Interview with Donna Beadle, Breeder of Eclipse Kennels
- Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Where do you live? How many years in dogs? How many years as a breeder? What is your kennel name?
- In your opinion, is your breed in good condition overall? Any trends that warrant concern?
- As a Preservation Breeder, can you share your thoughts on the sport today? How’s the judging these days?
- How important are Performance Events to you as a Preservation Breeder? As an Exhibitor?
- In your opinion, is social media good for the sport? Is it harmful?
- What are the biggest challenges facing the dog show community as a whole today and how can these be addressed?
- What are some of the positive changes you’ve seen in the sport over the past decade?
Donna Beadle
1. I am Donna Beadle from Eclipse Kennels located near Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I have been showing and breeding dogs since 1999, and specifically, Berger Picards since 2009. My husband, Mike, and I started with German Shepherd Dogs and ceased breeding them in 2014 to focus solely on Berger Picards. We felt that given the newness of the breed here in the US, it needed our full attention to ensure a stable and solid foundation here.
2. I do feel the breed is in okay condition here, except I feel the temperaments could be better. They’ve come some way, but there are still too many spooks that I see in the ring. We are a small gene pool, so we do not have a lot to work with, but breeders should be selectively breeding to improve temperament. I wish people would get off the grooming bandwagon. We have a wide variety of coats in this breed, and instead of harping on grooming we should be educating on that. The earlier generations of Picards had tighter jackets. It has been in more recent times the Breed Standard changed to allow more coat. We still see throwbacks to those tighter jackets. They aren’t overgroomed, they just don’t have as much coat. We have bigger fish to fry in the breed, such as east/west feet, short upper arms, lack of appropriate angulation needed to work all day, high tails, and as I mentioned before, temperament.
3. I think we are “eating our own,” and AKC needs to be more present to ensure the future of the purebred dog. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard of late where very successful breeders were not able to be part of their parent club. We have that happening in our breed as well, where my husband has been denied twice. We should be working together to continue the plight of the purebred dog, not have clubs that are a secret society where only some are let in. AKC should take the reins and ensure clubs are allowing all members in good standing to be part of the breed club. There is no reason for Board votes and potential members having to jump through hoops to be part of the parent club. The clubs need members to support their efforts, and more clubs need to understand that.
As for judging, with being a rare breed, it can be hit or miss. I will say that the Berger Picard has seen a lot of success at the Group level for a rare breed; however, there are still those judges who would put up glaring faults in our breed, such as tails carried over the back, muddy colors in fawns, and kinks in the tail. I love that there are more clusters, and clubs joining together to have them. It gives you more bang for your buck in a weekend.
4. While I don’t participate in performance events myself, I do find it incredibly important for the breed, especially a Herding breed that was bred for that function. Although I rarely participate in performance, I seek out homes that will represent our breed in them better than I can myself. We have bred the top-titled Herding dog and have owners participating in Fast CAT, Rally, Agility, Barn Hunt, and Nosework.
5. Social media is both good for the sport and harmful. I think livestreaming events for people to see shows the love for the sport and dogs, but I also think there’s a lot of folks who use it to troll. I think that this could be said for social media in general, not just pertaining to this sport. You take the good with the bad.
6. Animal rights activists and government mandates such as the 6-month-old import rule are the biggest challenges. As a rare breed, we need our international gene pool to help continue to diversify the breed here. Mandates such as the 6-month rule make that more difficult for folks looking to import dogs, as many breeders won’t hold onto a dog that long. I also think the parent club issue I mentioned above is a big deal. Being more divisive at a time when we have AR activists, and the government is making it harder to do the things we love, we should be coming together to fight it. I honestly feel AKC needs to take a more active role in mandating the parent clubs. There are too many examples that show they cannot all be run independently without guidance.
7. Giving owner handlers and breeders more of the spotlight is a positive change. Both are needed to make the sport continue to thrive.
