American Kennel Club

KCP is one of only six benched shows remaining in America. Except for Westminster in New York, it's the sole benched event on the East Coast. "Philadelphia's benching system brings the spectator closer to all aspects of a show dog's life than other benched competitions," show chairman Charles Schaefer said. He explained that exhibitors must set up their grooming stations adjacent to the long, divided platforms where dogs and owners stay when canines aren't in the ring or being spruced up. This provides the opportunity for spectators to question breeders and handlers about a dog's care and special qualities.

The merry, affectionate little shih tzu, an Oriental toy dog that, except for a few scattered specimens, has been in America only since the end of World War II, has skyrocketed in popularity to 11th among all breeds registered with the American Kennel Club. More than 40,000 were listed last year, an increase of 122 percent in a decade. A new book on the breed, The Shih Tzu Heritage by Jon Ferrante (Denlinger's Publishers, Box 76, Fairfax, Va. 22030, $39.95 plus $3.05 handling), is dedicated to the Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi, who during her reign, 1861 to 1908, virtually controlled world access to the shih tzu. She adored the breed and insisted that eunuchs assigned to care for the dogs keep immaculate records of pedigrees, breedings, colors and markings.

The nation's most prestigious canine competition, the Westminster Kennel Club classic, will become the first champions-only dog show to be held in America when its 116th consecutive annual contest is conducted Feb. 10 and 11. Entries, restricted to 2,500 dogs because of space limitations at New York's Madison Square Garden, include all 144 breeds and varieties recognized by the American Kennel Club. The feature will be televised on the Madison Square Garden and USA cable networks on both evenings.

The first book my mother read to me was Albert Payson Terhune's Lad, a Dog, published in 1919. The hero was a collie. As I learned to read, I laboriously deciphered Terhune's syndicated dog column, which prominently featured the collies he bred at his Sunnybank estate in New Jersey. On our first radio, a huge walnut cabinet contraption that arrived when I was 7, I listened to Terhune's highly popular show about canines. Again, collies starred. The American view of the collie undoubtedly owes much to Terhune's portrait of the noble Lad, who was willing to give his life to protect a child.

Queen Victoria, vacationing at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, acquired a collie in 1860, causing the first spurt of the breed's popularity as a pet and show dog in Britain. Like many of today's owners, the queen was said to have been attracted by the dog's look of intelligence and compassion. Two black-and-tan collies, Duncan and Colin, from Victoria's kennels were imported to America and won ribbons at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 1878. Another publicity boost for the breed came when J. Pierpont Morgan and other millionaires began vying for imported collies, paying the incredible price of $10,000.

An educational bargain for dog lovers is the spring symposium sponsored by the Pennsylvania Federation of Dog Clubs at the Benetz Inn, Route 309 in Quakertown. Heading the impressive list of speakers at the April 1 event will be veterinarian William Kay, chief of staff at New York's famed Animal Medical Center. He will discuss epilepsy and episodic weakness in dogs. Other vets slated to address the group include Nancy Brown (understanding cancer diagnoses), Robert Washabau (canine gastric dilation)

What you name your pet says a lot about your expectations for the animal. The person who calls a dog Raging Beast or Wolf has a different view of a pet from the owner who chooses Honey Bun. Owners who give pets "baby talk" names may consider the animals to be surrogate children. Thus, such names (particularly among toy dogs) as Sweetie Pie, Cupcake, Snookkums, Yublie Dublie, Kissy Kristibel, Wee Wispie Willow, Merri Wee Georgi and the ever-popular Peppermint Patty. Entirely different visions of the animal are suggested by Fearless Fosdick or Bulldozer.

Many owners of purebred dogs would like to join a group of compatible canine fanciers but don't know where to find one. The answer is to write to the American Kennel Club, 51 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010, and ask for the names of all-breed and one-breed clubs in your area. Joining such a group helps you create new relationships, provides education on dog care and training, and is a resource when you run into problems. A few clubs, such as the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, are by invitation only, but most will welcome you. A very friendly local club is the Greater Philadelphia Dog Fanciers, which meets monthly in the parish hall of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1946 Welsh Road.

A silent-screen star, Lina Basquette, will judge the best in show class at the Kennel Club of Philadelphia classic, to be held in the Philadelphia Civic Center Dec. 2, according to club president L. Stewart Cochrane. Basquette, whose sister is dancer Marge Champion, was a ballet dancer as a teenager, and then starred as a torrid temptress in many silent films. Early in her career she was married to movie mogul Jack Warner, a union that ended in divorce. A lifelong interest in canines led her in middle age to start breeding Great Danes, and she became one of the top professional dog handlers.

Cat owners who keep their pets in the garage, or whose garages have openings that cats can enter, should bang on the garage door and look carefully at the rafters before raising the door. A number of cats have been trapped and injured when garage doors were opened. Another problem, according to letter-writer Joan Putt of Los Angeles, is that the feline also can be caught between the closing garage door and the concrete driveway, sometimes with fatal results. To prevent such a tragedy, Putt's husband drove a long wooden screw into the bottom of the garage door, leaving about three inches of the screw protruding so that the door could not close completely.