10/29/2024
Glancing at the standings for our breed in CKC this morning (something I do a couple of times a week to see how all our friends are doing in other areas of the country) and I realized something incredible:
There are TWENTY-NINE bassets listed in the standings!!!
That means that there are TWENTY-NINE bassets who competed WITH COMPETITION and won Best of Breed in their shows so far this year.
That DOESN'T include all the bassets who also competed with competition and earned points & championship titles this year with Best of Opposite, Winners Dog, Winners Female and Best of Winners (the standings ONLY show dogs with Best of Breed wins).
When I first started showing, I was often the only basset entered. This had been the case for several years, and I committed to my breeder mentors and friends that I would do what I could to engage more people and get the entries up.
I worked on making friends in the breed, encouraging them to come out and have some fun. Others noticed competition available and entered for chances to earn their own dogs points. Our little group banded together with a common goal, and has grown significantly over the last 2 1/2 years. We've worked together to ignite the passion for the breed across the country and get the dogs out there again.
We can't take credit for all the dogs showing now, but it has been so exciting to watch the entries grow show after show. We still get "must be a Basset specialty!" when we all show up to a show together, but there's a bit of pride and excitement to that as well.
It's NOT a specialty, but a renewed spark of passion and joy for a breed that truly deserves it!
I can't wait to see what the next year brings. I know some breeders are sitting on some beautiful pups just waiting to grow up a bit and make their debut. And I'll be right there ringside cheering them all on! 🥰
https://canuckdogs.com/index.php?PageKey=a0112f39-83c3-102c-99fc-08dd3e9e5cf4&cmbTypeOfStanding=2&cmbYear=2024&cmbDisplay=50&Breed=695