No Hamiltonstovare at Westminster
Hamiltonstovare aren’t eligible to compete at Westminster, plain and simple. The reasons why are a bit more complex. The main reason is that Hamiltonstovare aren’t fully recognized by the American Kennel Club. The road to full recognition is a numbers game, the first stage is Foundation Stock Service which is where the Hamiltonstovare are. After there are over 150 Hamiltonstovare registered with the Foundation Stock Service then the Hamiltonstovare Club of America can petition to the AKC to progress to the Miscellaneous class. After over 450 Hamiltonstovare are registered with the Foundation Stock Service and the Hamiltonstovare Club of America writes an approved breed standard in the AKC format, then the Hamiltonstovare Club of America can petition to move to fully recognized. So if you own a Hamiltonstovare, please register it with the AKC as each and every dog even in other countries helps.
Now the Westminster Kennel Club could host an AKC Open Show which would allow all FSS and Miscellaneous breeds to compete. I have requested this multiple times as it would be an instant boost to all rare breeds struggling for full AKC recognition. The Westminster Kennel Club never responded to my multiple requests, ever. The Westminster Kennel Club does host Meet the Breeds where Hamiltonstovare can participate but logistically, it is incredibly difficult to attend for just one day and not get even a chance to compete and it is very discouraging to the general public who ask over and over at the booth to see the breed compete and we have to constantly say that we can’t.
Hamiltonstovare are eligible to compete in the agility competition and as of 2018, the Junior Showmanship competition. Hopefully FSS breeds will be able to compete and hopefully the breed will advance because it is my goal to compete on the green carpet with a Hamiltonstovare.