Growing Up With an Otterhound by Barb Follett

I grew up without a dog. My mom’s last Afghan Hound died when I was 2, I was far too young to remember her. When I was 9, all of my friends were getting puppies, training them, joining 4-H clubs. All I wanted was a puppy, a hound of my own. There’s something noble about hounds, their diligent noses and sturdy tails held high. The idea of a rescue dog appealed to me, giving a home to a dog who’d never known one before. I found the perfect dog on Petfinder, but she was in West Virginia. “That’s too far to drive for a mutt”, my mom insisted. But still, I wanted her. After enough of my annoying, my mom reached out to her friend who worked for the local animal shelter. He told her all about the most wonderful puppy who’d just came in. My parents took me out of school early one day and brought me to the shelter. We walked the aisles of kennels. In the very last one was the dog from West Virginia. How that came to be solely by chance, I’ll never know, but we didn’t go home without her.
“Jewel” turned out to be a fabulous obedience dog, but when it came to 4-H junior showmanship, she lacked the competitive edge of the kids with purebred dogs. So, I had to go back to the drawing board and find myself a purebred dog. I stumbled across the otterhound on the AKC website. They were perfect. My mom was mortified.
My mom was sure that if I met an otterhound that I’d find the big, hairy, bearded hounds a little repulsive. So, she brought me to the 2010 Westminster Kennel Club dog show. I was in the crate with the biggest male Otterhound by the time benching was over. It backfired on my mom. I was in love; she was even more mortified.
We were on a few waiting lists. We waited patiently for an otterhound bitch. In June, Pumpkin joined our family. 4-H taught the both of us how to show. A year went by until we realized that Pumpkin could enter an AKC show. We entered our first weekend. I was still very much a novice, I didn’t even know I had to hold her tail! Pumpkin was the only otterhound. We advanced to the group. By Sunday, I knew not to expect anything in the group. I had Pumpkin stacked in the lineup. The judge pointed at me to be his Group 3rd. I stood in front of the sign and teared up. The judge looked at me and said, “Shouldn’t you be happy?”. I was hooked. We accumulated a few more group placements that year. Pumpkin finished the year as the number 1 otterhound bitch all breed and we had never even shown against another Otterhound.
Eventually we found the points to finish Pumpkin. My next goal was finding a suitable male to breed her to. I studied pedigrees hard and made my selection. Pumpkin had a litter of 9 beautiful puppies. I kept a girl from that litter. Four Pillars Otterhounds had begun.
A year later, we decided to breed Pumpkin again. I decided I wanted to breed in a totally different direction from my first litter. There was a woman who had always been kind to me who had dogs that were entirely different in pedigree from Pumpkin, which is difficult with such a small gene pool. Her dogs were English in type and all of her stock was imported. I hadn’t seen her dogs in well over a year and knew the risks of an outcross, but I went ahead and contacted her anyways. “Teri, I’d like to breed Pumpkin to one of your boys,” I asked meekly. “Well, I don’t have anything against you,” she retorted. She drove up and we did the breeding. We became fast friends. I called her everyday to chat with her about otterhounds and life in general. Before I knew it, she was my best friend. Pumpkin had 10 healthy babies. She came up and helped me evaluate puppies and 2 ended up staying. The girl, Cammy, turned into my heart dog.
Teri had been sick for a long time and she wasn’t getting better. She came up a couple times to see the pups and we continued to talk for hours everyday. She passed away shortly after the pups were old enough to show. The dogs that were my whole world somehow became even more important to me.
Cammy is the love of my life. Sometimes when a dog is that special to you, you don’t realize how outstanding that dog could be. She began to get more and more recognition, winning the breed from the classes over specials and making cuts in strong groups. Eventually making the cuts turned into placing in the groups.
The 2017 National Specialty was nearby and I could get off of school, so I entered Cammy. She started off the weekend winning the breed at the regional and a Group 2. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this. The next day she goes Opposite which is still far more than I ever expected. The day after is the National. I was terrified. Cam and I not only win the National, we go on to win our first Hound Group and then our first All Breed Best in Show. The next day we win the breed and the group as well. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect my best friend and I to be recognized on such a scale.
I learned more that weekend than ever before in my life. It was also the first time I truly got to meet the wonderful late Peter Smith, who opened so many doors for me.
Cammy and I have traveled the world together showing. She became the first American bred and owned otterhound to compete at Crufts. As I write this, we’re traveling the US together in an RV.
I’ve learned I can never expect anything. Never expect a win, never expect to get a great dog, never expect a friendship, and to never expect the opportunities which arise. Hard work, passion, and dedication can take you farther than you can ever imagine. Find what you love, learn from the best and although it won’t come easily, never lose sight of why you do it.