The Best of Breed

To the persons who are interested in showing dogs what does the Best of Breed also known in the dog world as BOB mean?

Well, to give you a better insight, there are certain things that you should know. Most well governed countries have instituted organizations that govern dogs breeds. In the case of Canada, the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC)is responsible for registering pure breed dogs. I should mention that in Canada not to register your pure bred dog is felony. In the United States of America, it is the the American Kennel Club, in Great Britain it is the Kennel Club, in Australia it is the The Australian National Kennel Council and so forth. When you register your dog, your dog is placed into a predetermined classification. Each breed falls into a particular classification where other pure dogs may be. For example The Canadian Club has seven classification or groups as they are called and they are listed as:

Group 1. The Sporting Group - some examples are Barbet, Spaniels, Griffon. Check with the CKC for the complete list.

Group 2. Hounds - some examples are Afghan Hound, Beagle, Borzoi. Check with the CKC for the complete list.

Group 3. Working Group - some examples are Akita, Black Russian Terrier. Check with CKC for complete list.

Group 4. Terriers - some examples are Airedale Terrier, Bull Terrier, Skye Terrier. Check with CKC for complete list.

Group 5. Toys - some examples are Coton de Tutelar, Chihuahua, Pug. Check with CKC for complete list

Group 6. Non-Sporting Dogs - some examples are Tibetan Terrier, Chow Chow. Check with CKC for complete list

Group 7. Herding Dogs - some examples are Border Collie, Puli, Briard. Check with CKC for complete list

Miscellaneous Class are breeds of dogs that are awaiting to be recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club.

Once Registered and assigned a group, your dog will be placed into the category of your breed. So for example if your dog was a Barbet, your dog will be placed in Group 1, and into the Barbet breed. (Using the Canadian Kennel Club Specifications).

If you decide to show your Barbet, you will of course make your entry for confirmation and at the time of competitive showing one dog has to be chosen by the judge as the best of breed. The best of the breed is supposed to be the dog that comes closest to the breed standard in comparison to others dogs of the same breed.

Now if your dog is the only dog in the breed, your dog may be given the best of breed after going through the motions of showing. This in my opinion is a flaw in the rules. The question that really has to be asked is how can you give an only dog the best of breed where there is no comparison? In fairness to this situation, a dog being entered does not know how many dogs are being entered.The only way of knowing in advance is when the entry catalogue is sent out or on the day of competition. With that said, it should also noted that some owners deliberately go to shows, knowing that no other dogs in the breed would show up.In these cases where the dog is judged the best of breed with no competition, the dog is not awarded any points. 

Once you dog has been given the title of best of breed for that particular event, the dog goes to compete for the best of group which will entail all the best of breeds in that particular group.

A good Canadian website for checking on show confirmation result is Canuck Dogs.com

The Black Russian Terrier Colour Controversy

The United Kennel Club (UKC) based in the United Staes of America with outlets in Canada recently inaugurated and ruled that “coloured” Black Russian Terriers could be shown under their auspices. 

There has been backlash from the Black Russian Terrier community some crying foul and some agreeing with the UKC ruling. In order to understand this dispute, one has to go back in time to understand the origins of the Black Russian Terrier.

The Black Russian Terrier was created by the Soviets under the USSR era when the Russian Military lost most of their dogs during the World 1 and World 2. As a result of this, the Russian Government made and edict that a new breed of dog should be introduced and that this dog should be a guard dog and be able to withstand the cold and frigid temperatures of the Siberian weather.

"Coloured"Black Russian Terrier

Normal Black Russian Terrier

The Red Star Kennel began their experimentation  and came up with breeding a Rottweiler with a Giant Schnauzer. To get what they were looking for, other crossing breedings took place between Airedale Terriers, Caucasian Ovcharka ( Caucasian Shepherd Dog), Newfoundlanders, and other varieties of unnamed dogs. With a limited amount of dogs, the  breed was finalized as a Black Russian Terrier and introduced to the Russian public around 1953.

With this information, one can quickly  deduce that the gene pool and genetic information was rather limited to a few dogs and because of inbreeding anything was possible from their offsprings. What is rather interesting is the way the Red Kennel scientists were able to get the colour of the dog black.

As these Black Russian Terriers were made available to breeders across the Soviet Union, inbreeding was common resulting in off coloured puppies. In 1958, a breed standard was put in place and throughout the years revised and in conjunction with the world organizing body, Federation Cynologique Internationale, a proper breed standard was approved. For the purpose of this blog, I shall only deal with the colour. The breed standard colour for the Black Russian Terrier is Black, black with insignificant intermingling gray hair is permissible. 

As breeders continued to breed Black Russian Terriers, puppies were whelped with colour variations of the original dogs that were used as the foundation stock. The breeders who cared about the Black Russian Terriers made notes of such breedings and stopped breeding those dogs. The resultant puppies of these litters were either neutered and spaded so that their genes pools would be terminated. The breeders who did not really care, sold these puppies without have these puppies fixed.

The owners of these off coloured puppies in Russia wanted the same privileges as owners of the Black Russian Terriers namely, to compete in the same confirmation  ring.

The International Black Russian Terrier Club of Russia conducted an experiment prior to 2006 where these off coloured were shown at specialized shows. No titles were awarded. The experiment was called off since some of these dogs had the appearance of the Airedale Terriers and some dogs were extremely aggressive.

In North America, breeders had similar situations as to their counterparts in Russia. Breeders who cared for the breed made sure that the off coloured puppies were fixed so that their gene pool would not spread. Unscrupulous breeders who did not care about the breed continue to breed dogs that will produce off coloured puppies and are intent on competing with the true Black Russian Terrier.

It is a concern and the fight has only just begun  between as to who will be the winner in the long run. I am afraid that in order to enrich their coffers, the national breed clubs are going to eventually  approve and allow colour variations of the Black Russian into the show rings.