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Dates
Sept 14th through 18th, 2021
Location
Purina Farms Event Center – Gray Summit, MO
Theme this year is the ROARING TWENTY’S
Agility Judge
– Michelle Fletcher (Pikesville, TN)
I am very excited to judge the agility competition for The Ibizan Hound Club of the US. I started competing in agility and obedience in 1999 with my “Novice A” Brittany. In 2003 I began competing in hunt tests with my first Golden Retriever as well as agility and obedience trials. I became an agility judge in 2009. I have had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people while judging and competing and look forward to continuing this incredible journey. I hope everyone has an awesome time and wish you much success. Always remember… enjoy every run with your teammate like it’s your last!
Conformation Judge
– Patricia Trotter (Carmel, CA)
MRS. PATRICIA CRAIGE TROTTER of Carmel, California, registered her first litter of Vin-Melca Norwegian Elkhounds in 1951 and her most recent litter in 2020. All her breeding stock descends from her original bitch acquired in 1949 from an expert bear hunter. Her breeding program produced the top sire and dam in the breed’s history as well as the breed’s top winners, including Ch. Vin-Melca’s Vagabond who became top dog all breeds in 1970.
Vin-Melca Norwegian Elkhounds won 11 Hound Group firsts at Westminster, all handled and either owned or bred by Mrs. Trotter. She also handled top ten all-breed dogs on 10 different occasions while working full-time as a teacher. In addition, 42 Vin-Melca Norwegian Elkhounds have won all-breed best in show honors to date. Mrs. Trotter achieved more recognition for her role in the fancy with the Gaines Girl Show Dog Fancier award in 1952, the AKC Hound Breeder of the Year award in 2004, and the AKC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 as well as the Anne Rogers Clark Purina Pro Plan Hall of Fame award.
As a judge, Mrs. Trotter believes the true purpose of the dog show is to select breeding stock. By working in concert with each other, she believes breeders and judges can continually improve all breeds.
Mrs. Patricia Craige Trotter
Junior Showmanship Judge
Eric Liebes (Peyton, CO)
Eric’s first two dogs were a Komondor and an Ibizan Hound. The Komondor still shares the breed’s AKC All-Breed Best In Show record. The Ibizan Hound finished his championship and was one of the first CDX titled Ibizans.
In the ‘80’s Eric branched out to many Sighthound breeds and also tried his hand at obedience and performance competition. During the 1980’s, based out of Denver, he finished championships on dogs of numerous breeds in the family and for others, and placed regularly in the Hound, Working and Herding groups throughout the Rocky Mountain area. He also achieved 7 Komondor National Specialty wins, 10 all-breed Bests-In-Show and finished CD’s on five Komondors, two Ibizan Hounds and a Tibetan Terrier.
Eric’s first Ibizan Hound was acquired in 1981. By 1994 he had bred a Dual Champion, multiple Best-in-Field, Pedigree Award, and National Specialty winning dog and several other Dual Champions. Eric is still active as an exhibitor and breeder. He has an 9 year old Ibizan Hound, a 6 year old Komondor and her two year old son. The two adults have been top ranked breed competitors and have been Select at their Nationals. With Joan he has shown, bred and finished Samoyeds, including 3 with specialty wins and group placements.
Eric was first approved to judge by the AKC in 1992. His first breed approvals were Ibizans, Greyhounds, and Komondors. He is now approved to judge all Sporting, Hound, Working and Herding breeds, Misc., Junior Showmanship, and BIS. He has judged in Australia, Canada, China, Sweden, Ireland, and Mexico as well as for AKC. In 2020 Eric had the thrill of judging at Westminster. He continues to study and learn more about all of the breeds. Eric has had the honor of judging the National Specialty for Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Scottish Deerhounds, Kuvasz, Samoyeds and Standard Schnauzers. His goal is to bring a breeder’s eye to his judging every time he judges, especially at these important specialties.
Eric is a breed mentor in Komondors, Samoyeds, Greyhounds, Ibizan Hounds and Pulis. He is currently the Judge’s Education Coordinator for the Ibizan Hound Club of the United States. Eric and his wife Joan live outside of Colorado Springs with 8 dogs and 2 horses. Eric is retired from his career as a Research Geophysicist for Chevron.
Sweepstakes Judge
Lenna Hanna-O’Neill (Tulsa, OK)
I started out in dogs in 1979, working for professional handler Debbie Goddard. Debbie and I specialized in Sighthounds, mostly Borzoi and Afghans. I also handled Terriers and did pretty well with my American Staffordshire Terriers for over 25 years. I got involved with Ibizans in the mid 1980s. My first Beezer was DC CH. Davallia’s Judge of Kings S’N’S who gained Top Ten honors with limited showing and was talented on the field.. Since that time I have seldom been without a Beezer in my life.
