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The
Bulletin and The Progress Enterprise
Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Article by Susan Corkum-Greek
Lighthouse Staff
For the
Love of Airedales
SECOND PENINSULA – Joan
Clarke wasn’t searching for a show dog when she acquired her first
Airedale Terrier in 1987. But the Halifax native, who now divides her
time between homes in Texas and Second Peninsula, was intent on having
that breed.
"I’d
always wanted an Airedale," Mrs. Clarke says from a seat in the
spacious living area of the family’s eight-acre estate. "I liked
their stoic presence." However, it had always been her children,
now grown, and husband who had made the choice of family pets. And they
always chose Gordon Setters.
When
the family’s third setter, Duncan, was tragically killed in an
accident and the children asked for another dog, Mrs. Clarke announced
it was her turn to pick. But finding an Airedale turned out to be no
easy task. She ended up contacting the national Airedale Club, which put
her in touch with a breeder near her home in Fort Worth.
"He
had a litter but didn’t know if he had a pet," recalls Mrs.
Clarke, who, to that point, had never taken much interest in the
difference. Still, she persisted until he gave in.
It
turned out that first Airedale, Tex, was "just a pet," not a
show dog, and Mrs. Clarke realized she was disappointed. She then
acquired Sadie, a second dog to keep Tex company, and decided to breed
her with the then-top dog in the United States. The result was Annie,
Mrs. Clarke’s first champion.
And
so began a hobby, slash obsession, that continues to this day. Annie,
now retired was not able to breed, so Mrs. Clarke got Kristina, who gave
birth to Dallas Star. Named almost prophetically for the now Stanley Cup
champion hockey team, Dallas is Mrs. Clarke’s current champion. But
she’s also watching eight-month-old Naomi for the signs she could
compete.
You
see, you can’t make a show dog, explains Mrs. Clarke. Training and
grooming are all for naught if a dog does not have the basic physical
attributes or temperament. For Airedales, this includes a strong stance,
good movement, inquisitiveness, alertness and expression – qualities
that are apparently observable as early as eight weeks.
"That’s
when they start to come together," says Mrs. Clarke, whose kennel
name, Penaire, is a combination of the breed and her maiden name, Penny.
"You can tell by their movement, their attitude, their top lines
and tail sets." Shortly after that, the dogs tend to enter an
awkward stage – call it the adolescent phase of doggydom – where
they grow but not always together. "You just close your eyes for a
while," she jokes, "In order to get a really good one, you
have to hold on for a year."
Once
a dog is seen to have show potential, the real work begins. There’s
obedience training, grooming, exercise. "It keeps me very
busy," says Mrs. Clarke, who will spend at least an hour and a half
a day on a dog she’s currently showing. During the week leading up to
a show, she follows a strict grooming regime, beginning with the hind
quarters and moving forward. "You don’t groom at the show,"
she says. "The coat must grow in to a certain point. It has to be
just right."
While
many dogs owners hire professionals to do this grooming, for Mrs. Clarke
it’s all part of the challenge. "Sometimes I mess up," she
says, but her husband Bill says she’s also received many compliments
from top groomers. This summer, she’s taken on a local assistant, whom
she’s currently training.
On
show days, Mrs. Clarke is often up at 5 a.m. She likes to be a the show
place at least two hours before showing and the dog needs to be washed,
exercised and pottied. "I’m
never relaxed because you always go out to win," she says.
And
she’s never over-confident, "because you never know what the
judge will like."
Mrs.
Clarke and her dogs have competed in shows all over North America, from
the local South Shore Kennel Club event in Lunenburg to the giant
Westminster show held in New York’s Madison Square Gardens.
"On
the final night there are 15,000 people there and the seats cost
$35," says her husband. "It’s big business agrees Mrs.
Clarke. The largest shows often involve up to 3,000 dogs, most of which
have three people caring for them. There’s hotels, food, exhibitors,
clubs . . . a whole industry surrounding it."
With
so much riding on these competitions, the Clarkes have witnessed some of
the compulsive, win-at-any-cost behavior that’s given human,
particularly children’s, beauty contests a bad name in recent years.
But not so much. "The principle is to show the best dog for the
future breeding of the breed," she says, "and that’s
different than Miss America."
As
to her own reasons for competing, Mrs. Clarke says it’s a combination
of her desire to stay busy and the pride she can take in her dogs. A
winning dog "just doesn’t happen." "You have to work on
it," she says. "It takes a special person to make this kind of
commitment," adds Mr. Clarke.
Therapy
Pooches
In
addition to showing her Airedales, Mrs. Clarke is also a member of Paws
Across America, an organization that screens, trains and certifies
registered therapy dogs for "visitations" with seniors,
special education students, chronic care and psychiatric patients.
"My
dogs never did tricks so they’re not very exciting to children,"
she explains. "But they’re popular with the elderly." She
also remembers one psychiatric patient who liked to brush her dogs’
teeth. "He had lost all his self-confidence and I would encourage
him and tell him what a good job he was doing," she recalls. Other
people simply enjoy petting the animals or sharing stories about their
own former pets.
Mrs.
Clarke admits she must treat her show dogs differently than she does her
dogs that are pets, and she does have both. For instance, "a show
dog can’t be spoiled," she says. "If you let them come in
(to the house) and get comfy, it’s no treat to go to a show."
Still, they receive lots of attention, walks and love.
"A
show dog is like a Miss America," she concludes. "It has to
have all the qualities. You may have one daughter who’s very
attractive and can go in a beauty contest and another who’s lovely but
can’t. There’s nothing wrong with her, it’s just something she
can’t do."
Joan
and Bill at show with "Dallas"
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