IRISH WOLFHOUND SOCIETY OF IRELAND

By Steve Marroni
Evening Sun Reporter

Like many dog breeders, Jeff Cline's goal is to go to Westminster – the Super Bowl of dog shows.

"It's the dream of anyone who shows dogs," he said dreamily about the big show.

The Aspers-area resident has a couple of young dogs now who just might make it some day soon. Lincoln and Jenny are not your average puppies – size-wise anyway. The 10-month-old Irish wolfhounds weigh in at about 130 pounds each, and have the makings of champions.

The 131st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is set for Monday and Tuesday. Many breeders will be at Madison Square Garden with their prized pooches, competing for the coveted "Best in Show" award.

But closer to home, many local breeders who have competed at Westminster, or hope to some day, are preparing for a show this spring in Harrisburg. The Harrisburg show, known as the Blue and Gray Cluster, is set for April 12 to 15 and, according to the show's education coordinator Suzanne Benchoff of Arendtsville, it is usually one of the top five shows in the country each year in terms of the number of dogs competing. It's held at the Farm Show Complex and hosts anywhere between 2,800 and 4,000 dogs.

Because she's involved with the Harrisburg show, she won't be competing there, but Benchoff is a seasoned dog breeder and show veteran. She has had several champion collies and two visits to Westminster. And while Cline is preparing Lincoln and Jenny for the show, Benchoff is organizing the displays and seminars for visitors and breeders.

Throughout most of the event, there will be educational displays and seminars for veterans, rookies and general dog lovers alike. These include grooming classes, courses in how to show, obedience and displays of the different varieties of dogs. Visitors will get to meet the many breeds as well as watch the best compete to be top dog. Breeders travel from as far away as California and even Alaska for the four-show event.

In addition to the shows themselves, the seminars, educational and interactive displays throughout the Farm Show Complex are popular with visitors. There will be more than 100 vendors selling everything from books on dogs and jewelry and clothing for dogs. Benchoff is also in charge of "meet the breeds" event Friday and Saturday.

"A lot of people come to the show just to see what's taking place and to talk to the breeders," Benchoff said. "Dog people love to talk about their dogs."

Getting ready for a show

Benchoff helps organize the Harrisburg show, and she is heavily involved in showing her own dogs at other shows many weekends through the year, including two appearances at Westminster in the 1990s.

"At some point in their life, breeders would like to say they've been to Westminster," Benchoff said. "But it's a very stressful show."

Many people who are interested in showing get into it at first with a pet. It's not necessary to be a breeder or to have a kennel. But having and showing a winner takes plenty of practice and experience.

Irish wolfhound breeder Cline has been showing the breed for about six years, but he has been a dog-lover for most of his life. He has had wolf hounds before, but they were pets.

Now he's breeding the gentle giants for success. Cline had Jenny on a leash in the back room of his kennel. As he was about to take her outside, she saw her brother, Lincoln, running around in the yard. Jenny got on her hind legs, towering over Cline. Her ears scraped the ceiling as she pawed at the top of the door to get out.

Cline has five Irish wolfhounds at his home and kennel near Aspers. Such large dogs require plenty of room. They charge around the yard, which can be a little intimidating to someone not used to their size.

But their demeanor couldn't be more kind, and the only risk is they may accidentally tip one over when they lean against someone giving them attention and affection.

It's both their noted gentleness and size that intrigued Cline.

"When you look into their eyes, it's like there's a human in there," he said. "I've had wolfhounds since I was a teenager, and they're just the greatest breed of dog."

Preparing for a show, such as the one in Harrisburg, can be time consuming. Just to make the trip to the Farm Show Complex, one has to get together the crate, playpen, food and grooming box. With their coarse coats, Irish wolfhounds love the current cold weather. But they require constant grooming to keep their fur ready to show.

Emilia is the first wolfhound to gain points for Cline. He now has three of her offspring, Jenny, Lincoln and J.R., who are all 10 months old.

