The term Pre-Colombian refers to artifacts and cultures that existed in the New World (Western Hemisphere) before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, a.k.a. Christobal Colombo, a.k.a. C. Colón. It has been my great pleasure to judge and lecture in such places that have pre-Colombian art and architecture, from the Caribbean’s Santo Domingo (where Columbus’ house and remains are) to the ancient empires of Central and South America. Recently this included an assignment in Puebla, Mexico. You are of course familiar with the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas, regardless of how well you know the dates of their influence. But few are aware of the cultures that preceded them. Not much of an indigenous nature came later, because when the Spaniards arrived, they set out to destroy all the history and structure that they found. Since those civilizations had evolved by a combination of conquest and assimilation until then, each building on the art and customs of their predecessors, there are archeological evidences of most of the nations and alliances to that point in time. But the Spanish attempted to completely wipe out all religions, and since everything from agriculture to zodiac had religious significance, they intended a clean sweep. Thankfully, they were not entirely successful, and ruins of pyramid temples and other archeological treasures are plentiful enough to keep generations of diggers and historians busy.
One of these is in the town of Cholula, named after the tribes that lived in this area east of present-day Mexico City before the Aztecs and overlapping with the time of the Mayans. This small city is marked by 128 churches, far more than population now or in the past would warrant. The reason for so many is that the Catholic Spaniards discovered a way to convert (actually amalgamate) the natives: tear down their sacred sites and build churches on top of or in place of them. These churches are on the sites of Cholulan and Toltec temples, most of them in the form of pyramids. Several in Mexico that escaped destruction had been covered with dirt long before the invaders could discover them, and appeared to be just more mountains. After Cortez (1519), the age of native cultures effectively ended. In the larger city of Puebla, I also saw churches on almost every block. The Puebla Cathedral is the largest in Latin America. The original was to be in Lima Peru, but the Franciscans here saw the design plans and lobbied the king of Spain to put it in central Mexico instead.
Mexico is a nation of 95 million people, 22 million of whom live in the DF, the capital we know as Mexico City, some two hours drive from Puebla. When I was last in Mexico D.F., in 1988, there were almost 12 million. Puebla also is growing, from 2 to 3 million in the past 6 years, partly due to the gigantic Volkswagen plant here. Incidentally, the ue in words like Puebla can also be pronounced as a long o, as in Joe. Hence, you will see many signs here referring to Pobla and similar words with that spelling. The Poblano pepper that is the only correct way to make chili rellenos, to my mind, is from the peppers originating here. The word comes from the same Latin root that gave us Publius, public, population, people, and publish, and can refer to a local community or a nation. The sport of dogs is vibrant here, although not as deeply entrenched in everyone’s life as in the U.S. There is very little in the way of dedicated schutzhund training. While there are perhaps 500-600 GSD owners who might have an occasional litter, there are only about 50 active breeders in the whole country. At this show and lectures, there were people from Mexico City, Guadalajara, and other distant places.
The members of the Puebla division of Club Canofilo Mexicano del Pastor Aleman were very generous with their hospitality, and since I was there long enough to present a couple of seminars in addition to judging the show, I was treated to trips to the more famous or interesting historical sites and museums. A huge excavation, covered by an immense steel roof to protect from erosion, was of pre-Mayan culture, dating from well before 1000 A.D. This was in the pyramids region of Cacaxtla-Xochitecal. It was hot when not under the shade of that roof. Mucho caliente! So hot that Se caen los patos asados! Fortunately, my guides wanted to sit in the visitors center and sip some precursor of mescal made from agave (a member of the maguey genus, not unlike the Century plant and yucca plants you may be familiar with). I had a glass of pulque, a very acidic drink, like vinegar; distill pulque and you get mescal, a special kind of tequila.
One amusing sightseeing experience was in the town of Tomantzintle, where a beautiful and fabulously ornate church of Santa Maria is such a popular place to get married that on this day there were three wedding parties lined up waiting their turn while we were there. The irony that I got a big kick out of started with the sign outside that forbade cameras, flash, or tripods because it was an offense against the church). Yet what did the couple choose for the music to accompany their sacred and holy vows in this religious context but Man of La Mancha and The Godfather Theme!
