Dr. Daniel W. Dowling on the honor of judging at Westminster, highlighting exceptional hounds and memorable moments from the show.
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Dr. Daniel W. Dowling: Humbled, thrilled, and VERY excited. I brought a large contingent of my beloved family with me to experience this very special event, which made it all the more memorable.
Dr. Daniel W. Dowling: I felt so lucky to have such high-quality entries in all the breeds I judged. THANK YOU to all the breeders, owners, and exhibitors of these wonderful hounds. The large Basenji entry was especially rewarding to sort through. Both my BB (GCHS Dark Moon Ozymandias; owners V. Nagy, J. Predale, M. Work) and BOS (CH Bellator’s Close Encounter; owner Lizabeth McCargo) had glorious breed type: square, lightly built appearing high on leg, with beautiful heads and slightly hooded ears with wrinkles just as they should be. Their tight and well-arched feet carried them around the nice large ring like trotting racehorses. As I’ve already stated, I was impressed by the overall quality in EVERY breed I had the pleasure of evaluating and I can’t help having a couple favorites of the day.
My BB 13-inch Beagle bitch (GCHS Fetch & Smell Olive Oyl; owner M. Pantaleon, handler D. Garcia) is a STANDOUT indeed. She is balanced, with perfect round bone, correct proportions, brush tail, and close, hard, hound coat. Adding to this is her beautiful head, ears, and expression, all contributing to a truly exceptional little hunting hound.
And how about that Otterhound bitch I gave BB (GCHS Dobhran’s Alexa Play Some Music; owners S. and J. Wilkins, A. and J. and J. McIlwaine). OMG… what stunning breed type and soundness! With her large, correctly shaped head and wonderful, low-set ears, correct double coat, and beautiful saber tail along with correct body proportions with plenty of bone, she is absolutely a wonderful example of a very special and unique hunting breed. Every one of my BB winners clearly represented their breed in STELLAR fashion in the strong Hound Group that evening!
Dr. Daniel W. Dowling: I have had the pure pleasure of judging quite a lot so far this year with many exciting assignments ahead, including Ireland and Canada. I have seen and/or judged many very high-quality dogs across the country and expect to continue finding good ones in the months ahead. Even though the numbers of dogs is sometimes down (I expect mostly due to dilution because of so many shows), the quality in many breeds remains strong and stable. We are blessed with many good, intelligent dog breeders in this country indeed.
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