FORT LORAMIE — There’s a new grand champion in Fort Loramie.
She’s not a volleyball player or a cross country runner — although she does love to dash across a field. Her name is GCH VIOLA! Justified Vanity of Moppet, but she’s known by her call name, Storm.
She is one of three dogs who live with three horses, five cats and Kathy and Matt Burks near Fort Loramie.
Storm is a briard, an ancient French breed dating as far back as the eighth century and long the official breed of the French Army. The 3-year-old canine has been a star in the show ring since she was 6 months old.
“She gained her championship title in 2016,” Kathy Burks said. “This title is earned by competing against other briard show dogs. It is judged solely on the conformation and movement of the dogs.”
The American Kennel Club sets measurements and other criteria that show dogs must conform to. Championships are based on how well they conform and how well they behave and perform in the show ring compared to other dogs.
Once Storm had championship status, she began to compete only against dogs who also had championship status.
“You have to beat the best out there. You have to go to big shows and get big wins,” Burks said. Each win gave Storm points. It was a win in early June at the Toledo Kennel Club Dog Show that put her over the top.
“Earning the grand championship title is indeed an accomplishment. Unlike earning the champion title, dogs that have earned the grand champion title have defeated at least one other champion at three separate shows,” said Gabrielle LaRoche, of Port Townsend, Washington, president of the Briard Club of America Inc. “Since the beginning of 2017, nine briards have attained the title of grand champion.”
Showing a winning animal is not new to Burks.
The Russia native, who owns and operates a dog grooming and training business, got her start in the show ring at the Shelby County Fair with somewhat larger animals — horses. She enjoyed many years of showing horses in 4-H, but she switched to dogs when she got to college.
“A dog fits in your apartment,” Burks laughed.
Her first ones were shih tzus, but her twin sister, Karol Paulus, of Dayton, who is a co-owner of Storm, has trained briards for years and talked Burks “into the breed,” she said.
“We continued to show (Storm) against other briard champions. She has been very successful against the top dogs in this breed and won enough (points) to complete her grand championship title,” Burks said. “Only a handful of briards in the entire country have this title this year. It’s a high honor and we are very proud of her.”
Some award-winning dogs are bred by one person, trained by another, groomed by a third and handled in the ring by a fourth. Storm was bred in Columbus, but once Burks had purchased her, she became “our companion, out entertainment and our baby girl,” her owner said.
Burks is Storm’s groomer and trainer. She also handles her in regional shows. In national competitions, “I do all the behind the scenes stuff, grooming, prepping, training,” Burks said. Professional handler Christy Collins, of Emmett, Michigan, takes over the handling chores.
“She only has a few dogs. I don’t want my dog riding to a show in the back of a truck. Some big handlers have 40 or more dogs. That’s not for me or my dog,” Burks said.
Storm will compete in obedience classes as well as confirmation classes in August at the Briard National Specialty show near Chicago. Paulus will handle her there.
“Karol has had several of the top obedience-titled briards in the county. Storm loves obedience work and we are excited to watch their success in the show ring. This will be (Storm’s) obedience debut. She’s been training for over a year,” Burks said. It’s rare for a dog to be proficient in both obedience and confirmation.
Storm will also travel to the Royal Canine show in Florida to show in confirmation in December.
“(She’s) been successful there the last two years,” Burks said. Entering the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City in February is a possiblity.
“It’s the highest level of showing there is,” the trainer noted. “To compete at this level, a lot goes into a winning show dog. Constant socialization with a lot of dogs and people; grooming … is a daily obligation; training at home and at the kennel clubs; exercise to keep in peak condition. (At shows) we enjoy all of the other briard-fanciers that also love this rare breed. Sometimes they’re from all over the country and sometimes, from all over the world.”
When she’s not strutting her stuff in major arenas across the U.S., Storm likes to hang out in her rural Fort Loramie front yard. A natural herder, she enjoys corralling the Burks’s horses and is even good at herding cats.
“She tries to herd us, too,” Burks said. “She has tons of energy, loves to play, loves to be around people. She has a lovely temperament. Storm is not just a top-winning briard. She is a goofball and a lot of fun.”
