photo by Kirsty Parker
We spend
much of our spare time exhibiting our dogs at various shows around the
country. We attend local (Northern England & Southern Scotland) Open
Shows, and the bigger Championship Shows which are held all over the
country. We are currently showing Chena and Sika, and occasionally
Elke. Kai retired in 2005.
Dog Showing is about exhibiting
your dog before an independent judge who's job it is to determine which
exhibit fits most closely to the Breed Standard for
that particular breed. There are some judges who judge a wide range of
breeds, sometimes within one or more groups, and sometimes across all 7
groups. These are all-rounders and are able to judge Group and Best In
Show competitions. Other judges are seen as breed specialists because
they involved in the breed in question. They are usually breeders and/or
exhibitors of the breed themselves.
Up until
2006 Alaskan Malamutes were classed as Rare Breeds in the UK which meant that
they were able to compete at Championship Shows, but did not qualify for
Challenge Certificates and were, therefore, not able to become UK Champions.
This
changed at Crufts 2006 where our very first set of CCs was offered. We
currently have 6 pairs of CCs (Best Dog & Best Bitch) and 2 single CCs
(Best Of Breed only) available. A dog or Bitch needs to win 3 of these
Challenge Certificates under 3 different judges in order to become a UK
Champion.
The
country's first Champion was Ch Chayo Blue Thunder followed not long after by
the first bitch Champion, his daughter, Ch Chayo Moet Chandon, both bred and
owned by Sue Ellis.
The
ultimate Dog Show is Crufts, held in March every year. This is the only
dog show which requires dogs to qualify and they do so by gaining a 1st, 2nd
or 3rd in certain classes at any Championship Dog Show where there are CCs on
offer for the breed. This means that there are only 8 opportunities to
qualify throughout the year and considering that Championship Shows with CCs
attract entries of 100+ Malamutes, even qualification is no mean feat. Gaining a CC or a Reserve CC, or 1st place
in the Open Class, gets a dog entry into the Kennel Club Stud Book and with
this they get lifetime Crufts qualification. We are very proud that our
little Sika gained her Stud Book Number with her RCC out of the Junior class
at the Welsh Kennel Club Championship Show 2007.
Championship
Show dates and results can be found on the following websites:
Higham
Press
Fosse
Data
Canine
Info Database
