New breeds joining Westminster dog show

Dog collars are looped over wall sconces, and chew toys are scattered across a white carpet in Vali Eberhardt's Sammamish home. In a flash, two blond Norwegian buhunds streak across a tableless dining-room-turned-playroom, chasing not sheep, as their ancestors did, but a tennis ball.

Eberhardt's two buhunds will be among the first of their breed to be shown in the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club dog show Monday and Tuesday in New York.

It's an honor shared with retired school Superintendent Harvey Hazen of Wapato, Yakima County, who with his little-known breed — the Irish red-and-white setter — also is Westminster-bound.

While both breeds are newly recognized by the American Kennel Club, they've been around for centuries in Europe and they reflect a growing trend among dog lovers toward adopting lesser-known breeds, said Lisa Peterson, spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club, which lists about 60 breeds that breeders are working to have recognized.

"We certainly have had a sizable increase in new breeds, more than in recent years," Peterson said.

They include dogs as varied as the small hairless Mexican xoloitzcuintli, said to have been prized by the Aztecs, to the Karelian bear dog, a courageous, small dog considered a national treasure in the Republic of Karelia, where it's used for hunting moose and elk. Washington state uses the dog in wildlife enforcement.

Over the past 25 years, there have been 25 new breeds to make it to Westminster, said spokesman David Frei. Three new breeds are in this year's show; the Pyrenean shepherd is the third new one.

But the top dogs from another six new breeds, all either just accepted or to be accepted in the next few months, already have been invited to next year's show.

They are the Leonberger, the Boykin spaniel, Icelandic sheepdog, Redbone and Blue Tick coonhounds and the Cane Corso.

Eberhardt became a buhund fancier after losing a beloved Norwegian elkhound a few years ago. She wanted another Norwegian dog from the spitz family. She heard about buhunds and fell in love with their quickness, intelligence and ability to adapt to outdoor activities.

The next thing she knew, she was promoting the breed, had four buhunds and was committed to taking her top dogs, Sophie and Kaare, to shows around the country, where they are judged by how well they conform to the breed's standard.

Once well-known on Scandinavian farms, buhunds became almost extinct in the early 20th century, but breeding programs in Europe, and more recently the U.S., have led to a resurgence.

In Hazen's case, he wanted an ace partner for hunting chukars in Eastern Washington. He heard of Irish red-and-white setters, the predecessor of the Irish setter, and about four years ago he bought a puppy from a breeder in Argentina — the only place he was able to find one at that time. There are now U.S. breeders.

Runnie has become a dream hunting dog, Hazen said, and a show dog as well.

Patricia Princehouse in Ohio raises Pyrenean shepherds. "They are small athletic dogs, very much in tune with their owners. There is still a wildness to them, and for years they've been my secret pleasure," she said.

Her love for the dog began long ago when she was a foreign-exchange student in France and first saw the solid little herders, diligently working in the most remote region of the country.

She eventually got one and now is not only taking four to Westminster, but is actively breeding the dogs.

When it comes down to it, though, rare breed or old familiar pooch, a dog is a dog.

As the front door opens, Kaare, Eberhardt's promising Westminster star, takes advantage of the security lapse and jets out for a neighborhood tour. Eberhardt is forgiving.

"We don't have kids," she said of herself and husband John Bradstreet. "The dogs give us so much pleasure."

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com