News From the US

 It has been a while since I have updated the DCC on our efforts to increase the popularity of the Dutch variety in the US. There are now at least 10 US breeders raising Dutch, which is double the number we had before we started this effort. Our group now includes ACBA judge and Hall of Fame member, Carol Sandler from California and ACBA judge and district director, Rochelle Cooley from Missouri. Sadly, long-time Dutch breeder, Terry Lee from Michigan was forced to sell out for health reasons. Caroline Lewis, Anthony Heigter from Ohio who is new to our group, and Nancy Laity took all of her Dutch stock and will continue her line.

 The biggest news is that DCC member Kevin Burke in Iowa won BIS with an intermediate black Dutch sow at The Barn Show in Minnesota in June 2010. This sow was littered by Roy Colver out of Nancy Laity's imported black Dutch stock. Her parents are a Treleaver sow and a Goldsworthy boar. This is the first time in anyone's memory that a Dutch has taken BIS at an open show. The judge was Robert Spitzer, JACBA editor. We have been getting our showable Dutch out to many shows this year. The Dutch had become so rare at shows that some US judges have never judged a Dutch. ACBA judge Tracy Iverson gave an excellent judges' seminar on judging Dutch last November at the ARBA National Convention Show. Increasing interest in the Dutch can be attributed to the improvement in the Dutch markings and the greater number of showable Dutch in our litters. Importing the Dutch from England has been a huge benefit to our efforts. The imports are producing very well for us and they are allowing us to provide new breeders with showables and high quality breeding stock to get started. The key to our success is that we are breeding English Dutch from hundreds of generations of Dutch instead of from US Dutch that happened to pop out of bi-colour litters. We will forever be indebted to the generosity of DCC members who provided us with the imports to bring to the US. 

 November 7-11th is the 2010 ARBA National Convention Show in Minnesota, and 3 Dutch breeders will be showing. The winner will take home the Teri Leach Memorial Award for Best of Variety Dutch. Last year, that award was won by Ch. Treleaver Ruby, owned by Nancy Laity. The fall issue of the Journal of the American Cavy Breeders Association (JACBA) will be published in a few weeks and will include a feature section on American Dutch. Editor, Robert Spitzer graciously is allowing us this opportunity to publicize many aspects of raising and judging Dutch. We are hoping that we will increase the awareness and gain the interest of more US breeders, and some will join us raising and showing Dutch. Allan Trigg has been very helpful by contributing articles from the UK and also being the primary contributor to the judging article. We know that Allan is quite famous in the cavy fancy in the UK, and now he will become well-known among Dutch breeders in the US as well. We will be sending several copies of the Fall 2010 JACBA to the UK, and hopefully everyone who is interested will get a chance to read it.

Nancy Laity

 Here is a photo of DCC member Kevin Burke, judge Robert Spitzer and Kevin's BIS black Dutch intermediate sow from the River Valley Cavy Fanciers Barn Show on 12 June 2010. Kevin lives in Iowa and the show took place in Minnesota. The photo is posted on their website at rvcf.web.com 

The four Dutch in the photos are showable sows, Blue Water Apple, Apricot, Angelica, and Arien, born August 2010. Apple and Aprico are littermates from Allanbury Twiggy, Angelica is from Razzamatazz Daisy, and Arien is from Blue Water Amelle. All four sows are sired by Razzamatazz Blitzen (Celandine X Charlock) from Chris Peachey.