This year is the 136th year of the Westminster Dog show. Six new breeds will be showing this year, including the Entlebucher Mountain Dog. Learn about this breed, a member of the herding group and a native of Switzerland, and what dog show life is like for veterinarian Rebecca Hahn DVM.
1) How many years have you been involved in showing dogs? The Entlebucher Mountain Dog breed?
Answer: Last year, 2011, Entlebuchers were admitted into the Herding Group by the AKC. Prior to that I had shown my young bitch in Miscellaneous classes and had started another bitch in Rally and Obedience.
With full AKC recognition, I was fortunate to have the luxury of time to campaign a male and female Entlebucher this year! I say campaign, but the professional handlers will no doubt chuckle at that! "You have hardly been out."
Over this year, in addition to the Two Grand Championships with Five Group Placements, both Champions earned their RN. Two of my bitches are working on their RA and CD as well as starting in agility and Freestyle Dancing. Whew..... am I having FUN!
My main involvement in the Entlebucher Breed has been the formation and growth of our Breed club: NEMDA - The National Entlebucher Mountain Dog Association. NEMDA was adopted by the AKC as the Parent Breed Club for the Entlebucher and is by far one of the strongest and most open and sophisticated breed clubs I can imagine.
This club was formed on the basis of maintaining an open Pedigree and Health Registry of due diligence. We maintain a strict Code of Ethics for members and especially member breeders.
Even after I turned the Registry over to the AKC for Pedigree generation, we still maintain a database of Entles in North America that our members use as a basis for our breeding programs and genetic and health database. We actively share all health information. We provide a temperament and conformation evaluation program for our members. We provide AKC Judge's Training and Meet the Breeds booths. We provide training support and emotional grief support.
This month we are developing a Versatility Awards program to honor all our members who are getting out there and doing it in the dog world. This is a fantastic Breed club and I am super proud of it.
2) What can you tell us about this breed, and how did you become interested in the Entlebucher?
Answer: Early in my veterinary career, a client came in with a recently picked-up stray. They placed the young bitch on the exam table and I immediately said, "I'll take her!" At that they decided they had to keep her, but called me a week later saying, "Come get her, She won't stay home." We zipped right over and of course, she never left my side. We adored that dog and since she looked much like an Entlebucher, we were always fascinated by the breed.
One day, as we were vaccinating at one of our client's breeding kennels, we found an ad for Entlebuchers in Dog World. That was 17 years ago and these dogs have been my passion ever since.
Entlebuchers, in my land, are the best dog in the world, but I do know they are NOT for everyone. They are definitely a lot of dog; busy, active, smart, dedicated, hovering, watching intently, friendly but aloof, great with other dogs but not really interested in other dogs, very biddable, strong, strong minded, adaptable, very very loyal and focused on their person (not a great trait with the handlers).
They really tend to have a strong sense of self which, as a veterinarian seeing many many dogs over my life, I find very different and interesting. Always starving, so quite food-motivated, almost to a fault.
3) Does your dog do any other types of training (obedience, agility, search and rescue) or therapy work?
Answer: My pack of girls, I have four generations at home, travel, jog, hike and just hang with us. My two young girls do Agility, Obedience and Rally and Freestyle Dancing. We have also played with a little Herding work.
Within NEMDA, the AKC Parent Breed Club, we have members who do and excel in Nose Work, Therapy, Search and Rescue, Weight pulling, Drafting, Fly-Ball .. to name a few!
For the past three years, a couple of our members have been invited to the AKC/Eukanuba Agility Championships. These dogs are pretty good at pretty much anything they try! My field trial friends threaten to take me and my girl out and give her a try at that too! Can you picture that!
4) Do you incorporate your veterinary practice with the dog show world (or vice versa) in any way?
Answer: Last year my husband and I sold our practice, Brunswick Veterinary Clinic. Our practice was (and still is) a busy clinic that emphasizes and caters to Breeders and Show dogs. We had the good fortune to live in an area that has a large population of high quality Dog Breeders and Fanciers. We came to appreciate and learn from these Breeders who had been in the business.. since dirt! We cannot for the life of us understand why so many Veterinarians shun quality breeders! They are the life blood of the dog world.
Not only did we appreciate the breeders, but they appreciated us... as we were breeders also! We got it. We understood their needs and their fears. All those years of interaction helped me develop my eye for dog fancy. I learned all I could from these clients and from mutual respect, they learned a lot from us about health, genetics and "herd health;" especially working with us as we embraced all the new science and technologies in Canine Reproduction.
My husband now laughs at the dog shows that he wishes we would have started showing earlier in our careers. He would have been more excited when someone came in with that Group win photo - because we would have got it! Grand champion? What did we know. But now we do and we have been having a great time enjoying all the dogs at the shows.
5) Do you face any special challenges or have any interesting stories as a veterinary professional participating in dog shows?
Answer: You mean all my former clients asking for free ringside health and breeding advice? Just kidding. Actually, having already known so many people in the dog show and breeding world...it's like old home week at the shows.
Thank you, Dr. Hahn, for sharing your enthusiasm for the Entlebucher breed, dog shows, and how it all relates to your career as a veterinarian. Best wishes for this year's show.
