutherford’s won the breed and placed in the group. Beth Sweigart won the breed one day with her Norfolk puppy dog. He already had won several groups and a Best in Show from the 6-9 class! We also saw some veterans that still looked great. The quality in Cairns and Scotties was super deep.

Because of the competition being so stiff in all the breeds, I think only two dogs won their breed all four days. These were the Welsh shown by Gabe Rangel and the Kerry Blue shown by Dana Bryson. No dog placed in the group all four days.

At both Hatboro shows, Gabe Rangel’s Welsh went Best in Show, but did not place in the groups the next two days. This shows just how strong the groups were. Actually, several groups other than Terriers were very strong, particularly Sporting, Hound and Working.

Goldens had an entry of 90 because many people were on their way to the Golden national in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Ryan Tepera was so excited to win Best of Breed both days at Hatboro and also Winners Dog under “Mr. Golden,” Don Sturz, with his Bred-by. I am sure he never dreamed things would get much more exciting: Several days later at the national, he went Winners Dog again with his Bred-by, and BOB with his bitch.

While we were at Hatboro, the Labrador national was being held in Massachusetts. The entry was only 200 Labs, and that is about what the national usually gets. The Labrador Club of the Potomac draws more than 1,000 entries and might be the largest specialty in the world.

The Hatboro club does a magnificent job with judges’ hospitality. The lunches were fabulous, and the judges’ dinner truly outstanding. It was held at a great steakhouse that is inside the host hotel. Kim Brown is show chair and has a large supporting show committee.

Montgomery County uses the Delta hotel in Allentown, which is quite nice. The restaurant is more than adequate, and there are many nice restaurants a short drive away. Being that judging starts at 8 a.m. each day, everyone tries to get to bed at a decent hour.

Lydia Coleman Hutchinson had the great honor of judging Best in Show at Montgomery. Lydia grew up in the sport and has been judging about 60 years. Her parents were Cairn breeders, and she still carries on the “Wolfpit” line. It has bred around 300 champions. This was her first time judging BIS at Montgomery. For any Terrier person, judging Best at Montgomery is the greatest assignment ever. There is no show where you will see so many great dogs standing in one ring. So many great dogs were not able to even make the cut.

At Montgomery the placements are always made in reverse order. Fourth was the Border Ch. Roschel Foxrun Thistle Do, bred in Canada by the Shoremans and Jen Holder. Third was the Kerry bitch Ch. Kilgawny Take My Man. She was bred in the U.K. and handled by Dana Bryson Benn. This was her second time placing in the group at Montgomery. Bill McFadden piloted the Westie Ch. Elvador Starlight Goblet of Fire to Reserve Best in Show.

After Lydia picked her second place, ringside grew tense and silent, waiting to see the victor. The crowd went wild when she said the Skye was the winner. It was such a historic win. Many great Skyes have placed, but “Archer” is the first to go Best in Show. His owner-handler, Antoinelle Vulpis, had this veteran looking better than ever. Lydia had placed him second in the group at the last Morris & Essex, so I knew he might be the dark horse in the group.

About six years ago I judged him at his first show. I said to Antoinelle that it would be several years before she realized how great her dog was. He goes back to great dogs of the past. All the handlers and exhibitors were so excited for her win. It shows that an owner-handler with a great dog can go to the top. The Terrier Group winner this past year was also owner-handled by a young lady who had not shown dogs before. She went to shows with her parents, but never went in the ring.

Next year the weekend will be even bigger and more exciting with Morris & Essex. Held every five years, M&E is always the second-largest show in the Western Hemisphere. It is limited to the largest entry Morris & Essex had in the glory days of its patron, Mrs. Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge.