Summer 2017 Saber Tails 5
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
Celebrating 30 Years of
PBGVCA National Specialties
By Bev Childs
Celebrating 30 years of PBGVCA Nationals was the theme
for the 2017 National held in the Queen City of Charlotte,
North Carolina. When our club held its first National Spe-
cialty in 1987 in Louisville, Kentucky, only conformation
competition was offered. The 2017 National Show Com-
mittee focused on having something for everyone and I
think we succeeded. We even had a “Royal Rabbit Hunt”
inside the hotel and a “Parade of Crowns” with PBGVs wear-
ing the crowns…(more about that later)!
As hunting hounds from the Vendéen Region of France,
we knew PBGVs were great hunters and would do well in
the United States in that venue. Most of the AKC perfor-
mance events currently available today were not available
in the late 70s and early 80s. In the early years, few people
thought PBGVs would be suitable for any performance
events other than hunting - but boy, were they wrong! As
the club membership grew, more members trained for a
number of AKC disciplines and gained titles on their PB-
GVs – increasing the demand for performance events to be
offered at our National Specialty. For many years now PB-
GVCA has offered (along with Conformation) Agility, Obe-
dience and Rally. In 2011, Hunting Tests were offered and
continue to be depending on the location of the National.
The Top 20 event made its first appearance in 2014 and in
2016 the Triathlon was added to the menu of offerings. All
of these events made 2017 a multifaceted Specialty.
Tuesday morning of PBGVCA National week started bright
and early with our Regional and National Agility Trials held
outdoors at the Piedmont Kennel Club. Chair Vickie Will-
man had everything set up and organized with 19 PBGVs
entered. Judge Robert J. Jeffers judged 42 runs at each tri-
al. Running agility outside is not the best situation for PB-
GVs and the
nose to the
ground was
often seen
during a
run. In the
end 11 had
at least one
qualifying
run and a
different
PBGV was
High-in-Trial at
the Regional
and National.
You can find
a list of agil-
ity qualifiers at:
https://www.
pbgv.org/im-
ages/PDF/Event
s/2016/16Result
s/2016AgilityRe
sults.pdf
By mid-af-
ternoon on
Wednesday,
March 29th, many PBGV fanciers began to arrive at
the dog-friendly Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel. The
courteous staff was eager to help the National Commit-
tee set up. Welcome Bag Chair Shelley Barclay and her
committee totally outdid themselves and rocked out the
Welcome Bags with many dog-related goodies. The cool
clear logoed stadium bags outlined with purple fit the
theme of the National and were sponsored in part by
Sandy Bustin. These bags were a hit with all the regis-
tered attendees.
The PBGVCA and the Carolina PBGV Club sponsored the
Welcome Party on Wednesday evening. This celebration
was kicked off with a Carolina Hamburger and Hot Dog
buffet, beverages and a cash bar. Hospitality Co-Chairs
Michael Edwards and Fran Keeley did an outstand-
ing job with the beautiful décor and fun decorations
throughout the venue for every event. The Welcome
Party table decorations included PBGVs jumping for joy
from the “crown” centerpieces. Everyone relished visiting
with old friends and meeting new ones as they enjoyed
the sounds of Ethan Uslan, a ragtime/jazz pianist based
in Charlotte.
After the Welcome Party, 87 PBGVs and their owners
excitedly scoured the hotel to hunt “RABBITS” – no not
the live hopping kind but cloth ones custom made and
stuffed with treats by Chair Wendy Martin. The “Royal
Rabbit Hunt” had enough cute rabbits for each PBGV to
Cont’d p. 15