Honored otterhound's owner vows to preserve breed
By ROB RYSER

THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 8, 2003)

YORKTOWN - Jake comes from that noble and rare line of pack hounds that distinguished itself running alongside English kings nine centuries ago during the great river otter hunts.

When Jake was judged the best otterhound in the country at the recent Westminster Dog Show, the honor was less about where Jake came from and more about where he is going.

Jake is one of only 17 registered otterhounds in the United States - the lowest number of any dog breed - and if not for the breeding efforts of his owners, Betsy Conway and Donna Emery of Yorktown, Jake's kind could be in serious danger.

"Endangered is the right word," said David Frei, Westminster's TV commentator for 14 years and director of media relations at the American Kennel Club. "They do have to worry about extinction if they allow the numbers to go down."

Although Conway said otterhounds will not die out in America as long as she's alive, she acknowledged the big, shaggy dogs are not ideal pets in most cases, which makes it a challenge to find homes.

"Most people want a dog that's going to listen to them, worship the ground they walk on and obey their command. An otterhound is an independent thinker," said Conway, 49. "You could be screaming for them to come, but if their minds and noses are on something else, too bad. They're gone."

With that kind of temperament, it's a wonder otterhounds win any points with dog show judges. In fact, when it comes to competitions against other hounds, like the sleek Afghan, they often don't.

But Jake is changing that. With three Best of Show honors under his collar and last year's ranking as the number 11 hound in the country, the 6-year-old is in his prime. He's already been in three states this year, accumulating show points, and is currently on tour.

His big win at Westminster last month was a boost for otterhounds, which last year had the smallest number of the 150 dog breeds registered by the American Kennel Club for the second year in a row.

Moreover, only one otterhound litter was born last year in the United States - to one of Jake's progenies in Yorktown.

"I told David Frei before Westminster that he had to tell people about this breed because if we don't get more people involved, it won't be around in 20 years," Conway said. "But you have to be careful what you ask for. In the last three weeks, we have had 75 requests for otterhound puppies."

It's no secret why otterhounds and similar pack hound breeds, such as the English foxhound, are so rare. Bred for a specific job that is no longer needed, they survive mainly as show dogs or as pets in homes where their baying bloodhound attributes are tolerated.

The otterhound's oily double coat, amazing skill at sniffing out scents in water and active temperament takes an owner willing not only to put up with a big, wet dog but one who will provide regular outdoor activities if the otterhound is to be happy.

Jake has just such a home. The dog show circuit is only part of his life. He enjoys seeing other otterhounds at competitions, but often could not care less about what goes on in the ring, Conway says.

At the house atop a hill in Croton Heights, where Jake lives with other otterhounds in training, there is also a floor-to-ceiling parrot cage, a large fish tank and cats.

Among the prints on the walls is a collection of otterhound hunt paintings, including one of a huntsman who has just skewered an otter at the end of a long harpoon-style staff as the shaggy dogs in the background howl.

"They hunted the otters because the otters were taking all the fish in the stream," Conway explained, noting that such hunts are banned in the United States, Canada and Britain, where otterhounds also live in low numbers.

The breed's only safety is the Otterhound Club of America and its president, Conway.

Although Conway says she feels the burden of the breed's future, she is not burned out. An insurance agent who got hooked into the dog show world in 1978, when the man who sold her a purebred bloodhound puppy required her to enter the dog in a show, she said she will remain a breeder even if she backs out of the competition circuit.