Going for the Blue (6 page)

At nine months, at a show in Maine, Yankee moved up out of the Puppy Class to win the Best of Breed ribbon, and he never looked
back. In short order he had his championship, he was on the cover of the
New York Times Magazine
, and his biography was being readied for publication by Putnam. He had it all, a truly splendid animal with brains and personality
and incredible good looks. He was substance.

Yankee in the show ring was a wonder to behold. He absolutely loved it and let the world know it. When he was moved around
the ring for the judge’s approval and the ringside attendees applauded, he would throw his massive head back and yodel a marvelous
hound song. Coyotes and wolves are no more musically gifted than Bloodhounds and the Coonhounds that descend from them. The
more he
woe-woe-woe
d, the more the people would applaud and laugh, and the louder he got. He had so much fun on these occasions I swore he was
about to flap his ears and fly right out of the ring and circle overhead. Somehow, I’m not sure how, he knew when he had won
yet another ribbon. He
woe-woe-woe
d then, too. Bloodhounds are not long-lived, none of the giants are, and when he died at about the age of eight he left a
trunkful of ribbons and trophies and a lot of broken hearts in the Caras family and his fan club. There is no doubt in my
mind that because Yankee loved to show he did it extremely well, and had he had Lizzie’s attitude it wouldn’t have mattered
what he looked like or how he could have moved. But Yankee had a champion’s heart and the stunning good looks to back it up.

Rhonda, John, and their two sons live in suburban Baltimore. John did not have dogs growing up; Rhonda did. We know this remarkable
story well because in a sense it started right here at our home, Thistle Hill Farm. One warm summer afternoon, poolside with
appropriate refreshments, Rhonda had a revelation.

Rhonda and John are close friends of our daughter and son-in-law, Pamela and Joe, and very often the families gather on the
farm by the pool. Some of our eleven dogs are always in evidence when the splashing starts and the food arrives. Pamela and
Joe usually bring their four dogs, and guests often arrive with theirs. There can be fifteen or more dogs enjoying us as we
enjoy them. All of those eating machines in one place at the same time! We like to think of it as a typical American home.

Rhonda regularly interacted with our dogs, and more and more she realized how badly she wanted a dog in her life again. It
had been too many years. Coming here reminded her of that fact again and again. That afternoon she and John decided to make
the move. Their boys concurred—no great surprise there.

Rhonda had fallen in love with my beautiful golden Whippet named Topaz, Topi to his friends. He is one of my all-time favorite
dogs, and where I am, there he is, too. He is a veritable limpet. He and Rhonda spent a lot of time together and Rhonda was
determined to own a Whippet of her own. It would be an important part of her family. She and John began surveying dog people
in Maryland and Pennsylvania and surrounding states and found a highly regarded breeder in South Carolina who would soon have
quality puppies for sale. Rhonda had been ready to accept a mature dog, a rescue, but things went better than planned. They
got on the breeder’s list (not necessarily an easy thing to do), and with all four family members hopping up and down in anticipation,
they waited for their puppy. At eight weeks, generally suggested as the ideal age for a pet dog to go into a new home, Snickers
became theirs. There was no plan to show Snickers. She was to be all about love. She had tremendous people skills, and that
was more than enough.

When the beautiful, long-dreamed-of Whippet was a few months old, they entered her in a handling class to give their almost-teenage
son, Ryan, a new and constructive way to interact with their pet. That is usually a very positive thing to do. Ryan loved
Snickers but he hated the discipline of the handling class. Although they had paid for a course of eight classes, Ryan opted
out after only two. Rhonda decided that since the other six lessons were already paid for she might as well use them. And
what happened next is history.

Friends began pressing Rhonda to show Snickers. It would be a terrible waste, they insisted, not to give Snickers a chance
at glory, beautiful girl that she was. Little did they know what lay ahead.

Before she was nine months old, Snickers was in the ring, with Rhonda at the other end of the lead. At the Eastern Whippet
Specialty, an important showcase for the breed, Snickers beat thirteen of the fourteen other contenders in a class called
Puppy Sweeps under a breederjudge. Snickers loved showing off, she loved the excitement and the praise. Her gait was, as specified
in the standards, free moving and smooth. She looked like a million-dollar Whippet. Elegant is the only word for it, elegant
and willing. Snickers came in second, bringing home a bright red ribbon, her first. There were to be many. Rhonda was amazed
at what happened, and as she puts it, “I was thrilled that someone else thought my dog was beautiful.”

After that initial triumph, Rhonda took Snickers to a couple of other shows just to “see what would happen.” Both of the partners
in this new enterprise were still highly enthusiastic and still learning. It was a journey of discovery into a new world with
new challenges. Rhonda liked the other exhibitors and especially their dogs. She even liked the judges. Secretly, she set
to judging all the dogs herself. At ringside she was matching her own eyes against those of the judges. Most observers and
contenders at dog shows do that. Dog-show judges are among the most judged people there are.

