THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070500
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Virginia News
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
The Labrador retriever puppies curled together in H. Price Jessup's garage could grow up to be champions worth five figures, or they could grow up to be mere house pets.
But they probably won't grow up to be much more than 22 inches high. And if the American Kennel Club has its way, that means Jessup's puppies and thousands of others won't be up to snuff.
This is a tale of bad blood between the bloodlines, and it has escalated to a lawsuit in federal court over whether short Labradors or tall will henceforth be top dog.
The AKC, the powerful organization of breeders that administers standards for purebred dogs, recently changed the rules for dog shows to favor long, tall Labradors. These animals were bred to retrieve and have a rangy, lean look.
``They're not Labradors at all,'' said Luther Thompson Jr., manager at Jessup's Alexandria kennel. ``They're not like our babies, which are the real English Labradors. They're short and they're sweet.''
The long and short of it is this: Show quality puppies are worth up to $750, while lesser animals can cost as little as $75.
A champion with a few ribbons under his collar can be worth well over $10,000 if the breeder would sell, which they usually won't.
Breeders in the lawsuit said their animals represent the original standards developed in England in the early part of this century.
Actually, some of Jessup's dogs meet the new height restrictions and some don't. As of March 31, male show dogs are disqualified if they aren't at least 22.5 inches tall, and female dogs are tossed out of the ring if they aren't at least 21.5 inches.
``She's a champion March 30th, and March 31st she's garbage,'' Jessup said, pointing to a handsome, smiling yellow dog nosing around his kitchen.
A U.S. District judge in Alexandria refused Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit filed by breeders opposed to the new rules.
Judge Claude M. Hilton ordered the suit shifted to another federal court in Manhattan, where the AKC is based, and gave the AKC and the Labrador Retriever Club Inc. 10 days to respond to the breeders' charges.
Anne K. Bingaman, chief of the Justice Department's antitrust division, also has opened an investigation into whether the rules changes are anti-competitive.
``The standards have not changed since 1945. What has changed is you now get disqualified for height,'' said Wayne Cavenaugh, spokesman for the AKC.
Previously, animals might get points deducted for varying too far from the ideal height approved by the AKC, Cavenaugh said.
The AKC isn't saying short dogs are inferior, Cavenaugh said. ``Love is blind,'' he said.
Also, the AKC registers any purebred Labrador of any size, he said.
Jessup and other breeders gathered at his suburban home Wednesday snorted at this. Registration is only the first of many qualifications to get into the show ring, where dogs are judged on minute points of color, measurements and movement.
``What we are breeding is hand-raised Rolls-Royces. What everybody else is breeding is Hyundais,'' Jessup said.
Only dogs that compete in show rings are affected by the new rules, which is part of the problem, breeders said. A split has developed between breeders of show dogs and breeders of field-trial dogs, the taller, leaner variety.
Dogs that compete in field trials aren't judged on height, said Mary Wiest, an AKC show judge and a breeder of the shorter variety of dogs.
``The people who are behind this change don't have to adhere to the new rules,'' but are eager to have their style of dog set the standard, Wiest said.
Although every one of the female dogs in her Merrimack, N.H., kennel would be ineligible under the new rules, she must enforce the rules in the ring, Wiest said. ``I'm totally opposed to this. I'm losing 27 years of breeding.''
``These are the sweet-tempered dogs, the original reason Labradors became No. 1.'' said Prescott Chubet, a breeder in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. ``The field dogs are hyper.''
Labradors are the most popular breed in America, by number of sales and registry with the AKC, mostly because they tend to be gentle and amiable.
``Labs are great dogs, no matter how tall they are'' said Cavenaugh of the AKC. ``Field-trial dogs that are bred for that can be a little more intense, it's true.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gene Czerwinski, left, and H. Price Jessup of Alexandria play with
their Labrador retrievers, both champions. Ginny, the white dog,
would now be disqualified at a show because she is too short.
KEYWORDS: DOG BREEDERS LAWSUIT by CNB