Kerry Blue Terrier Performance Newsletter

July 2006

By Jane Eno

This week we have an interesting column written by Lisa Frankland about competing in obedience and agility with our wonderful breed of dogs. Thank you Lisa for taking the time to write this piece. I found it to be interesting, thought provoking and very honest.

I also want to remind everyone that Rau Dog Shows will soon have the Obedience and Rally premiums available for the Kimberton All-Terrier trials the week of Montgomery. The agility premium can be down loaded at Countryside Agility. Hope I’ll see all of you there!

SPECIAL GUEST COLUMN

"Just a Kerry." Why Blaming the Breed Doesn't Hold Water

by Lisa Frankland

It's a remark that I've heard many variations of during my years of involvement in Kerries, and it still irritates me every time. Essentially it's saying that your dog is "just a Kerry," or a "typical kerry," or "typical terrier," in response either to the dog doing poorly in a performance class or when it's done very well.

The former circumstance usually bothers me more because it tries to put all the blame for what happened on the dog. . . Not the handler, lack of training/experience, unusual conditions, etc., but the dog. And it is not even the dog itself, but its breed! Pity the poor handler who is stuck with such a pathetic breed! At the other extreme, the dog does well and the handler responds to the usual congratulations by launching into a litany of complaints about how difficult Kerries are to train. Oh, what a great trainer he must be to persevere and succeed with that boneheaded breed!

The end result of such trash talking, whether done consciously or not, is that listeners either interpret the remarks as an attempt by the dog's handler to excuse and/or elevate their own training and handling skills(or lack thereof), or believe the handler meaning the entire breed's reputation takes a hit.

Let's look at this assumption among many people, including some that own or breed these dogs, that Kerries are not easy to train or suited for performance events such as obedience and agility. One thing I like to tell people to look at when considering whether a particular breed is a suitable choice for their lifestyle is to research what the breed was originally used for. Nobody disputes the fact that the Kerry Blue Terrier was developed as an all-purpose, working farm dog whose various duties included herding, guarding, and retrieving. All of these tasks require a dog to be intelligent, focused, persistent, a good problem-solver, and willing to take direction from its handler...the same skills required for obedience competition. In fact, the AKC obedience exercises were derived from hunting and herding work, which is one reason breeds from the Sporting and Herding Groups tend to be such obedience standouts. Similarly, agility also requires basic obedience skills and a dog that is fast, attentive and willing to please. Yes, Kerries were also used for fighting and vermin control, but because of their extremely versatile background, we should expect them to be one of the best choices from the Terrier Group for performance events.

Then there's the issue of structure. A good obedience dog should be physically sound and possess a moderate, athletic build. Size extremes (very tiny, giant, or heavy-bodied) and faults or extremes in structure make tasks like jumping, quick straight sits, and precise heeling all the more difficult. These traits are even more important in agility, where dogs are required to quickly negotiate multiple jumps, tunnels, weave poles, and other obstacles in order to qualify.

Finally, statistics do not support the notion that Kerry Blue Terriers do not make good performance dogs. While the 2005 AKC statistics show Kerries earning a combined total of 64 obedience, rally, and agility (not including preferred) titles to 3693 for Border Collies and 3983 for Golden Retrievers, those numbers don't tell the entire story. Last year there were 442 Kerries registered with the AKC, meaning that the breed earned 1 performance title for every 6.9 dogs registered. Goldens, with 48,509 dogs registered, had 1 title for every 12.2 dogs registered. And while Border Collies, with 2,378 registrations in 2005, had a prodigious 1 title for every 0.64 dogs registered, this ratio does not take into account the large number of BC's competing with ILP numbers. I am guessing that if the ILP dogs were included, the ratio of dogs to performance titles would be substantially larger. As for how Kerries stack up to other traditional performance breeds, such as German Shepherds, Shelties, and Poodles, I challenge anyone to look up the statistics on the AKC web site or in the AKC Events Calendar, and compare for themselves.

Our breed has a lot to be proud of in performance events. To date in obedience, we've had two OTCh's, several Kerries that are OTCh pointed, and five UDX's (3 of which were handled to their titles by owners who had never titled a dog previously!), numerous lower titles, and many, many all-breed class placements, wins, and High in Trial and High Combined awards. On the agility side, in the ten years or so that it's been an AKC event, we already have 2 MACH's, several master's titles (MX and MXJ), and other titles that are almost too numerous to count. Kerry Blue Terriers have been well represented at the AKC Invitational in both obedience and agility--at least 5 to date in obedience, and 2 in agility--and Kerries went 1-2 in the Terrier Group and qualified for the final rounds at the Obedience Invitational in 1997, while another made the finals at the 2005 Agility Invitational. Plus a Kerry won the advanced division of a rally tournament outright in 2005. Just a Kerry? I think not!


