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| Summer 2007 Newsletter |
| 36th Annual CDCA Specialty 2007 Judge's critique |
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| by AKC Judge Pat Hastings |
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| Thank you very much for the honor and thrill of judging your National Specialty.
I was singularly impressed at how well everyone worked together to put on your National. A huge round of applause to Denise Gordon and her committee and friends. You are a treasure. Thanks also for my great ring stewards. I could not have done it without you. I was very pleased with the overall entry, in numbers, in quality, and particularly in temperaments. It was not very long ago that Canaan Dogs had a reputation for having among the worst dispositions at dog shows. That certainly was not the case at this year�s National. Even with my broken leg and limping as I approached them, most of the dogs I saw were totally stable. Congratulations to you all for all of your hard work in turning this around. Keep at it, as it is a constant struggle. You had a small entry in class dogs, but I thought my winners dog �D & J Ha�Aretz Tip Top Dog� was extremely nice: Good proportions, correct wedge-shaped head with a dark almond eye, sound, and correct presence and carriage. He should finish his Championship easily. Your entry in bitches was wonderful. There were multiple choices in each class. When the single entry in 9-12 Puppy Bitches walked in the ring, �Mad River Cool Breeze Blowing�, I knew right then that she was going to be the one to beat. Her breed type was exquisite as she first moved around the ring, and when I got my hands on her and watched her move up and back, my heart raced. This is the kind of an animal that you are looking for every time you walk in the ring. You very seldom find it, but when you do, it makes judging worth every minute of what you have put into it. The largest class in bitches was the Bred by Exhibitor class, which is the way it should be at shows and particularly at our Specialties. The winner of this class was another puppy, �Renegade Camber�, easily reserve winners bitch: A lovely bitch of proper proportions, head, temperament, presence, and soundness. She should finish out of the puppy class and go on to have a great career in the show ring, if that is what the owners choose to do with her. The Veteran classes at National Specialties are always such a moving event. There are usually many people in attendance who have never seen the monarchs of the breed, so in addition to touching the hearts of us all, it is always enlightening for the �newbies� to see where the breed has come from and where it is going. The competition in the Specials class was WONDERFUL!!!! I am sure that many of you and all of the prospective judges at ringside have never seen that many Canaan Dogs together. This is where we all learn, so thank you for bring them out. My Breed winner was a young dog �Ch Desert Star Running Miles, RN�, who had the correct outline, moved with the required athletic agility and grace, and had a proper wedge-shaped head with low set ears and a great temperament. He was pushed extremely hard by the winners bitch. It was a very close decision but in the end he won on his maturity, and the bitch, which in my opinion has a brilliant career ahead of her, ended up winning both Best of Winners and Best Opposite Sex. My two Award of Merit winners were, �Ch Rosendog�s He Who Must Be Named� and �Ch Mad River Ladies First�. Both of these very nice animals will have an impact on the breed for many years to come. I heard that your club is working on revising your breed standard, an effort with which I totally agree. I feel the weakest part of your type is proper proportions. In the first paragraph, your standard calls for a square body. �His medium-size, square body is without extremes� leads many to believe that he has a square outline, but the standard then goes on to say: �Square when measured from the point of the withers to the base of the tail and from the point of the withers to the ground.� This creates a rectangular outline. If a square Doberman, which is measured from the prosternum to the point of the buttocks and from the highest point of the withers to the ground, was measured according to your standard, a 27-inch dog would be 38 inches long. That, Folks, is a long dog. Not off square but actually rectangular. I don�t think that is what you have in mind, so you do need a better way to describe what it is that you are looking for. Many standards use a ratio. For instance, the Bearded Collie, which is a long breed, calls for 4 to 5; the Rottweiler, which is off square, calls for 9 to 10. The way your standard is written, it calls for 3 to 5, so I think you need to give this some serious thought. The overall quality of what was at this year�s National was quite nice. You do need to pay more attention to your ear size and set, as it is a unique part of your breed along with the proportions of the dogs. There were also way too many unsound dogs in the ring. I think the movement has improved greatly over the years, but you still have a ways to go. The first paragraph of a standard describes the essence of the breed, and the first paragraph of your standard includes: �moves with athletic agility and grace in a quick, brisk, ground covering trot.� A big part of breed type is the dog�s ability to perform the job it was bred for, and for a Canaan Dog to work efficiently, he must be sound. Thanks again for the great day, and I wish all of you continued success with your wonderful breed. Pat Hastings |
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| Photo courtesy of Tom Woolf |