Local husky is South Africa’s number one working dog

Jasmine is a two-year-old show dog, bred and owned by Adrian and Cheryl Battey, of Cloverdene in Benoni.

They own the internationally recognized Foxfire Siberian Husky kennel,  which was established in 1982, and have bred numerous champions and Best In Show winners, in South Africa and other countries around the world.

At an All Breeds dog  show, the dogs are grouped into different categories, depending on their function and breed

The seven groups are: Gundogs (including cocker spaniels and Labradors, amongst others); Herding (for example Border collies and corgies) Hounds (including beagles, Basset hounds, Rhodesian ridgebacks), terriers (such as bull terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers); Toys (such as the Maltese, Pomeranian and Yorkshire terriers); Utility (poodles, bulldogs and chows) and Working Dogs (for example the Dobermann, Rottweiler, Great Dane and boxers).

Each breed has a breed standard, which is the hallmark of the breed and what each dog gets judged on.

The criteria is based on structure and conformation, movement, overall depth of quality and how closely the dog resembles it’s particular  breed standard, which is the same standard used  internationally, with very slight variences in some countries around the world.

The points which are used to calculate the top winning dogs in each group are gained by competing throughout the year, at numerous dog shows around the country.

Cheryl said Jasmine has consistently achieved at the shows in 2013, under local and international judges, to put her at first place in the working group, after competing against + -15 different breeds of dogs that showed in the Working Group.

Jasmine  received her Kusa Award at the  Kusa Awards that were held at the “Supa seven” event, which took place at the Birchwood Hotel, two weeks ago, and, on Saturday, January 25, and they received their Animaltalk award at the Animaltalk Top 100 function, which was held at the Indaba Hotel.

Cheryl said Jasmine has consistently won show dog competitions under both local and International judges ever since she started competing as a six month old puppy, where she won Best Puppy in Show, during her first show under a judge from Mexico.

“I am so proud of our beautiful girl, Jasmine, not only because she is bred by us, but we have the pleasure of owning her and are honoured that she  has been such a great ambassador for our  kennel. Our Kusa rules only allow for a dog to become a Champion at 18 months of age, which she managed with ease, so after a very successful puppy show career where she was number one working puppy, she went on to continue her winning ways by becoming the Number One Working dog for 2013,” she concluded.