Fargo - Moorhead Kennel Club

03/25/2025

For Minnesota dog breeders:

IMPORTANT AKC ALERT

03/25/2025

The unique-looking Dandie Dinmont Terrier is a tough but dignified little exterminator. They are compact companions blessed with a big personality.

Why do you love the breed?

03/23/2025

03/23/2025

Top Dog
The AKC has announced that the French Bulldog is America’s most popular breed for the third year in a row, according to 2024 AKC registration statistics. Rounding out the top three are the Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever.

Photo: Ch. Bouquet Nouvelle Ami (Jo-Jo), circa mid-1950s
Among the fanciers responsible for keeping the once-scarce Frenchie viable in America until the puppy-buying public caught up with it were Ralph and Amanda West (Ralanda kennels) of Livonia, Michigan. They began their 30-plus years in Frenchies in the late 1940s. In her time, Mrs. West had the show ring’s top-winning Frenchies, and her success did much to promote the cream-colored type. Her foundation dog was the legendary Ch. Bouquet Nouvelle Ami (Jo-Jo), acquired as a puppy in 1951.
Another big winner from Ralanda was Ch. Ber-Neil’s Jeepers Jackie, winner of four consecutive national specialties. In all, Ralanda racked up some 110 Bests in Show.

Gazette Gallery slideshow: “Square Pegs: AKC Non-Sporting Breeds” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETrJcNLUoYI

AKC podcast: “America’s Most Popular Dog Breeds”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDF_UQQ6RmI&list=PLPfEv_pKgm7eKlYtGTtMNag4L1QAYaogi&index=25

AKC Gazette back issues: https://www.akc.org/products-services/magazines/akc-gazette/

Free Gazette subscription: https://www.akc.org/subscribe/

03/22/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1YM4QMciPC/

“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
Anatole France

Artist: Alison Friend - Artist - Wendy Loved Her Skinny Latté

Pairing by Whispers from the Heart

03/22/2025

The House of Duc

Here’s a peek at a “Times Past” item we’re working on for the April Gazette call “The House of Duc,” about the descendants of Hayes Blake Hoyt’s Standard Poodle Ch. Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakeen. Duc, aka The Duke, was one of the 1930s’ top show dogs and a prepotent sire who influenced his breed for generations.

Among the pups sired by the magnificent Swiss import were Ch. Blakeen Jung Frau and Ch. Blakeen Eiger, who won the first-ever Best Brace award at Westminster. They were named for two famous peaks in the Swiss Alps, a nod to their legendary sire.

In 1940, on the muddy, rain-swept grounds of the Morris & Essex show, Mrs. Hoyt handled the American-bred Jung Frau to Best in Show over an entry of 4,087 dogs, including many top imports.

In his book Best in Show, Bo Bengtson wrote: “Many of the [Blakeen] dogs were handled by Mrs. Hoyt herself, impeccably dressed, always in white gloves, and if none of his children quite equaled Duc in mystique and exotic aura, they did win even more than their sire.”

Gazette Gallery slideshow: “Square Pegs: AKC Non-Sporting Breeds”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETrJcNLUoYI

AKC podcast: “Poodles: A Marvel of Intelligence and Versatility”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UXjMpN24DA&list=PLPfEv_pKgm7eKlYtGTtMNag4L1QAYaogi&index=9

AKC Gazette back issues: https://www.akc.org/products-services/magazines/akc-gazette/

Free Gazette subscription: https://www.akc.org/subscribe/

Happy weekend! We’ll see you around the rings

03/17/2025

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!!!

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03/14/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DLTPbCsFv/

Common-sense advice and help

03/14/2025

⚠️ Please be aware! ⚠️

03/13/2025

The Poodle stands proudly among dogdom’s true aristocrats. Beneath the curly, low-allergen coat is an elegant athlete and companion for all reasons and seasons.

Why do you love the breed?

