By Gretchen Bernardi

There is no correlation between the number of dogs participating in a dog event and the enthusiasm shown by the participants. Nowhere was this more evident than at the Ibizan Hound Club of the United States’ 2008 national specialty. Held at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, Missouri, the show brought 62 “Beezers” together for coursing, obedience and conformation. Although this event was small in number, fewer than 50 exhibitors in all, the mood was enthusiastic throughout. Everyone displayed a deep affection for this highly unusual breed and there was an air of sportsmanship not always seen at the larger, more competitive specialties.

Is it possible that maintaining good relationship with your fellow breeders and exhibitors is easier, more desirable, even necessary in a breed with fewer numbers and a limited gene pool? I know, I know. Someone is right now is thinking: “She should have heard all of the whispering in the parking lot and the gossiping at the motel the night before.” But I have been to enough dog shows in my life to recognize a calm and friendly atmosphere when I’m in one and this specialty definitely had that.

 

 

The Ibizan Hound is both old and new. Like many of its sighthound relatives, traces of it have been found in Egyptian art from some 5,000 years ago and its earliest kind were probably brought from Egypt to the Balearic Islands, an archipelago near the Iberian Peninsula. But the breed was not admitted into the AKC until 1979 and only 140 dogs were registered in 2007, not many more than the 133 registered a decade prior to that.

Karen Rockwell from Northfield, Ohio judged the Sweepstakes entry, with 23 entered in the Puppy Sweeps and six in the Veterans. Top honors in the Puppy Sweepstakes went to littermates, with the bitch, Nahala DaVinci Chaotic Conception taking the top honor and her brother, DaVinci Nahala Courting Chaos, going Best of Opposite to her. Not quite one year old, this pair was bred and owned by Julia Morris and Alexandria Mitchell, both from Michigan.

Of the six Veteran Sweeps entries, four were over the age of nine (an Ibizan is officially a veteran at seven) and all looked fit and healthy. The winner under Ms. Rockwell was DC Gryphon’ Pogo Podenco SC, a seven year old dog bred by Susan Fegan and owned by Tammy Hirstein Forbes of Florida. Best of Opposite to him was Ch. DaVinci Aliki Kiss My Ice RN, bred by Alice Mirestes and Kimberly Hinton and owned by Erica and Christy Shaw from Kentucky.

Dr. Harry Smith, the all-breed judge from North Carolina, judged his junior showmanship entry, Donson Hanna-O’Neill of Jennings, Oklahoma, showing Gryphons Dragon Duchess and began his regular classes. In the end, he chose as his Best of Breed Ch. Harehill’s Love on the Run, bred by W. Anderson, L.D. Lucas, G.E. Brand and C.T. Woods and owned by Glen Brand and Wendy Anderson of California.

Sired by Cinondra’s Desperado De Juarez, this bitch’s dam is the well-known Ch. Luxor’s Playmate of the Year, who, on her own, holds a special place in the breed’s history. “Bunny” was the first Ibizan Hound to place in the Hound Group and her winning streak was nothing short of spectacular, winning back to back Hound Groups at Westminster in 2003 and 2004 and finishing top Hound in 2003. Before it was over she garnered 43 Best in Shows, won 133 Hound groups and 107 other group placements.

The Best of Breed bitch, three and a half years old, was mature and in beautiful condition, moving flawlessly with her handler, Linda Mattson. All breeders and aspiring breeders should take pride in dogs of all breeds with such winning pedigrees. We know that it takes a perfect combination of many small things, insignificant by themselves, to pull off a specialty win. Some are under our control and some are not: the right temperature, the right dog for the right judge, the right ring surface, the right mood. But to have pedigrees in which specialty winners are producing specialty winners attests to the cleverness of the breeder, to the expert care of the dog itself, and to the axiom to which breeders have always clung: quality begets quality. Congratulations are due all around.

The IBCUS specialty was held on Thursday prior to a three-day cluster and to put more than a little icing on this particular cake the SBIS Ibizan bitch won the Hound Group all three days under George Heitzman, Dennis Gallant and, in a repeat performance, Dr. Smith.

Best of Opposite Sex went to Ch. Jemm’s Arbeca Bravissimo, nearly three years old, bred by Theodora Burke and Margaret Morris and owned by Margaret Morris of New Port Richey, Florida.

Other high honors: Winners Dog and Best of Winners was DaVinci’s Midsummer Dream, bred and owned by Julie Morris and Eva Partida of Clarksville, Michigan, out of the Open Dog (Wire Coat) class; Winners Bitch was Bramblewood’s Husn Jaddah Tifflah, bred by John Schneider, Judy Parker and Justin Staudinger, owned by Carol Dickerson Kauffman of Indiana, Pennsylvania, out of the Open Bitch (Smooth Coat) class; Awards of Merit went to Ch. Aliki’s Shakken Not Stirred, bred by A. Mirestes, T. Caddell, H. Caddell-Eichelberger, a dog owned by Erin Roberts and Alice Mirestes and to Ch. Amahte’s Gold Fever, a bitch bred and owned by Roberta Hozempa.

“A hunting dog whose quarry is primarily rabbits, this ancient hound was bred for thousands of years with function being of prime importance. Lithe and racy, the Ibizan possesses a deerlike elegance combined with the power of a hunter.” In an effort to highlight this essential part of the standard and the dog it describes, the club showcased the working abilities of the Ibizan Hound with an American Sighthound Field Association Lure Coursing Trial held on Saturday at the performance fields at Purina Farms. The trial was open to all ASFA sighthound breeds and was judged by Sandra Simmons, Karen Frederick and Dean Wright. Many of the trials held in conjunction with specialties are all-breed (that is, all sighthound breeds) and that was the case with this trial. Entered were 16 Ibizan Hounds, 5 Whippets, 2 Scottish Deerhounds, 1 Irish Wolfhound, 3 Basenjis, 1 Rhodesian Ridgeback, 1 Greyhound and 1 Borzoi.

And this weekend belonged to the Ibizans and they triumphed. T’Marras Bandida Feliz, owned by Karen Mariani was Best of Breed and also Best in Field over all of the 33 dogs that ran that day. T’Marras Hurrah For the Fast & Furious, owned by Karen Radke, won the Open Stakes and DC Gryphon’s Pogo Podengo won the Veteran Stakes. A reminder: this veteran dog won the Veteran Sweepstakes at Thursday’s specialty and was also shown in the Best of Breed and Stud Dog classes and was further found as the sire of several class-placing dogs. Congratulations to this seven year old dog for doing it all!

And one more thing: this specialty had an especially well-attended judges’ education program, directed by Eric and Nancy Liebes. In attendance were 12 judges and aspiring judges for the specialty judging with ring-side mentoring and post-show hands-on instructions. Nancy Liebes said that some of the judges stayed over for the lure coursing trial and were rewarded with being able to observe the different hunting style in the sighthound breeds competing.

A personal observation: the Ibizan Hound is one of the few sighthounds to which I have had very little personal exposure, so I went to this event open-minded and very curious. I came away with real affection for this very unusual breed, unusual in structure and in temperament. Again quoting Mrs. Liebes, she described them as “a sweet breed, but easily distracted. We often say you need a butterfly net to live with one.”

Gretchen Bernardi •  berwyck@ezl.com