January 2012

In this, my last message from the President’s Corner, I would like to let you all know how much I have enjoyed your kindness and support over the last year. The Board has been wonderful and without the support of the Board members, I would have been lost. Their hard work and talents keep our organization going, but it is the membership, all of you who show up at events and bring food and supplies, who make the Club a lasting source of enjoyment as well as a font of cairn terrier knowledge and expertise.

In 1973, Harris and I were looking for a dog breed that we could agree to own. We decided to go window-shopping at the Old Dominion Kennel Club show and happened on Cairn Terriers: cute, personable, bighearted and upbeat. We also ran into Judith and Bob Simmons and Judy Irby Wickham. Even in the press of the show, with their own dogs to exhibit, they were so welcoming and kind that they convinced us to give Cairn Terriers a try. Judith put us in touch with Mary Desloge, from whom we got our first cairn, a retired brood bitch. There were a lot of lovely dogs at that show, but they did not have the same great salesmen standing behind them.

I know you are getting the same scary news that I am. Purebred dogs seem to be under attack from a number of quarters. I look around our club, and we seem to have very few young exhibitors. As individuals and as a club, we need to reach out to potential dog owners and exhibitors. We need to reach out and promote ourselves as breeders and fanciers and showcase the Cairn Terrier breed.

This year, PCTC members, led by our Rescue and Outreach Committee, set up at two events: the Virginia Scottish Games and Frederickburg’s “Gone to the Dogs” event. We smiled, shook hands, listened to stories about Cairns past, and handed out information about our Club, and Cairns in general. The Club also marched in the Christmas Walk in Alexandria, where upwards of 30,000 people got to see our dogs on parade.

I want to encourage all of you to invite someone to the field trials or a match; let people know that there are many ways to enjoy their dogs. People choose a pet or a show dog based not simply on how cute they are or how much they shed – or even how healthy they are – but also on how well we present our conviction that they are the best little pal in the world.

~ Ann Gates

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