I would strongly encourage any PBGVCA member that has 

never attended a National Specialty to put it on your bucket 

list. The event is very welcoming to all PBGV enthusiasts, and 

even those who aren’t there yet.  We are a small but great group 

of people that like to see our dogs excel at the companion/

performance events and also have fun running around the 

conformation ring.
This year the National was held in Kerrville, Texas, a small 

(pop. 32,000) welcoming town that loved that we chose their 

town to hold our event.  Some attendees were able to take time 

to horse back ride, visit wineries and local restaurants. I don’t 

think any were disappointed.  
We started the week with an agility fun match (open to all 

breeds) Monday evening this was a way for PBGVs that don’t 

normally compete in dirt arenas to get their feet wet prior to 

running the next day.  We had a great turn-out for the event.  

On Tuesday morning, we held our Regional and National 

Agility trial.  Unfortunately, we had NO dogs with qualifying 

runs at the Regional.  The dogs got warmed up and in the sec-

ond trial (National) we had qualifying runs.  I will say that the 

dogs had fun whether they had a qualifying run or not.  We 

were fortunate to have local agility competitors that came and 

helped make our trials run smoothly.  They also gained appre-

ciation for what we are able to obtain from our crazy hounds.  

Wednesday afternoon was the Regional Obedience and Rally 

trials.  Again local obedience competitors came and ring stew-

arded which is a huge help. We had some nice runs and a few 

dogs that decided they didn’t want to be obedient. Rally had 

many more entries and dogs that achieved qualifying scores 

(this is very common).
Wednesday evening was the Welcome Party, this event was 

held poolside and the weather was wonderful. After people 

had a few drinks and food everyone was invited to help break a 

piñata.  It took some “arm twisting” to get people to volunteer 

to be blindfolded and take a swing at the piñata. After some 

pretty hefty swings the piñata finally broke.  I even think there 

is a video of Dave Esherick’s swings at the piñata!
Thursday was an extremely long day. We started with Nation-

al Obedience and Rally trials followed by 4-6 Month Puppy 

competition. Nancy Simmons, our Obedience and Rally judge 

was also the 4-6 Month Puppy judge. She had seven puppies 

in the ring that day. Next was Regional Sweepstakes followed 

by Jr. Showmanship. Katherine Howell judged the Sweep-

stakes and Jr. Showmanship.  Linda Scanlon was the Regional 

conformation judge this year.  She had an entry of 60 dogs.  

Once we finished Regional judging, the ballroom was setup 

for the Top 20 that was held in the evening.  The Top 20 han-

dlers were encouraged to dress in “Western Wear” and many 

of them took on the challenge.  Attendees of the Top 20 had 

voting ability for a “peoples choice” for their favorite dog and 

also a “best dressed” handler. The winning handler was Marina 

Rose. She took on the challenge to a “T!” We ended the night 

with a local country band, J.R. Herrera. They put on a great 

performance for those who stayed and listened to them.
Friday was our first ever Scent Work trial.  We held a Regional 

trial and a National trial in the same day.  This sport is made for 

our PBGVs!  We had a total of 111 entries for the day.  Thank 

you to everyone who entered your dogs, helped gate steward 

and encouraged your fellow exhibitors. A special thank you to 

Jill Otto who did all the timing of runs for the day and also 

Katherine Howell who was the hide steward for the entire day.  

This event had mostly novice handlers and dogs. When the 

day started the nerves were high and it showed in the results 

with many dogs finding the odor but the handler unable to 

recognize it. Once the nerves settled the teams were more suc-

cessful. I believe in the end every dog entered acquired at least 

one qualifying run. Since this event was such a success, it is be-

ing held again in 2020 in Wilmington, Ohio. If you have been 

wanting to compete with your PBGV this is a sport, you can 

train at home and be successful at a trial. Hopefully in 2020 

we will see even more new faces in Scent Work.
Friday night, Megan Esherick offered a Trick Dog training and 

titling seminar.  This was well attended with PBGVs with all 

types of experience.  There were conformation competitors to 

pet owners that don’t compete.  We also welcomed a mixed 

breed and a Havanese that were there to get a trick title.  I 

know there were a bunch of dogs that earned titles that night, 

(watch in future Saber Tails for what dogs titled).
Saturday was National Sweepstakes, 4-6 Month Puppy and 

Conformation competition. Jo Quintenz started the day judg-

ing the puppy and veteran sweepstakes. The 4-6 Month Puppy 

competition followed judged by Nick Frost. Then Carol Doerge 

took to the ring for the National conformation assignment. 

This was followed by our Saturday night banquet and auction. 

Thank you to Janice Hayes for putting together a fantastic si-

lent and live auction. 
A National Specialty cannot be successful without a team of 

great volunteers, from the show chair to all the behind-the-

scene volunteers. If you enjoy attending Nationals PLEASE 

raise your hand to help. 
In closing, I want to personally thank each and everyone of 

you who were willing to help when I asked.  I am not going 

to list you individually because I would forget someone.  Also 

a huge thank you to the YO Ranch Motel, they were a great 

group of people to work with and made my job very easy. 

t

Regional/National win photos and candid photos by Malinda Julien Dog Show Photographer ~ Malindal Julian.com

Summer 2019 Saber Tails 13    

It’s A Wrap! 

by Lora Megli, 2019 National Show Chair