BRAGS

From Janet Beeby
(This post originally appeared on the uskb-list.)
Hi All,
Just a wee brag to announce that MACH Keriland's Talk About Town, Gabby, the Kerry Blue became MACH 2 Gabby today! She is the first Kerry Blue in history to achieve this title.

We had a really great run to finish out our title and managed to do it on the second anniversary of our MACH in Gig Harbor, Washington - I guess it's a lucky place for us!!!

Mach 2 requires an additional 20 double Q's and an additional 750 speed points - Like a second championship with all the time and work that goes with it!

On another front, we've had a busy month with the addition of our third Kerry to the crew, or gaggle, or what do you call a herd of Kerry Blues??? She is a five month old rescue Kerry named Annie Oakley and she's the apple of everyone's eye - yes, including Gabby & Jake. She's got big shoes to fill, but hopefully I'll be reporting agility news about Ms. Annie in the future!

Gabby is a true blue partner and when I look into her eyes I see fire and dedication and pure drive for life.... We're going to keep on plugging and hopefully we'll telling tales of MACH 3 around the corner!

Yahoo!
Run fast, run clean, run blue!!!
Janet Beeby with Gabby, Jake and Annie Oakley

From Brenda Vogel
Blue Bay's Wind Dancer MX MXJ RN had an exciting month of July.
This month she has earned
2 legs toward her UKC CD
2 legs toward her AKC CD
and two legs toward her RA.

She and I are brand new to obedience. We will be celebrating her 9th birthday this month, and she is as eager to learn as ever.

From Virginia Barishek and the Kerries
U-CD Garryowen's Smarty Pants (Andy), UD, NA, RE
Finbar's End of the Rainbow (Finn), CD, RA, CGC
Andy's Little Flower (Rosie),CGC
Westie, Bonnie, CGC (official mascot)

3 Kerries, 10 Ribbons in Obedience and Rally at Nita Nee KC

My gang of Kerries had a terrific, 10-ribbon weekend at Nita Nee KC in Centre Hall, PA, on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22. On Friday, Rosie(who just got her CGC on June 20) made her official debut, and earned her first leg in Rally Novice B with 96 points (out of possible 100) and 3rd place. Later that day (which was very hot and oppressively humid), Finn qualified in regular Obedience Novice B, under judge Jack Volhard, and got the third leg for his CD The club awarded New Title rosettes, so he got one of those, too. His first two Novice Obedience legs were at the Columbia Terrier specialties in 2004 and 2005, so I'm very pleased that he got a leg at an all-breed trial. (He completed his Rally Advanced title, which is entirely off-lead, in November 2005.) On Saturday, Andy and Rosie showed only in Rally, while Finn rested. Andy got his second RAE leg, with 96 points and 4th place in Rally Excellent B, and 96 points and 3rd place in Rally Advanced B. Following in his footsteps,Rosie got 97 points and 4th place in Rally Novice B, for the second leg toward her RN title. Pat Fallon was the Rally judge on both days, and her courses were pretty challenging, even in Novice. Moreover, on Saturday, it was raining off and on, either pattering or pounding on the roof of the building.
,br> The Nita Nee KC show committee deserves credit for a welcoming, smooth-running event. It was my first time at this very nice show, with friendly people, in the incredibly pretty surroundings of "Happy Valley." And given our very good luck both days, it probably won't be my last!

From Tracey Fulmer
Bailey earned his AX title and got his first MACH points a few weekends ago. We need to keep working on speed, and there's nothing like goosing his cute bottom during practices to get him moving! Hopefully we can get that same speed at trials. Looking forward to Montgomery agility!
See you in October.
Tracey

From Jane Eno
Jessie picked up his very first MXJP leg at Double Q Agility trial in New York in July. He came in on time and clean to win first place in Preferred 16 inches. Never thought he’d do it! He just keeps going and surprising me. We are working hard at learning tracking and hope to be ready to test in the spring.

Last Updated: 08/07/2006, 3:59 pm