Reuters reports that six new breeds will be welcomed at Westminster Dog Show next week. The 2012 show, the 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, in fact, is being held at Madison Square Garden in "the" city (New York, silly!) this coming Monday and Tuesday, February 13 and 14, 2012. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/
The new line-up will include six newly-added breeds to the Westminster Kennel Club: Mexico's hairless Xoloitzcuintli (you try pronouncing it -- most people just say Xolo, pronounced "Show-low"); the Finnish Lapphund (uh, from Finland); the Norwegian Lundehund (from, yes, you guessed it! Norway!) and Cesky Terrier (a muscular, Czech hunting dog), the Entelebucher Mountain Dog (looks like a Swiss Mountain Dog, only shorter stature); and the all-important American English Coonhound (once known as the English Fox and Coonhound).
These breeds have, of course, been in existence for many years, perhaps even hundreds or thousands. The difference is that the American Kennel Club (AKC) has now ruled that there are sufficient numbers of these breeds living in the U.S. in a particular geographical distribution and meeting certain breed practices and characteristics, the time has come to add these breeds to the line-up.
Breeders of the Xolo itself have been trying for 28 years to get the breed recognized by Westminster and the AKC. The Xolo are descendants of so-called "Mexican hairless" dogs originally coveted by Aztecs who believed the dogs were guardians of the dead.
Northeast Coonhound Rescue, located in Lexington, Mass. is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501c3 corporation that provides rescue, rehoming and coonhound support in New England's six states as well as New York and New Jersey. The organization has an English Coonhound available for adoption in its Rescue, as well as many other hounds looking for forever homes. Some are already in New England, while others are being fostered down south and will be transported. Check out Northeast Coonhound Rescue at: http://necoonhoundrescue.org/ if you're interested in finding your next howling best friend, or to find out if a coonhound is right for you -- a-woooo!
Don't expect any of these newly-accepted breeds to win in their group or even Best In Show... the last time a new breed won a competition best in show there was a 27-year run-up!
The 136th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show airs, live, on The USA Network Monday and Tuesday night February 13 & 14, at 8 pm eastern; and continues at 9 pm eastern on NBC Check your local listings.
Comments