At Westminster dog show, new breeds get exposure, new fans

NEW YORK — Bikfic’s eyes widened, his ears curled up, his tail wagged, and his soft but plushy corkscrew gray coat bounced up and down.

It was almost as if he knew he was the object of everyone’s attention.

A crowd of onlookers, dog lovers with their phones ready to snap photos and TV camera crews surrounded the benching area trying to get a glimpse of one of the new breeds, the Pumi, competing Monday at Pier 94 on the bank of the Hudson River during the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

“This is confirmation,” said Marika Foreman, Bikfic’s owner and handler. “It gets you the chance to talk about the breed you love. It gets you the chance to talk about Pumis to another group of people. I’ve been to shows where I was the only Pumi. But I still went. I knew I wouldn’t get any points, but that wasn’t important. People saw the dog.”

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That is, after all, the goal for these new breeds.

Bikfic, which translates to “Goofball” from Hungarian, is one of seven Pumis who were shown Monday. The Pumi joins the Sloughi — a medium-sized, smooth-coated sighthound with ancient traces to North Africa — and the American Hairless Terrier — a small, playful, and feisty breed with “an off switch” — as the three new breeds competing in this year’s show.

Foreman is a retired engineer and science teacher who met Pumis as a girl in her native Transylvania. She first saw the breed in the circus, where they were trained to act like clowns. They’re most common, however, as versatile, medium-sized stock dogs, excelling at herding cattle.

For new breeds to be accepted into Westminster, there have to be at least 300 purebred dogs in more than 100 households in the United States. A formal application moves the process along.

New breeds bring a certain curiosity with fans, but for those with dogs who are competing, it’s a little more complicated.

“I think there’s always some uncertainty with how to judge a rare breed,” said Erika Walsh, vice president of the American Sloughi Association and owner/handler of Toby, a 5 1/2-year-old import from the Czech Republic who has 75% African pedigree. “You’re very often competing in front of judges who have never seen an actual Sloughi before. But we’re in great company, and we’re so excited to be a part of Westminster this year.”

The American Hairless Terrier will compete Tuesday in the Terrier group, so they were not present in the benching area Monday. That didn’t mean, however, that some of the dogs weren’t busy Monday afternoon.

Karyn Pingel, along with her husband Ryan — the vice president of the American Hairless Terrier Club of America — own and handle four dogs who will compete Tuesday. But instead of having Journey, Helyx, Vyper, and Walkyr resting in a nearby hotel, they were out in New Jersey, conducting an allergy trial.

Back in the late 1990s, the Pingels tried just about everything to bring a dog into their lives. Their daughter had strong allergic reactions to breeds with coats. Even many of the hypoallergenic breeds produced an adverse reaction.

Down to their last shot, the Pingels reached out to the owner of an American Hairless Terrier. To their surprise, their daughter’s allergic reaction never flared up. So in 1999, the Pingels went all-in on breeding and spreading awareness of the American Hairless Terrier.

Now, through their Woodland Manor Kennel near Tampa, Fla., the Pingels arrange allergy trials, in which people afflicted by reactions to pet dander spend “as much time as possible” around the dogs to see if they can incorporate them into their homes.

Through the Pingels’ affiliation with the AHT Club of America, they have created a list of dog owners who have volunteered to have people with allergies visit them to conduct these trials.

Then schedules are arranged to conduct trials ranging from 15 minutes to five hours.

“So many families want to bring the joy and happiness of a dog into their lives, but they simply can’t because of health issues,” Karyn Pingel said in a phone interview as they drove through New Jersey to conduct a trial. “No dog is truly hypoallergenic. But the allergy trials have given people who have lost hope a chance to see if an AHT works for them. These dogs have meant so much to our daughter and to our son, that we want to spread awareness to as many people as we can.”

Competing in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show gives them that shot.

“It gives me great pride,” said Teri Murphy, president of the American Hairless Terrier Club of America. Murphy has two American Hairless Terriers, Kane and Rita, who will compete Tuesday. “To be included and accepted into the Westminster Kennel Club, it’s a great opportunity for a larger audience to be exposed to and see what a wonderful, affectionate, and warm dog the AHTs are.”

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