Flare For Something Rare!

In a third world country like the Philippines, we only have about 20 to 25 percent of the different dog breeds and varieties. Let alone, we don't even have a National registered dog breed of our own. Of course, we, Filipinos all know about the "Askals" short for "asong kalye" (literally translated means stray dogs). Not all of them are stray dogs of course but these dogs are identifiable. They come in different colors, coat types and medium to small in size. They probably are the only strain that can eat chicken or fish bones without getting choked or ulcerations in their intestines which is actually quite amazing. Our "Askals" are intelligent, trainable and quite protective, quite wary of strangers. The "Askals" do have a tendency to bark incessantly. They are very adaptable and highly active given the chance.

The Chinese Shar-Pei was once featured in Life Magazine as one of the World's Rarest dogs back in the 70's. While it is now one of the more popular ones conquering the charts, in the minds of people, the CSP is still a rarity.

The Chinese Shar-Pei gave birth to Cob Kennels, "Cobi", an unregistered Chinese Shar-Pei started it all! While we at Cob have slowly shifted to the Herding Breeds, there will always be a special place in our hearts for this "clown of dogdom".

While we are presently concentrating in breeding Australian Shepherds, we are still in the process of selection and have kept 90 percent of what we have bred so far so as not to commit the same mistakes we have made with the previous breeds.

It is sad that almost all countries have their own dog. We, Filipinos import purebreds and just suffice with the ones we've bred and call them Philippine-Bred instead. Not only that, not too many of the local borns or the ones bred by us get top awards. It goes without saying that the Filipinos' colonial mentality even stems out to the local dog scene. Anything imported is better, or so we were taught in terms of apples instead of sineguelas. Afflicted with "keeping up with the Joneses syndrome" too, even with the economic crisis, the statistics of imported dogs month by month just keeps going up. Man by nature is competitive. And in the dog show ring, we witness this all the time. The Purebred Dog Sport is supposedly a gentleman's sport but hey! We see bitchin', barkin' and bitin' all the time. Some end not only in brawls but in lawsuits as well. And yes, there were cases of harassments to certain extents. We seem to forget what dog shows were meant to be, for fun and it's all about camaraderie! It's also promoting the dog, the dog who offers his loyalty and companionship. A model for us to follow!

And that is why, we at Cob chose to stay irreverently away from the maddening crowd of the popular breeds. A flare for something rare, we pioneer breeds and if possible properly promote its characteristics that came with the package. It's the easy way like there are no neck-to-neck battles in class competitions. Best of Breed awards are usual but not necessarily less meaningful for what it boils down to, the dog that does not meet the standard, the judge has all the right to refuse to give the award. Nevertheless, our dogs win over the popular or sometimes win over the most expensive ones. And what matters is that we have more friends than enemies. That alone is an award itself.