Fresh faces
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show welcomes seven new breeds to this year’s contest,
Donna DeFalcis walked into a Barnes & Noble in 1995 and stopped when she saw the cover of an English magazine.
“That’s the dog I’ve been looking for,” she thought.
It was a Bergamasco, an ancient Sheepdog from the Alps, with flowing long strands of dark gray and silver hair covering it from nose to tail.
DeFalcis researched the owner of the dog from the magazine and contacted her. The owner offered DeFalcis a lead on a breeder in Italy who had a 6-month-old male Bergamasco named Fauno dell albera. DeFalcis worked out an arrangement with the breeder and brought Fauno over from Italy as the first Bergamasco to ever reach the USA.
Now, the Bergamasco is one of seven new breeds competing for the first time at the 140th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, joining the Berger Picard, the Boerboel, the Cirneco dell’Etna, the Lagotto Romagnolo, the Miniature American Shepherd and the Spanish Water Dog.
“It’s surreal,” said DeFalcis, who has three Bergamascos competing. “I’m very, very happy to see this happen. They deserve to compete with the very best dogs. People have to understand they are a very rustic breed. It’s not a dog you’ll see being groomed the night before or day of a show. You have to accept them for the rustic nature that they are. But they are simply wonderful.”
Not only did Fauno begin the lineage of American Bergamascos, he’s also very much a part of this competition. Erik Rothman, a friend of DeFalcis, is showing Fauno’s great-great-grandson, Viggo, in this competition.
“I think their demeanor is unique,” Rothman said. “They’re really sweet, smart dogs. They’re loyal. They’re great for kids and families. They’re a pleasure to be around.”
But there’s one big uncertainty when it comes to showing new breeds. Since it’s the first time they are competing at Westminster, there’s somewhat of a learning curve on what specific qualities judges are looking for.
Jerri Gates owns 11 Cirnechi and has been breeding them for almost 25 years. Medium-sized and slender with long, chestnut limbs, the Cirneco is considered to be the evolution of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hound, which the Phoenicians brought to Sicily more than 2,500 years ago.
“A lot of ( judges) haven’t quite come to differences between this breed and the Pharaoh Hound,” said Gates, while holding Ranger, one of her male Cirnechi. “The judges are learning that these guys are more square than they are long and tall of the Pharaoh Hound. They have a little bit of a different ear set and different movements. It’s still a learning process, but they’re doing a pretty good job so far. We’re just having lots of fun showing them.”
Though these seven breeds are classified as new, that only means that they are newly eligible to compete in the Westminster show. Several of these breeds have been around for thousands of years. One of the younger breeds, however, the Miniature American Shepherd, was developed in the 1960s.
“These guys are just the Australian Shepherd in a smaller package,” Sharon Rives said while standing next to Jag, a 4-year-old Miniature American.
Jag ’s owner, Valerie Nilsson of Canada, approached Rives to be his handler in November.
Rives works primarily with the well-known Australian Shepherds but saw Jag as too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“Our goal with Jag was to get to the Garden,” Rives said of the Westminster finals held at Madison Square Garden. “I took him on because I think he’s a quality dog that deserves representing.”