Dogs In Review Magazine September 2016 | Page 93

The Doberman Ch. Rancho Dobe’s Storm and the Bulldog Ch. Kippax Fearnought both won Westminster (Storm won twice) and were big winners despite the fact they were not heavily campaigned. 90 well one’s own dog had done in a certain kind of competition. a consistent contender for several years, even after being The fact that Chik T’Sun was officially ranked as No. 1 temporarily retired to raise a litter of puppies. dog of all breeds for three consecutive years (1957-1959) is Patzie was the star of Eldomar kennels owned by Mrs. therefore impossible to argue with. Gossie, as he was called, E.L. Doheny III in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was handled had been imported from England by Nigel Aubrey-Jones and by Porter Washington, who remains mostly remembered Bill Taylor, who first showed him to No. 1 dog of all breeds for the Flakkee Keeshonden that were owned by Mrs. in Canada but then sold him to Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Venable Doheny’s sister-in-law and continued winning well into the of Atlanta, Ga. His handler was Clara 1980s. After winning BIS with a whole Alford, who piloted Gossie to a total of series of champions from the Wisto124 all-breed BIS during his three active nia kennels in England — and marRingside at years at AKC shows. He then added the rying her handler — Mrs. Washington Westminster was only honor that had so far eluded him, achieved even greater success with much more unruly in BIS at Westminster, as his 125th win in homebred BIS winners in the follow1960 and retired to a well-earned rest. ing decades. The only non-Keeshond those days; booing in the kennel was the Pomeranian after BIS happened Ch. Rider’s Sparkling Golden NugBooing at Westminster on several occasions. Far too many great show dogs of the get, who won even more than Patzie ( more than 40 BIS). Unfortunately for 1950s have not been mentioned. There him, however, the Pekingese had then was the Doberman Ch. Rancho Dobe’s started his groundbreaking career. Nugget was No. 2 Toy Storm, who won BIS at Westminster in both 1952 and 1953, Dog after Chik T’Sun for three years in a row, and although and there was the Bulldog Ch. Kippax Fearnought, who won he placed among the Top 10 dogs in the country twice, he Westminster in 1955. Neither Storm nor Fearnought were was never Top Toy. heavily campaigned and must have been among the last dogs ever to win big in spite of very limited show careers. Storm was reportedly shown only 25 times, won 24 BOB (he was Birth of the Rankings defeated once as a puppy), 22 Groups and 17 Best in Shows. Until well into the 1950s, there was no such thing as official Fearnought’s total record is a little more hazy; he was shown rankings for the top show dogs. On occasion, beginning in the “a couple of dozen times” but also won 17 BIS. 1940s, there were compilations of the year’s “most winning” Neither was without his detractors. Storm was reporteddogs, but these were always based simply on the number of ly roundly booed after at least one of his Westminster wins all-breed Best in Shows won, and perhaps Groups — not on (ringside at Westminster was much more unruly in those points or other placements. days; booing after BIS happened on several occasions). It All that changed in the mid-1950s. Irene Castle Khatoonian was felt that Storm’s owner, advertising executive Len Carey, Phillips (later Schlintz) devised the system that’s basically used himself a Westminster BIS judge in the ‘60s, had gotten his to this day of allotting each dog points that equalled the todog prominently and unfairly featured at pretty much every tal number of competitors defeated by winning Best in Show, PR opportunity prior to the show. Fearnought’s win at WestGroup 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at an AKC show during each calminster was, by contrast, hugely popular, but at least one endar year. With some modifications, this is the system that all competitor bragged publicly that his dog had defeated Fearpublications, even AKC itself, has been using ever since. For nought “three times out of four” in the breed. This was, to be better or worse, it introduced consistency in a previously rathclear, a time of tremendous competition in Bulldogs: Dogs er unruly world of show records, where many different types of like Ch. Banshee of Beechly, Ch. Poncy Jim, Ch. Sir Reilly of “top dog” systems could be used, most of them based on how DOGSinREVIEW.com 88x92_FirstBIS.indd 90 8/16/16 7:25 AM