Farmdogs Galore! David Frei revels in the attention of a bevy of Danish-Swedish Farmdogs at the annual National Dog Show press preview in Philadelphia. Photo by Kria Knerr/KirasKreations
Olga, her pups, and her grand-pups were excited to be part of the National Dog Show this year, the first time they could show in Philadelphia under full AKC status. Olga is a Danish-Swedish Farmdog (DSF), the 202nd breed fully recognized by the American Kennel Club. They show in the Working Group, the smallest and only breed in the Group to be a “table” dog, meaning, the judges “go over” the dogs on a table. Other breeds in the Working Group include giant dogs such as Great Danes, Rottweilers, and Bernese Mountain Dogs.
Olga, our first DSF, started her 12-1/2-year-long journey to the Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s National Dog Show from near Stockholm, Sweden. She was bred by Erika Karlsson and her husband, and came to the US with a friend, Cynthia, to our farm in east-central Wisconsin on Labor Day 2013.
When very young, Olga received her Certificate of Merit (CM) from the AKC while showing in the FSS (Foundation Stock Service) classes, the first Danish-Swedish Farmdog to receive this honor in the US. Over the next four years, we imported another female, Yemanja, from Erika, and Jens, our stud dog, from Lars Adheimer. We were blessed that these Swedish dog breeders saw the potential of what we would do with our dogs. Olga has had four litters, and her offspring have also been bred. The majority (2/3) of the breed’s entry at the Philadelphia dog shows were from the lines of Olga and Jens.
As a seasoned dog show family, travel has long been part of our lifestyle. We have shown Pembroke Welsh Corgis since 1988. Philadelphia is just on the outer limit of the distance we drive with our dogs. One of the great things about the Danish-Swedish Farmdog is their portable size—they rarely exceed 20 pounds, allowing them to fly in the cabin of airlines that allow dogs. This lets us attend dog shows and events far from home. However, this trip required driving; we toted seven dogs with us. Five were entered and shown, one was a pup along for cuteness, and one was being delivered to his new home in New York. All seven, even the ten-week-old pup, were great travelers.
The Danish-Swedish Farmdog is not a new breed. It is merely a newly-recognized breed in AKC and a relative newcomer to the US. Evidence of dogs of similar size and structure were found to have traveled with the Vikings—long ago. In the 1700s, these dogs were used on the small farms of Denmark and Sweden, to move livestock, to alert the arrival of someone new, to catch vermin on the farm, and most importantly, to play with the kids on the farm. They were also reported to have been so trainable that they were used as circus dogs. To this day, their versatility and biddability are key personality traits. They will do almost anything with you and for you: Dock Diving, Scent Work, Tracking, Barn Hunt, Obedience, Fast CAT, and Agility. As an example of their skills, my four-year-old Emmy Lou skittered across the top of the tunnel instead of going through it at a recent Agility class. They are naturally agile, fast, and active.
In three places in the DSF Breed Standard, which is the guide for structure, appearance, and personality in the breed, the word “friendly” is used. Clearly, this is important to our breed. While they are active, they also have an “off switch,” meaning, they settle fast. Notably, they are a smooth-coated breed without an undercoat. This means they can get cold more easily than breeds with different coats. If you carefully observe photographs of these dogs, you will note that, when in groups, they are often seen touching each other when resting and sleeping. If there is not another dog to sleep on top of, they may need to touch you and/or sleep under the covers in your bed.
Monday, November 10, 2025, was a busy morning. Of course, David Frei was in attendance, emceeing the annual Press Preview as he has for the past 24 years. Stay tuned for year 25—it promises to have some new and exciting features.
We started off at the Hilton Garden Inn Valley Forge/Oaks. The NBC camera crews and many other interested reporters arrived for set up. To maximize the media opportunity, there was a program on the Schreiber Family Pet Therapy Dog Program, housed at the newly formed veterinary school at Rowan University. I find it so interesting to see how handlers are finding new and exciting ways that dogs can improve our lives, from physical assistance and support to physical rehabilitation, to emotional support, to hearing assistance. Over the years, our family has raised seven dogs for the Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) program, helping us to appreciate the amount of dedication that volunteer puppy raisers and program employees put into each and every Service Dog candidate.
After the Therapy Dogs, we got to watch the sheer joy of dogs recreationally barking in the “Bark Off.” While many of us spend our time and effort trying to keep our dogs quiet, there is a subset of dogs and owners for whom barking is encouraged. We saw the Beagle, the Basenji (yes, they are the barkless dog), two Finnish Spitz, and a Redbone Coonhound compete. No question, the Spitz were the most spirited, but the coonhound had a bark that carried the farthest. Interestingly, there are a variety of barking “styles.” These include yapping, speaking, whispering, yodeling, and the scenthounds’ “chop mouth” and “bay mouth.” As the proud owner of a string of dogs, you can tell each of them apart from their voice and barking techniques. In the end, the dogs were reliably unreliable, as even those with the ability to bark 175 times a minute—the Finnish Spitz—had some camera shyness and no one performed using their fullest and best voices.
