Cheryl Rolfe
1. My name is Cheryl Rolfe. I live in Lake City, Florida. My kennel name is Beidelyn. I have been involved in some aspect of dogs my entire life. I grew up with German Shepherd Dogs and started out in Obedience. I worked for a guard dog service in the late 1970s, and from there I got into showing and breeding. I was also active in K9 Search and Rescue for many years. In 1991, I discovered Swedish Vallhunds. I got my first one that year and have been continuously owned by Vallhunds since. I am the Judges’ Education Coordinator for our parent club, a CGC, Trick Dog, and ATT Evaluator, and a Scent Work and Farm Dog Judge. Since our breed was officially recognized by AKC in June 2007, my personal dogs and dogs I have bred have earned many CH & GCH titles, including the first Silver GCH and the first Champions for Health Vallhund. The first Gold GCH was sired by a dog I bred whose mother was sired by one of my dogs also. The first Vallhund to win BOB at Westminster was owner-handled by me and I have won BOB at the AKC National Championship show with two of his sons.
2. For the most part, I am pleased with the quality, temperaments, working ability, and overall health I am seeing with our breed. I do have very serious concerns with the potential loss of our natural bob gene. I am seeing far too many tail-to-tail breedings happening. We have quite a few new breeders that I am not certain realize the long-term effects of the breeding choices they are making.
3. The judging seems to be improving. However, there are still quite a few judges who either don’t know our breed well enough or simply don’t care about the impact their decisions make. I often get the feeling that some of the judges haven’t ever really studied our Breed Standard or been to a JE presentation. Especially, the judges who were grandfathered in because they were already approved for the Group or BIS. Due to the fact that we are a Low Entry Breed and have no breeder-judges, along with the fact that most of our dogs are owner-handled, when we walk into the ring, we are showing to someone who knows less about our breed than we do. Yet, we are asking them to tell us which of those dog(s) best meet our Breed Standard. How does that make sense? Along with that, there is no mechanism to hold them accountable for the decisions they make in the ring. Yet, for some crazy reason, we continue to show our dogs. Why? Because we love the sport and the camaraderie that goes along with it. Win or not, we go to have a good time. As far as the number of shows? We are fortunate in this country to be able to go to shows within a fairly close drive nearly every weekend if we choose (and can afford it).
4. It is extremely important for us to maintain the working ability in our breed. Vallhunds love to work. They are easy to train, incredibly versatile, and most of them need to have a job. Besides that, they are fun dogs to work with. Most of our dogs have “titles on both ends.” Beidelyn-owned and bred dogs have also earned many Performance and Companion titles, including RA, CGC, CGCA, CGCU, TKN, TKI, TDI, RATN, RATO, BN, THDN, HCTs, VSV, 6 ROM, 2 ROMX, TKI, FDC & DCAT, SWE, SCM, SEM, SBM, NW3, NW3-V, NW3-C, NW3-E, numerous Agility titles, including MACH and the first MACH GCH so far.
5. This is a tough one because I am not a fan of social media myself. There is far too much negativity being posted. I feel that it does have a useful purpose in helping the dog community share information and stay connected, but I also feel that it has been detrimental to our breed in that far too many new Vallhund owners have become “breeders” without putting in the time and effort to educate themselves well enough about the breed. The breed has become too popular too fast, and too many litters are being produced without regard for the long-term effect these breedings will have.
6. Of course, cost of entry fees, travel, etc., are a concern. Exhibitor attitudes are a concern too. It is difficult to grow the sport when new exhibitors are treated rudely by exhibitors who, for some reason, feel they have more right to be there. Some of the venues are not big enough to accommodate the number of entries. Those of us who are not professional handlers seem to get shoved aside because the pros take up so much space ringside. I have personally seen dozens of spaces “saved” with soft crates when they are not even supposed to be in the building. How to address this? Enforce the rules.
7. Positive changes have been the implementation of the National Owner-Handled Series (NOHS), the Grand Champion program, and the 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy Competition (BPUP). These have been great ways to introduce and maintain participation in the sport along with the clustering of shows, which saves traveling. The inclusion of other activities, tests, health clinics, and companion and performance events have also been great as they often attract non-show people who may then become interested in showing.