The show was held on the grounds of an urban golf
and country club, which sounds like an oxymoron to North Americans
who are used to golf courses in the suburbs or beyond. The site was
fully adequate in size both for a large breed ring and the
courage-test field nearby, as well as room for setting up crates in
the shade of trees ringing the area. I find it both rewarding to me
and important to the breed that the Latino custom is to have the
breed judge supervise and grade the courage test performances. In
the U.S., we only have these at our Sieger Shows, and there are so
many entries (perhaps 250-300 total) that we can have a separate
schutzhund judge do this part of the qualification for placings in
the Open-titled conformation class. In the smaller Latin America
shows (about 150 or so at a typical Sieger Show) and the event being
spread over two or three days, it is convenient and affordable to
use just one person.
We had classes ranging from Baby Puppy (3-6 months) to adults (over
24 months) with and without schutzhund titles. The courage test is
required for the dogs in the two adult titled classes. Since the
sport of schutzhund is far less common here than in the U.S., many
of the dogs were poorly prepared for the courage test. One actually
wandered all over the grounds, sniffing at trees and people, while
ignoring entirely the bad guy charging from the blinds. I was
directed to go easy on the heeling/control requirements, to not
demand the Out, and to be very flexible on judging the overall
performance. If I had not complied, I think perhaps only a few
animals might have qualified for the Excellent (V) category. As it
was, I gave one Insufficient and two Vorhanden (Sufficient) grades
in males’ courage tests, but had a heeling problem with only one
female, though all the bitches passed with Ausgeprägt
(Pronounced). At a couple of the informal get-togethers I suggested
some trainers in the U.S. for help in training, but the fanciers
here really need to develop their own motivation first, and get into
the habit of going out many times a week to train, instead of
waiting until a week or two before a big show. None of the entries
had any gunshyness or weak nerves in the show ring.
A few imported stud dogs have more influence here than dogs do in
the U.S. or Germany, because of the cost of importing, the
relatively small number of major breeders, and perhaps the economy.
Sometimes, though, distance from the seller carries high risks of
being taken, as we have seen in other distant countries where the
buyers have no recourse after getting mediocre quality at high
prices. There was very little evidence of that in Puebla, although
there were a few dogs that might have been just a little less than
initially represented. That’s why it is a good idea to work with an
importer you can trust, rather than just go to a big name for dogs.
Smaller breeders can often supply high-quality dogs at affordable
prices. Probably the best producer of this weekend is Ulf v Fervic,
owned and bred by the president of the club, Fernando Rodriguez. In
contrast, import Xano Arlett progeny were largely lacking in pigment
and structure, and one was excused because of one atrophied
testicle. The best dog was an imported brother of Leif Noriswand
Leif probably should have been Sieger in 1999, but was the victim of
a DNA scandal the week before that show in Karlsruhe.
The winner of the 3-6-mo. females is a very
correct daughter of Quartz Templari bred and owned by Francisco de
Icaza, one of the biggest breeders in Mexico. The leaders in the
corresponding male class were Ulk litter-brothers, both owned and
bred by Jesus Salgado. Some nice puppies bred by Lucy Visscher and
sired by Senor Rodriguez’ excellent Nando v Moorbeck were also in
these classes. The 6-9-mo. bitch winner was not listed in the
catalog, and in males, the first-place Tom vd Asmhein (Lesko
Fiemereck) owned by Adrian Sanchez could have had a little higher
wither, but is still growing; the second-place Xaro v Fervic (Ulk F.
son) owned by Gerardo Vargas just needs a little better length of
croup. Most classes, this one included, were of admirable over-all
quality. Francisco de Icaza won the 9-12 bitch class with Xaska, out
of two of his home-bred Fraica dogs, and a Saber Steffenhaus bitch
came in second, owned by the Martinez-Huerta family. In 9-12
classes, the males were led by Juan Francisco Sanchez’ Divo Solis
(Graf v Branjai).
12-18 mo classes are usually very large, and this show was no
exception. The first eight bitches were really outstanding, with a
Hungarian (I think) bitch named Nety z. Podradbuzi (daughter of
Pascha vd Jahnhohe) taking the top honors, with de Icaza’s Crystha
Confeld right behind, and not bothered much by a slightly steep
croup. In males, it was a Vito/Ravanna Noriswand son, Carlos vd
Noriswand, bred by Ernst Rueckert and owned by the lucky Francisco
Navarro. The 18-24-mo. classes were won by Banny Haus Bernal (Casanove
v Ritterberg) and Xando v Heidelberg (Herby vd Steinleite, with a
Graf v Branjai son pressing him closely.
