Ground Zero

At the end of every year the dog world watches with baited breath, in the USA anyway, to see which dogs make the top ranks of each breed. Zero's year was last year when he made it to the #2 Ridgeback in the USA and #1 male Ridgeback, beaten only by his half sister Fiona. This year I wasn't really paying attention because he wasn't being shown much although the shows he attended had some pretty big wins attached to them.

He started with a Regional Specialty win, then hit a few shows here and there for several months, geared up for the RRCUS National Specialty, won an Award of Merit which doesn't count toward any point system, and then won another Regional Speciality in October. I would check in once in a while to see where he stood in the overall rankings and note that he was comfortably in the top 20 Ridgebacks in the USA. I was happy with that because there are a lot of Ridgebacks being shown America and in just a few shows he'd managed to keep his foot in the door.

I checked in December and saw he was the #11 Ridgeback and after looking at the positions of other dogs I realized it was unlikely he'd move up any. Then, at the end of the year, Erin sent me an email showing where Zero ranked. He was #10. He'd been to a show in early December and won a mere 40 points but it was enough to bump him up and put him in the Top Ten Ridgebacks for the third year in a row.

The interesting thing about the numbers is not necessarily the total number of points, but how many wins it took him to accumulate them. I find statistics interesting because it can show relative success or failure rates among any group. Something that looks successful on the surface might not actually be so based upon the statistics gathered.  However, looking at Zero's numbers certainly puts him in a very good position of statistical success. There he is, highlighted at number 10.

Rank	Name	Sex	BOB/V	Defeated
1	GCH CH Whirlaways Ida Belle's A Ringing	B	112	1,757
2	GCH CH Diablo's Dark Knight's Nemesis	D	60	1,614
3	GCH CH Camelot's Red Hot Tamale	B	38	948
4	GCH CH Camelot's Ventura Adventure	D	85	937
5	GCH CH Raquel Welch Of Malabo Apd	B	55	922
6	GCH CH Spring Valley's Always There	D	69	852
7	GCH CH Kimani's Time Honored	B	30	755
8	GCH CH Spurridge's Axl Of Lionridge	D	40	659
9	GCH CH Vyrtuous Command Performance SC	D	30	642
10	GCH CH Invictus Nightmare Before Xmas JC	D	13	471
11	GCH CH Bakari's Lor Vitra Caymus CGC	D	34	450
12	GCH CH Zareba's Baddest Bess	B	39	431
13	GCH CH Sulawesi's Scene Stealer	B	25	374
14	GCH CH Kuluta Along The Watchtower	D	22	333
15	GCH CH Lafleur's Big Mack Attack	D	4	323
16	GCH CH Sunsweetened Eye Candy By Copperridge	D	25	270
17	GCH CH Uwanja's Raatum JC	D	19	260
18	GCH CH Raviro Chiposhi Remington Rimfire	D	15	256
19	GCH CH Wayamba's Heaven Sent De Soleil	D	34	238
20	GCH CH Roccridge's Heart Of Texas RN	D	16	225

These are official American Kennel Club final rankings. The columns are as follows: far left is the dog's rank, then their registered name, then their sex (D: dog B: bitch), then the number of Best of Breed wins and then the total number of dogs defeated. In the top 10 Zero has less than half the number of breed wins and among the top 20 he is second only to the dog who won the National Specialty (totalling about 300 dog entered).

What this shows is that Zero's Best of Breed wins came at shows with large entries. At least 2 of the shows he earned over 100 points. And just to be clear, he wasn't taken to show after show and only won 13 times, he was taken to less than 20 shows and won breed most of the time - this was his 'semi-retirement' year. I'm sure Erin didn't expect another year in the top 10 but it's nice just the same.

And Zero is making his mark across not just the USA where he has several litters anticipated, on the ground, and in the ring - he is also catching international attention. He was bred last year to a Brazilian bitch from Malabo APD (a top ranking kennel here and there) and his puppies are doing extremely well in South America. He's also had requests from Europe and hopefully this year there will be Zero babies on the other side of the Atlantic. I like to think he's improving Ridgebacks on 3 continents!

Zero, as a sire, has proven to be outstanding. He has incredible motility, is producing large litters, few ridgeless, and he stamps every puppy, no matter who he's bred to, with his quality. It is easy to see why he is becoming more and more popular. It is not easy managing a stud, you really have to know what you're doing and to be able to say no when it's necessary. Recently Erin said "It sure would be nice if having a stud dog meant making some money....but you know how that goes." Indiscriminate breeding by some popular studs has resulted in gene pools being awash with health, structure or temperament issues that plague some breeds for decades. This means it's doubly important to know what you're doing when you have a breed that can produce 10 or more puppies at a time. I am happy to know Zero's genetics are safe in Erin's experienced and discriminate hands.

So there we have it, another successful year for Zero who will rest on his laurels and watch the young up and comers have their turn. I know Erin has big plans in the coming year and I look forward to seeing who she takes to the top next!