In Howard County, Maryland, at the fairgrounds, Snickers came under the scrutiny of one of the most awesome judges in America
today, or any other day, Anne Rogers Clark. Annie gave Snickers a three-point major—and the lovely, athletic Whippet’s course
was set. Having Annie Clark lay her broad sword against your shoulder is a kind of ultimate approbation, assuming someone
doesn’t yell, “Off with his head!” No one knows more about dogs than Annie Clark. Rhonda was still more amazed than anything
else. Snickers, after all, was her pet, a very beloved pet by now, a role she happily played for John and the boys, on their
own shared turf. Showing was still an extra treat, because the stunningly beautiful sighthound turned out to be so very good
at it. Snickers loved it from that first time in Puppy Sweeps at the Eastern Whippet Specialty. She has been for the game
ever since. She is, in that sense, a little different from our well-beloved Lizzie. She is exactly the kind of dog that dog
shows try to isolate and identify for future breeding. No puppy of Snickers’s will be found in pounds and shelters or be scheduled
for euthanasia.

So when Anne Clarke gave Snickers her win at the Upper Marlboro Kennel Club in Howard County, Maryland, she gave her one half
of her major requirement for life and the first three of the fifteen points she would have to earn before there could be a
Ch. before her name in the context of conformation. It was a giant win. Rhonda was both bewildered and ecstatic. She and Snickers
were both learning with every step they took. And each was more willing than the other.

Although she is not quite clear why she did it, when Snickers had three of her fifteen points, Rhonda withdrew her from conformation
competition. The team went instead for a Field Championship from both the ASFA (American Sighthound Field Association) and
the AKC. Snickers went on to earn both titles handily. There was no end to her enthusiasm and thus no stopping her.

It was a rainy afternoon in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, when Snickers reentered conformation competition. She went Winners
Bitch, beating thirty-two other Whippet bitches, and earned three more points and now had her two majors under two different
judges. She was showing as if a guardian angel were guiding her every pawstep and she was loving it more all the time. Rhonda
was jumping-up-and-down happy. Snickers promptly took two more points in Philadelphia. In Bucks County again, a short time
later, she went Best of Breed, beating all the Specials, or champions of record, bringing her point count to ten out of the
required fifteen. Her next show in Boston took care of that. The beautiful little Whippet who wouldn’t stop showing and couldn’t
stop winning became a champion with two more majors than she needed. Majors can be elusive, as we noted, and it takes some
dogs years to get the needed two.

Snickers is now five years old and has had her first litter, five puppies. The sire was Dual Champion Warburton Duke Whittington,
FCH, LCM, CD, CAV. It was an entirely suitable match. The puppies were all large at birth, averaging eleven ounces. People
across the country have applied to get on the waiting list for a puppy of the brindle-and-white wonder dog. That is virtually
always the case when a winner is big-time. Snickers is a known quantity, and a lot of people want to know if her love of the
contest carries over to her offspring. Rhonda and John will wait and see. Snickers, the pet, is good at everything she does.
Her titles to date:

FCh ASFA:
Field Champion, American Sighthound Field Association

FC AKC:
Field Champion, American Kennel Club

Multi-BIF:
Completed each field title with a Best in Field (equal to a Best in Show)

CH AKC:
Conformation Champion, American Kennel Club

CGC AKC:
Canine Good Citizen, American Kennel Club DC AKC: Dual Champion (conformation and field), American Kennel Club

TT: ATTS
(American Temperament Test Society)

CD AKC:
Companion Dog (obedience title), American Kennel Club

CAV:
Champion Award of Versatility, American Whippet Club (AWC); Won: the three AKC champion titles, Conformation, Field, and
Obedience

CR WRA:
Companion Racer, Whippet Racing Association

TRP, DPC, CWA:
Title Racing Proficiency and Dual Purpose Champion, Continental Whippet Alliance

AWC:
American Whippet Club winner, National Triathalon Winner

In 1998 Snickers was second Whippet finalist in the AKC National Lure Coursing Championship.

Despite her shortcomings, Rhonda and John have decided to keep Snickers.

All of that and Snickers is still a pet who rolls on her back with her legs in the air whenever a member of her family comes
home. She loves guests whether she knows them or not. She is, and this is generally true of Whippets, incapable of assuming
a position or pose that is not elegant. She is like fine porcelain. It just so happens that this magnificent little dog with
everything in the world going for her loves to show off what she’s got, and that makes Rhonda a very happy lady.

•  •  •

A postscript to the comparative stories of Snickers the Whippet and Lizzie the Basset: When it became clear just how well
Multi-BIF DC Whippletrees Gold Nugget FCh, CR, CAV, etc. was doing (that’s Snickers’s registered name), Rhonda and John decided
to start another Whippet on the road to advanced stardom. Leia (Surrey Hill Good Girls Don’t), one of the most beautiful dogs
I have ever seen, was brought into the family. She really is magnificent to look at, and like Snickers is very sweet. There
the comparison stops. Leia is just like Lizzie: No way, JosÉ. She hates showing, and so the game stops there. She, too, is
a princess, a regal couch potato, and you can’t help thinking when you look at her, “What a waste.” But ultimately the dog
does decide. Leia has opted for love and not the rest. She is leaving that to Snickers.

By the way, it isn’t a waste. First in order of importance is that loving part. If some dogs like Snickers have it both ways,
that’s fine, but a dog like Leia is at least as worthy a pooch as the best of them.