03/13/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14qRyxkmhk/

Iditarod insights #8, Monday, March 10, 2025
By Nils Hahn
THE ALASKAN HUSKY
The dogs competing in the Iditarod are a northern breed called the Alaskan husky. The Alaskan husky is the original working dog of Alaska.
Alaskan huskies range in size from just over 30 pounds to over 100 pounds, depending on the bloodline of dogs and for what purpose the dogs have been bred for - be it a racing focus or a recreational, working or traveling focus.
For an Iditarod racing dog, most dogs range from 40 to 65 pounds for weight. There are many different lines of Alaskan huskies with some being more traditional looking with pointy ears and a good dog coat while others are more fine-boned, have floppy ears and a shorter coat. The variation is due to the large and diverse gene pool that makes up the Alaskan husky.
The Alaskan husky isn’t a registered breed, but rather a working breed - the performance is the standard. Even so they aren’t registered and judged Westminster dog show style, most kennels can trace the ancestors back many, many generations. Some lines are known to have more “houndy” dogs - meaning shorter coats, floppy ears and a finer-boned built, while others are known to be more of a “husky” type with long hair and some dogs choosing to sleep on top of their dog houses in -30°F conditions like it’s a mild summer day. What they all have in common is a natural drive - the desire to “go.”
As they differ in size they also differ in appearance and color. Every color is possible with some having brown eyes, while others have blue eyes. Blue eyes aren’t a desired trait as some people new to the sport believe.
The desired trait is the desire to go, the desire to please, friendliness towards humans and other dogs, as well as a good attitude, a good appetite and a sturdy built that results in longevity.
Most active Alaskan huskies live much longer than the average pet dog. Dogs competing and leading a team at 12 years of age isn’t an anomaly for the Alaskan husky. What they lose in youth they gain in experience. Reason for longevity is that the dogs have been bred for an active lifestyle, meaning any physical weaknesses or debilitating conditions have been bred out of the gene pool a long time ago. Only the best and healthiest dogs get bred.
A dog that can cover 1,000 miles in eight to14 days is guaranteed to have a fluid gait, a good attitude and has been taken care of to a T.
Racing sled dogs receive top-notch care and a carefully planned diet year-round. They receive the best vet care from veterinarians experienced in sled dogs competing at the highest level. The dogs stay at the perfect body weight year-round with the musher carefully monitoring body condition. Mushers follow a planned de-worming and vaccination schedule. And the dogs are being exercised throughout the year. Nowadays the average Iditarod team comes to the starting line with over 2,000 miles of training in that winter under their paws.
And contrary to what critics of the Iditarod believe to be the case, mushers try to keep the dogs active - physically and mentally - year-round. The athletes they are, Alaskan huskies are very sensitive to their care and need top-notch attention and stimuli year-round - even in the off season when temperatures are too warm for pulling a musher around. The Alaskan husky - musher’s best friend.
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Photo: Alaskan huskies in Nic Petit's team race down Fourth Avenue in Anchorage at the ceremonial start of the 2025 Iditarod. Photo by Anna Lionas/The Nome Nugget

03/11/2025

We probably need a TOT post. Please share your pictures!

03/11/2025

Photo by Gilbert

The March AKC Gazette’s “Times Past” column salutes William Gilbert, an ace photographer whose career as an official ring photographer straddled the glossy black-and-white years and the era of eye-popping Kodachrome color of the ’70s and ’80s. Read all about it here:https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/13163133/AKC-Gazette-0325-v2.pdf

PHOTO: A Gilbert classic from the Gazette collection—Sand and Sea KC, 1978: Komondor Ch. Summithill Csontos, handled by Roy Holloway for owner Dorothy Stevens, was a charismatic multi-BIS winner whose eyes, when visible, “reflected a deep intelligence and sense of humor,” according to a New York Times report. Tom Feneis is presenting the trophy, and the judge is Dr. Bernard “Bud” McGivern Jr.

Gazette Gallery slideshow—“Pride and Polyester:1970s Kodachrome Win Shots” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYZB7B-9VCk&t=4s

AKC podcast—“Working-Class Heroes & Upper-Class Canines” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFLpzH94CuA&list=PLPfEv_pKgm7eKlYtGTtMNag4L1QAYaogi&index=28

Subscribe to the Gazette—https://www.akc.org/subscribe/
Back issues— https://www.akc.org/products-services/magazines/akc-gazette/

Happy weekend! We’ll see you around the rings.

03/10/2025

Just a reminder that if you are an FMKC member, we will be hosting a hybrid meeting on Zoom and in-person at the kennel club. The Zoom link can be found on the agendas posted below and on the agenda copies emailed to you last week. Attendance has been poor to previous meetings, so please, if you have not attended a meeting in some time please do so. We are required to have a quorum (which is around 11 people) to be able to vote in new members and conduct club business. Tomorrow, March 11 at 7pm is the general meeting.
Thank you so much!
Amber Bach-Gorman
FMKC President

03/10/2025

I thought I ordered pizza but it turned out to be puppies!

03/10/2025

Credit
"off the mark" comic by Mark Parisi

03/10/2025

It's almost that time of year

Dogs get mosquito bites, and being bitten by mosquitos are how dogs catch heartworm, encephalitis,, and other diseases.