As I mentioned, there is not as much training and titling as there should be, and maybe a lack of enthusiasm and hot weather might influence this, but the non-titled adult female class was vastly larger than the titled class. Many were sired by illustrious dogs and should have titles by now. The sires of four of the first five were Mischaland’s Simon, Hagadahl’s Arex, Fello Farbenspiel, and Zalves vd Michaelsweise. The winner of the class was not listed in the book, and the second-place Lissy vd Anjona Hutte is owned by the Martinez-Huerta family. Males without titles were led by a handsome son of Mack v Aduct and Saskia Bierstarder-Hof bred by Rudiger Mai and owned by the fortunate Miguel Perez. He certainly deserves to be trained and titled, and subsequently bred to if his hips are good enough. Just behind him was the Xandro Danischen Hof son, Paul de Gilbay-Gos. It was very close, but Paul had a tiny bit of excess movement over the croup, fell off a little more there, and was ever-so-slightly narrow at the elbows. Third was an Odin v Fervic son, Marro, and fourth (a Spanish import) was listed as Laro De Les Pinyeres, I believe. A very strong, super-macho working-lines dog of great pigment named Hurko v Quellesander Land placed in the top five. (I never got a complete, marked catalog, so these 4th and 5th place dogs might actually be reversed.)
Bitches with titles were few but of very respectable quality, all easily earning the Excellent rating. Truly outstanding in courage performance and gaiting was the day’s Club Siegerin, Quena vd Herrenstrasse, a Visum Arminius daughter owned by Josette Sailhan. She had done very well in Germany, though I forget when and how well, and she reportedly has done a lot of winning since coming to Mexico. Second in a close race was Angie v Moderhof (Kimon Schongauer Lido x Nonja Wienerau). Third was the Cash Wildsteiger Land daughter Brenda vd Erenfeste, a fast-moving bitch who had a bit of a control problem in the heeling part of the courage test as well as in the gaiting. She took just a few more steps to cover the same ground as the two ahead of her, but on another day, the placings could have been reversed. Jesus Salgada is the proud owner. Fourth was Sena val Reno, bred by Gianni Bianchi and owned by Victor Oliver Garcia. She did not have quite as good a croup, but this Dusty Wienerau daughter would be at home in any country’s rings.
Titled dogs class was won handily by Francisco Navarro’s Leif brother, Luck v.d. Noriswand, a mature and extremely attractive male who also did the best courage work of the day. Very close in the competition anatomically, but less well trained for the bitework, was de Icaza’s Glint Ritterberg, a Dorijan Yohaness-Berg son bred by Klauss Gothe and shown by a German handler, Thomas Koradin. In third place was the Fello Farbenspiel son, Leskor v Fiemereck, standing slightly east-west and with a back that could have been firmer than when he went V-64 in Germany in 2000. A Casanova Ritterberg son, Qrik Fraica was 4th; he needs more helper work and focus. Next was the good-looking producer Ulk Fervic, who also needed more training. Rounding out the Excellent category was Nickor Haus Bernal, son of Max della Logia dei Mercanti, who would have done better if his ligaments were a little tighter. In the Muy Bueno (SG or very-good) group were Rocco val Reno (the dog who left the courage test field) from the famous kennel of Gianni Bianchi, and Gismo aus den Haus Zygadto SchH-1, who got only a Vorhanden from me in the courage test. Gismo had been V-57 at Dusseldorf last year. Perhaps his performance was a clue to why he was sold, but there are many Hochzuchtlinie dogs who risk failing or doing poorly in courage tests if not regularly worked.
The seminar audiences were attentive and eager to learn, the food was delicious, and the sightseeing and museums were wonderful. The dogs are world-class, the people even better, the hospitality and accommodations very comfortable, and I felt as if I belonged there. I could not have asked for anything more. Mis trabajo en Mexico estuvieron padrisimas!
Fred Lanting, mrgsd@hiwaay.net
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