November
November 1, 2010Office handling state tax audit disputes
November 3, 2010
Sounds of high-spirited snorts will fill the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center this month when bulldogs vie for best of breed at an upcoming specialty dog show.
Put on by both the Bulldog Club of America (BCA) Division IV and the Bulldog Club of Louisiana (BCL), the three-day show will offer bulldogs a chance to earn points toward their championship titles. An American Kennel Club (AKC) Champion must possess a total of 15 points with two major wins, which is determined by how many dogs are actually competing.
One dog that is already pointed toward her AKC Championship is 2 1/2-year-old C.J. of Franklin. Her owner, Heidi “Dee” Sampey, said it is C.J.’s showmanship that helps her stand out in the four-legged crowd.
“You have to breed for the conformation, good health and good temperament, and show your dog and hope for the best,” Sampey said. “But sometimes the ones that also have the unique personality and who are very outgoing in the ring get noticed. C.J. has that ‘look at me’ personality – a show ring personality.”
Sampey, who is a certified veterinary technician, began her love affair with bulldogs – or “bullies” – in 2005. She started showing the breed soon after.
“When I had my first experience with a bulldog while I was in clinic, I just fell in love and was pretty much hooked,” the dog owner said. “I got my first dog in 2005 and I started showing at the end of 2006, so I’ve been showing for about 4 years.”
With a large head, intimidating under bite and a strong, square physique, bulldogs possess a fierce, guard dog appearance. But most of these good-natured, clownish creatures have personalities that contradict their gruff exterior.
“They are very comical,” Sampey exclaimed. “They do some stuff sometimes that cracks you up. They can be stubborn, but they just absolutely love people – any person it doesn’t matter. I always say bulldogs have absolutely no loyalty to their owners because they love everyone.”
While bullies may make excellent family pets, they are prone to health issues, including allergies, hip dysplasia and heart defects to name a few. Proper breeding to help counter these problems is important, according to Sampey, who is also a breeder of these loose-jowled canines.
“Bulldogs do have a tendency to have health issues if you do not do your homework when it comes to breeding,” she explained. “A good breeder will do health testing on their dogs and they will not breed just to breed. When you breed you want to make sure that the male and the female compliment each other … for example, if the female is a long back you don’t want to breed her to a long back male – you want to breed her to a male that has a super short back.”
In addition to showing C.J. at the November show in Houma, Sampey also plans to enter 22-month-old Nick and 6-month-old Victoria, who is one of C.J. and Nick’s pups. To prepare her pooches for their performances, they are beautified from head to toe.
“You shave their whiskers and their face. We use a Norelco razor to really get the hairs off and you put this shiny stuff on their faces. It’s a black shiny cream you put on their black spots just to really make it stand out,” Sampey said. “You shave their hair on a certain part of the ear … and you trim up any really loose hairs all over the body. You just kind of clean them up. Give them a bath and make sure their nails are trimmed.”
With anywhere from 60 to 100 spruced-up bulldogs expected to enter this competition, the judges really have to know what they are looking for in order to choose the best of the best.
The judges for this particular show are BCA Judge Donna Mouser from Clayton, Ohio; BCL Sweeps Judge Carolyn Adams of Austin, Texas; BCL Judge James Cardello of Londonderry, N.H.; and BCL Judge Dr. Jack Brown from Mesa, Ariz.
Not just anyone can judge at these events. The AKC requires a long list of credentials in order to become a licensed judge and they all must follow a written breed standard.
“Qualifications required by AKC are rather lengthy to make sure the judge has the right knowledge of each breed,” remarked Brett McDonough, a bulldog breeder/owner from Texas, who has aspirations of someday obtaining his judge’s license. “Judges follow a written breed standard and there is a ‘Revised Illustrated Guide to the Bulldog Standard,’ which is a pictorial interpretation of the bulldog standard used as part of BCA’s Judges Education Program.”
McDonough, who has held almost every office with the Bulldog Club of Texas (BCT), was voted to serve on the Board of Governors with the BCA and has held several positions on the board of the BCL, along with his wife Christy, co-owns one Champion bulldog nicknamed Gracie, and has three others pointed toward their AKC Championship. The husband-and-wife team hopes to secure some more wins at this month’s show.
During a show, dogs are divided into classes by gender, age, American bred, bred-by exhibitor, amateur owner/handler and an open class, according to McDonough.
“The winner of each class then competes for Winner’s Dog (WD) and Winner’s Bitch (WB),” he explained. “Then both of the winners go back into the ring after all of the Champions (Ch) go into the ring and all of those Ch are evaluated then the Winners are compared again and all of the dogs are compared for: Best of Breed (BOB) … Best of Winners (BOW) … Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed (BOS) …Select Dog (SD) …and Select Bitch (SB).”
Entry fees per class, per dog, per day are $25, and points are the awards – not money. Showing dogs can be a costly endeavor according to Sampey.
“I’m going to end up spending about $210 just on entry fees. Then you have gas and I live close enough so I’ll be driving home, but if you don’t, then you have to pay for a hotel. You could probably end up spending, I would imagine a minimum of $500 a weekend.”
The bulldog show is scheduled to take place on Nov. 12, 13 and 14, at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.
McDonough implied that the decision to host the event in Houma was an easy one to make.
“We held a dog show there a couple of years ago along with the Louisiana Kennel Club (LKC) and the Metairie Kennel Club (MKC) and really liked the venue and the city/ restaurants,” he said. “Also, it is getting really hard to find a dog-friendly hotel and show site in the New Orleans’ area.”
The upcoming show is free and open to the public. For more information regarding the event, contact the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center at (985) 850-4657.
