Lots of Harrison students have dogs, but senior Hannah Cable goes far beyond most: she wins national awards with her dogs. This year, after 6 years of work, Hannah Cable recently won the Senior Division Bench Show National Championship for the United Kennel Club.
There are many types of dog shows, but the one Hannah is involved in is a competition where Coonhound dogs and their owners compete against each other. The dogs and their owners are judged by their physical perfection based on the breed standards, agility, tracking, obedience, and herding. Hannah was in youth nationals. The awards given at this competition are Senior Division Nite Hunt National Champion, Junior Division Nite Hunt National Champion, Senior Division Bench Show National Champion, and Junior Division Bench Show National Champion.
The type of dogs Hannah owns, breeds, and shows are called Coonhounds. There are many types of Coonhounds and Hannah has two breeds of Coonhounds. First she has 2 Plott hounds, The Mid-Nite Gambler and Saddle up Joe. She also has a Treeing-walker Elvis. The Mid-Nite Gambler is the dog that Hannah won with. He is the dog that she shows the most and has won many shows with. The Mid-Nite Gambler, Gambler for short, is 5 years old.
Hannah comes from a long line of dog breeders and showers; 4 generations! Hannah explained that, “My mom takes me to the shows and helps me hold dogs and walk them and is one of my biggest supporters. As far as working them and grooming them, that’s all on me.” She also loves to travel so she can find new places and see new things. The farthest that Hannah and her mom have traveled for a show is Oklahoma. The championship that Hannah just recently won was in Iowa!
Hannah Cable shared, “The hardest part of showing for me is staying calm in the show ring. If I’m not calm, it goes right down the lead to my dog. This can cause so many issues in the ring. It can lead to dogs acting out, not cooperating, and in a lot of cases this can lead to you losing.” Although that stresses her out, she still loves to participate in the events.
Hannah’s favorite parts of the dog shows are conformation and gaiting. Conformation is when a dog is being measured by how closely they conform to the standard of their particular breed, while gaiting dogs must move around the ring or up and back on the diagonal mat. The dog’s attention must be on where it’s going, yet it must be aware at all times of where the handler is and how fast the handler is going.
The next time you are trying to get your dog to sit or not chase squirrels on a walk, tell your pet about Hannah Cable and her nationally award winning dogs and see if it makes them shape up.