Obedience Judge
Mrs. Anna Lorenz (Elkhart Lake, WI ) 
I have been actively involved in the sport of obedience, as well as conformation, for over 30 years. I have earned High in Trial and High Combined awards, as well as over 50 working and performance titles on her Newfoundlands and Border Collies. I am active as an exhibitor in conformation, draft, water rescue, herding, rally and obedience, and has earned many Championships as well as Best in Show awards. I have been judging Companion Events for over 20 years and am also a Conformation Judge of multiple breeds.
“I recognize all the time, effort and heart people have put into training their dogs, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity see the unique relationship each team brings to the ring.”
I would like to thank the clubs for the honor of being chosen to judge at this prestigious event. I wish all the teams the satisfaction of bringing their best performance to the ring, and looking forward to an exciting, enjoyable competition.
Rally Judge
Charlotte Mielziner (St Charles, MO)
In over 28 years of training, writing about, speaking, judging and competing in canine sports, Charlotte Mielziner has garnered a long list of credentials. She has been the Dog Project Coordinator for 4H Clubs in St. Charles County for over twenty five years, teaching young handlers agility, obedience, showmanship, tricks, drill team, nosework, and rally. Among other writing projects, she is the Rally editor of the AKC USASA Journal She has earned multiple high scoring awards in Obedience and Rally. All in all, Charlotte considers herself lucky to get to take her dogs to work with her!
AKC Lure Coursing Judges
Julie Cramer (Elizabethtown, PA) I have loved and bred Rhodesian Ridgebacks for more than 20 years. I have bred generations of top ranked coursing RRs with the kennel name Benridge, and most recently Aggie was the 2020 #1 Rhodesian Ridgeback and #1 AKC Lure Coursing Sighthound. She has enjoyed training her versatile hounds, and has put advanced titles on many of them in Agility, Obedience and Rally, in addition to finishing them in Conformation. I am an AKC Lure Coursing judge, an AKC Breeder of Merit and an AKC CGC and Trick Dog Evaluator. I have served as a member of the RRCUS Performance Committee and as a National Specialty Chair, and recently joined my local all-breed club Board of Directors. With my husband, Doug Berlin, I also have enjoyed living with a silly white greyhound, Henry, and now two Basenjis. I am delighted by the uniqueness of sighthounds, and their hunting styles and histories.
Thank you for asking me to judge the Ibizan Specialty, I look forward to watching many great runs on the field!
- Dana Jensen (Lake Saint Louis, MO)
A native of North Texas, Dana Jensen first fell in love with Sighthounds in 1981 with her first junior handling partner, a black and tan Saluki. She proved an avid competitor in both juniors and the breed ring for many years before going onto college and acquiring her first Italian Greyhounds. Working with fellow IGs friends, she supported efforts in the 1990s to gain ASFA breed recognition for these diminutive hounds and found her way into full-fledged field sports. By the early 2000’s, Dana had found her true “breed identity” in Whippets. Breeding, showing, coursing and racing her dogs, she dove headlong into all activities Whippet and for over ten years, provided leadership for many local and national sighthound organizations as an Officer and/or Board Member. She first acquired her lure coursing judge’s license in 2005 and served from 2006-2010 as ASFA’s Recording Secretary. Some of the most satisfying opportunities Dana has enjoyed in dog sports include winning Best Opposite at the Eukanuba Championships in Tampa, FL with her first homebred/breeder-handled champion; organizing and hosting the 2009 ASFA II in Boswell, OK; assisting the Cirneco dell’Etna Club of America gain breed recognition with AKC and ASFA; bringing CWA Racing south and west of the Mason Dixon for the first time; and judging the 2021 ASFA I.I. in Cedar Falls, IA. In 2012, Dana was nominated for the AKC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in canine performance sports. She is honored to receive this invitation to judge for IHCUS’ National Specialty and looks forward to exciting and enjoyable Beezer performances.
ASFA Lure Coursing Judges
- Doug Berlin (Elizabeth, PA)
I was born into a home with a Rhodesian Ridgeback, sharing my first 15 years this wonderful breed. In graduate school I was fortunate to meet and marry my wife Julie, one of the most passionate dog lovers I’ve ever known. When we decided to get our first dog together, I naturally suggested a Ridgeback and she was sold. Over the past 20 years we’ve bred three litters with the Benridge kennel name and owned nine Ridgebacks, six of which have been ranked among the top ten coursers in the country. Last year, our Aggie was the #1 AKC Lure Coursing Sighthound. We’ve also had the joy of sharing our home and lives with a Greyhound and, most recently, two Basenjis. Julie and I started Lure Coursing almost twenty years ago, and I’ve been judging since 2009. In the past I’ve been fortunate to judge the Greyhound Club of America National Specialty, the NLCC, and other ASFA Regionals. What I love most about judging is standing out in the field and watching beautiful, athletic Sighthounds do what they naturally love to do. The biggest thrill is to find that hound that gives you the spectacular, stand-out run you’ve been looking for all day.
I want to thank the Ibizan Hound Club of the United States for this special opportunity to judge an outstanding field of hounds this weekend!
- Heather Minnich (Hudson, WY)
