"Showing a wire wasn't always easy. Michelle Paulin of Ahram Ibizan Hounds in Colton, Calif., recalls the time a judge withheld ribbons from her wire bitch - the same bitch that had just gone Winners at the national - because she was 'lacking in breed type.' Ironically, it was her 'true wire type' the specialty judge had commented upon.

 

Tammy Forbes of Fusion Ibizan Hounds in Wildwood, Fla., says that when she started showing her wire in 2002, almost all the judges headed to the breed standard to make sure it was acceptable. Once assured, they had no hesitation in awarding her wire four majors (and, later, breed and group wins). She reports that even today, 'I have judges, ring stewards and exhibitors tell me the one on the end of my leash is the first wire Ibizan they've seen in person.'" 

 

"Sighthounds have been vying for ribbons at Westminster since 1877, when Greyhounds and Scottish Deerhounds competed in the Sporting Group. (The Hound Group was introduced only in 1930.) But it took a full 70 years before a Sighthound was crowned the best of the best.

 

Within the Hound Group, however, Sighthounds have always maintained an edge, winning 48 out 82 Groups - close to 60 percent of the time - despite the fact that they constitute far less than half of the Hound Group entry."

 

"Some knowledge of Afghanistan's history, geography and culture is necessary for anyone who wants to understand how the Afghan Hound developed in the West. It would be too facile, and in the face of the tragic results of the very real warfare, almost indecent, to draw a parallel between the political situation and the 'Afghan wars' that accompanied the breed's arrival on the dog- show scene. It is a fact, however, that few breeds have been as hotly contested, with such widely divergent ideas of the ideal, as the Afghan Hound was while becoming established in England in the 1920s. Since all modern Afghan Hounds in the West descend from the dogs around whom the debate swirled, that controversy has affected everyone in the breed."

 

"Scottish Deerhounds have been running through time with men dressed in tartan.

 

So it's natural for modern Deerhounds to be running full tilt around a show ring with a man in a kilt, which is often worn with pride at Deerhound regional and national specialty shows - and then some. 

 

The reactions are always positive, kilt wearers say. And occasionally, a non-kilted Scot will confess the desire but not the confidence, to wear one himself."

 

Scottish pride -- and plenty of pluck -- define the tartan men of the Deerhound ring.

 

"It was through a misrepresentation in 1969 and a faulty American translation in 1973 that a historical document about the North African Sloughi became a historical document about the Middle Eastern Saluki. This description of the North African Sloughi by General Daumas, cherished by Sloughi fanciers across the world, has become so much part of the lore surrounding the Middle Eastern Saluki in English- speaking countries, that it is, today, still found in many Saluki articles and websites.

 

"In all fairness, some 40 years after the publication of the Waterses' book, it is time to give the story back to the breed to which it has always belonged - the Maghreb Sloughi."

 

Sloughi fancier Dominique Crapon de Crapona musters her historical sources and sets the record straight.

"The 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship was all about big ... That's big entry - almost 4,000 dogs from every state in the Union and some 45 countries competed in conformation, a total that swelled to 5,000 when agility, obedience and juniors were factored in.

 

Then there's big hype - those who didn't get to Orlando, Fla., the week before Christmas could access streaming video and web-site posts from a cheerleading squad of hot- pink-shawled Eukanuba bloggers.

 

And, finally, big venue - the Orlando convention center is so sprawling, at moments some Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs would have been welcome."