| I had the honor of being
asked to participate as an "honorary judge" in the 19th annual Spanish Water
Dog Monografica in la Cuidad, Spain. It had been almost 4 years since
I last visited Spain so this was perfect opportunity for me
to take a week off from work and return to this
beautiful country and once again see these great dogs
in their natural habitat. The Spanish Club (Asociation
Espanola del Perro de Agua Espanol) provided the accommodations for my time
in Cuidad Real. The remainder of my trip was spent with Antonio Garcia
Perez, in the mountains of Ubrique. While at the Monografica I had the
pleasure of meeting the President of the French Spanish Water Dog club, and
an avid Barbet and Laggato fancier. Mr. Jean Claude Hermans has recently
published a book about French Dog Breeds
entitled: Chiens de France ISBN: 2-951567-1-1. I
also had the pleasure of finally meeting Mrs. Faye Allen. I have
communicated with Faye for almost 8 years. In fact she was one of the first
people I contacted when I started my quest for information regarding the
breed. We had a great time discussing the type and quality of Spanish Water
Dogs exhibited at the show, our theories on their origin
and of course our concerns for maintaining quality
breeding stock. I was also very excited that several
of our club members also were able to attend this event and finally see
Spanish Water Dogs in their native country. Club
members present were Ms. Lisa Harper, Ms. Beth Clark, Mrs.
Sheryl Gains and Mr. Perry Clegg.
Overall it was a very educational experience and I learned a lot about the breed. In 2005 the Monografica will be held in Ubrique where they will also hold several exhibitions to include herding, water work and agility.
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