We then had our first moment on camera with two of our DSF, Olga and one of her daughters, Mouse. The grand finale featured David Frei holding a puppy in his lap with five other DSF swarming around him. One on leash at his feet was Hazy, one of the two dogs who participated in the photo shoot we did in September in NYC for the promotional piece in advance of the show. Hazy and her brother, Red, were honored by this opportunity with David, John O’Hurley, and Mary Carillo. Hazy is the little yellow and white female DSF held in Mary’s arms, neatly leaving a stain on her beautiful dry clean-only suit. I learned long ago to only select washable garments for daily and dress up occasions. Hazy and I apologized to Mary.
We had Tuesday and Wednesday off to enjoy the Philadelphia community. I highly recommend a dinner at Her Place in downtown Philly, with its award-winning chef, for a true foodie’s dining treat.
Thursday through Sunday, we had dog shows. Thursday, Dan showed the other four dogs while Olga and I visited the Independence Hall Visitor center in downtown Philly. Bonnie Scott and her amazing Freestyle dog, Kiddo, put on a grand performance for the cameras. Olga was introduced to Philly by Karen Hepp of Fox’s Good Day Philadelphia on Channel 29. Additionally, we were honored by General George Washington himself, in a reenactment, who addressed the crowd with a short presentation about the importance of his American Foxhounds and his philosophy on breeding dogs. I had no idea that, as a dog breeder, he was so passionate about how he developed this valuable and rare canine resource.
On Friday, we dashed to downtown Philadelphia again, with Laura Morris Edwards of Sunshine Service Dogs from Colorado. Olga was featured on CBS 3’s Early News Live with newscaster Janelle Burrell. Waiting for our turn on camera, I inadvertently encouraged TrueDat, David Frei’s Service and Therapy Dog, to prematurely introduce us to the television listeners, barking excitedly for a treat while waiting off camera for our turn.
Next, we headed to the beautiful NBC studios in downtown Philadelphia, high above the city. We were on a segment about what hip events were happening in the city for the weekend, with Aunyea Lachelle on NBC 10’s Philly Live.
Argos, the 10-week-old puppy, was with Olga and True, but had limited on-air time to avoid confusing the dog show attendees about the availability of pups at AKC shows. However, he garnered plenty of attention and was gushed over by everyone he met.
Somehow, David’s driver was magically able to navigate back to Oaks and the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in time for Olga’s ring time—with about 90 seconds to spare! Ahhh, Philadelphia traffic.
The show on Saturday is the official “National Dog Show Presented by Purina” event, which is televised every year on NBC between the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and football, from noon to 2 p.m. in all time zones. You may have political differences and preferred football teams to enthusiastically discuss with family on Thanksgiving Day, but you can never get too “sideways” watching the dog show. Everyone has their favorite breed, but they all agree that dogs make our lives better in so many ways. A quote from Roger Caras: “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
The shows on Saturday and Sunday were benched shows. A benched show means the dogs are at the show from their ring time, or 10 a.m., until 3:00 in the afternoon, in designated areas by breed or by handler. This gives the 20,000 attendees at the event the opportunity to meander through the show site, meeting and greeting breeds they are curious about or already madly in love with. In this setting, the dogs and spectators can meet face to face, with snuggles and kisses. The owners and handlers can share with the attendees what their dogs do, how they do it, and how a breed of dog could be the ideal dog for their family and lifestyle.
David was surprised to find that we had 15 DSF entered at the show, of which 11 had already achieved their Championships. That may be a record for a new AKC breed at the National Dog Show. Our breed is known for its collegiality. I have said for years that people don’t LOOK like their dogs, they ACT like them. I am proud to say that the humans who have chosen to attach themselves to this breed are a collegial group, happy to congratulate one another when there is a big win or pull together when anyone needs assistance.
True to form, Olga was a trooper, always happy to be on camera and meet kids and adults. All of her family of dogs happily greeted all the spectators who were excited to be introduced to our new breed. For some visitors, there was no doubt they found their new forever dog! We love sharing our breed with newcomers.
The great joy of the purebred dog, especially when there are 202 breeds fully AKC recognized and 216 showing at events, is the predictability of their traits. Of course, each and every dog has its own personality, but traits such as coat type (length, density, texture), color, size, activity level, social skills, and health tendencies are ingrained in the breed and predictable throughout. These benched shows allow the general public to be up close and personal with breeds and individuals they may never otherwise have the chance to meet.
As expected, many spectators flocked to our benching area, near our show ring, to meet the new Cinderellas of the dog show world—the little big dog who can do it all! And the dogs were happy to show off their friendly and outgoing natures.
Find more about our Danish-Swedish Farmdogs at: https://dsfca.clubexpress.com.
Thanks to David Frei, John O’Hurley, Mary Carillo, cohosts of the National Dog Show, Steve Griffith and Kathi Graham of NBC Vizion Group PR, and Nancy Becker of 15 Minutes Inc. Marketing and Media for your professionalism and hospitality. We all had so much fun! Especially Olga—she loves being on camera as the center of attention.
