Reflections on the Shiba National 2007
By Patricia Doescher

The National Shiba Club of America held its National Specialty on Oct 20th, 2007 in Concord, CA. I was honored to judge the futurity/maturity sweepstakes on Saturday morning before the regular conformation classes and after the performance classes of obedience and rally. Shibas are not the most usual breed to show in performance, but the happy tail wags and occasional chuckles from ringside encouraged the handlers and all had a great time. I must say, people training Shibas to show in rally and obedience are on a difficult mission and deserve a big round of applause.

The futurity/maturity classes had some lovely young dogs of which I had a difficult time deciding on my winners. It was a wonderful opportunity for me as a breeder and I would encourage anyone asked to judge, to agree to participate. I hope the entries keep rising as breeders realize this is a great opportunity to show the Shiba world their up and coming young dogs. 

After my assignment I was able to sit and watch the regular classes being judged by Mrs. Patricia Hastings. I was impressed with her use of the dogs and with an entry of 67 dogs and 61 bitches, her ability to keep them well organized and to run a well-disciplined ring. 

 Quite noticeably the overall look, structure and type has come a long way since I attended my first Shiba National in 1995.  Each year has seen improvements in style, structure and importantly temperament. I did notice however there were a fair number of Shibas that appeared too heavy in body, more so in the males then the females. These thick-bodied Shibas gave me the impression of them being overweight or under exercised, as the structure looked to be fairly good. An overdone body lacks the proper tuck up in the loin, which is important in the breed. A Shiba should not give the impression that it is a “couch potato” but should be lean and well muscled full of strength and energy.

I was, to some extent, disappointed with the coat color on many of the dogs. I saw only a few nice bright red coats as called for in the standard. Of the few sesames entered the majority had unfinished patterning of sesame on the head.  Most black and tans were too dark and shiny in guard coat lacking the correct lighter undercoat color of tan/gray/red.  It was pleasant to see in each color some truly outstanding individuals though.

Overall, I see breeders have a firm grasp of what is important to the breed and striving for each continued generation to bring improvements. I must add I found agreement in Mrs. Hasting’s placements and her top honored winners were stunning!  I look forward to next year when I can show some of my own dogs to the selected judges. 

For a list of winners from this show go to AKC’s event and award search at www.akc.org as they are too numerous to mention in this article. 

http://www.akc.orgshapeimage_2_link_0