The puppies still have the hyperactivity many young dogs display, but as they get older, wolfhounds tend to calm down. They're not as animated as some other dogs, Cline said, but as obedient as they are, they walk in the show ring and do their thing.

The three ran up and down a hill last week, enjoying the frigid temperatures. Cline said they love the cold because of their thick coats.

"If this was the summer, they'd be lying under a tree," he said as he scratched Lincoln's ears. He didn't need to bend over to do this.

Jenny, in her first show, took second out of 28 wolfhounds. She had some recent surgery, but is getting ready to get back in the ring.

A love for collies

Benchoff, who, when not in the dog world, is the migrant education coordinator for Lincoln Intermediate Unit No. 12, has loved collies most of her life. She had the country's No. 1 collie in 1994 and 1995. His name was Karma, and was only Benchoff's second show dog.

"He was rather extraordinary," she said. "He was very close to the ideal collie. He had great balance, and to see him, even if you know nothing about collies, you would say 'that's one beautiful dog.'"

And Karma loved being a show dog. He had a charisma that made him a natural and, she said, he's a once-in-a-lifetime dog.

She found an interest in collies as a child with influences like the television program "Lassie" and the novels of Albert Payson Terhune, who ran a collie kennel in New Jersey and wrote more than 40 books which were stories about collies. Benchoff recalls checking them out for three years straight from the Adams County Library – and being one of the few to borrow those books.

Benchoff's parents gave her her first collie when she was 6. She showed her first dog in high school, and then got back into it in the mid-1980s.

She and her husband, Dennis Cronin, now have 10 collies, many of whom have had varied levels of success in shows. Collies have a cycle of shedding where their coats will look fluffy and pristine for several months and they will go through months of coats looking a little shabby. Benchoff cycles her dogs through shows based on their coat cycle.

Her current dogs have varied levels of successes.

They spend much of the day outside, running and playing, and spend the night inside a climate-controlled room. As Benchoff approached them one morning last week, they jumped up and down and bumped into each other with excitement. Their eager eyes said "it's time to play."

Each breed has its own national show, she explained, petting the dogs, and said for her, there is more pride in winning in a specialty show with only your breed because you're up against the best collies around and seeing how yours stack up.

Glinda, who is owned by a friend of Benchoff's but was bred at Conewago Collies, won at the National Collie Show in Idaho in 2006.

Benchoff is taking two of her collies, BB and Bob, in March to the National Collie Show in North Carolina. BB has just earned his championship in December, and is eligible for Westminster. Bob is close to being a champion, and has a recent win at the Piedmont Collie Club in North Carolina. Bob's mother, Zion, is also a champion, and the 7-year-old competes at the veteran level.

Both BB and Bob wore big grins with their tongues dangling as she played with her dogs. Bob, always well behaved, has a thick black coat. He recently earned his Canine Good Citizenship recognition, and can work as a visiting dog to places such as schools and nursing homes.

The newest collie, Pop, is a 14-week-old puppy from a well-known collie pedigree. She's named so because Benchoff sees her as a future pop-star, and she bounds and pops up when she walks.

Pop went inside a little earlier that day because of the cold weather. She followed Benchoff, popping along at her feet. Pop buried her nose in a patch of snow, then came up for air with a snort. The excitable puppy is showing the early signs of a champion. Her fur, features, demeanor and expression – all important in the collie world – are falling into place. When she's six months old, she'll be ready for her first show.

Caring for 10 dogs can be a time-consuming process. Benchoff and Cronin are up at 6 to let the dogs out and to feed and water them and clean up. This is usually an hour and a half process. When they get home at night, they do the same thing again, and take the dogs on usually a two-hour walk through the woods for some exercise and attention. This is time, she said, for both burning off energy and bonding.

For local breeders, it's more than just a hobby. Showing dogs is time consuming, but it's enjoyable.

"The ultimate goal for a breeder is the perfect representation of the breed," Benchoff said. "But, perfection is an illusion."

Source: http://www.eveningsun.com/localnews/ci_5206825