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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Three new breeds are ready
to run with Westminster pack
A card player
studies her
hand during a
bridge game at
a restaurant in
St. Paul, Minn.
Jean Pieri
Pioneer Press
By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A win-
some but hardworking Hun-
garian herding dog, a swift
and ancient African hound and
a playful, fur-free terrier are
about to get their first shot at
the most famous U.S. canine
championship.
The pumi, the sloughi and
the American hairless ter-
rier will be newcomers at this
month’s Westminster Kennel
Club dog show, competing
among as many as 202 breeds
and varieties for the coveted
best in show award.
More than 2,800 dogs are
expected at the show, set for
Feb. 11, 13 and 14. Besides
the traditional breed judg-
ing, it has added agility and
obedience competitions and
a non-competitive “meet the
breeds” event in recent years.
This year’s “meet the
breeds” even will include
some really rare breeds for
a dog show: pedigreed cats.
Felines were featured when
the event was held separately
from Westminster a few years
ago, but their return this year
gives them a chance to share
the spotlight of the 140-year-
old dog show.
“The club has maintained
its traditions while expand-
ing to accommodate an
ever-changing,
dog-loving
public,” Westminster spokes-
woman Gail Miller Bisher
said at a Madison Square Gar-
den news conference Monday
previewing the show.
This year’s new breeds
vary from the American hair-
less terrier, a compact canine
developed in the American
South in the 1970s, to the
lanky sloughi, which dates
back thousands of years in
North Africa, according to its
fanciers.
Then there’s the pumi (pro-
nounced POOM’-ee), which
has a “whimsical expression”
built right into the standards,
Games, crafts and
other activities may
safeguard aging brain
By LINDSEY TANNER
Associated Press
AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews
Candy, 2, left, Rodney, 7, center, and Johnny, 2, three American hairless terrier breeds
owned by Virginia’s Sue Medhurst are shown at a news conference on Monday in New
York. The dogs are among three new breeds competing in the Westminster Kennel Club
Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
LEFT: Toby, 5, left, and Izzy, 4, both sloughi breed from Illinois owners, are pictured Mon-
day in New York. RIGHT: Zsa Zsa, a pumi breed owned by Nancy Nelson from Norwalk,
Conn., is shown at a press conference, Monday in New York.
or official judging guide-
lines, for the bushy-coated,
curly-tailed, big-eared breed.
Owners hear “your dog’s so
CUTE!” so often that they’ve
turned it into an acronym.
“We say they’re ‘Curious,’
‘Unique,’ ‘Tenacious’ and
‘Energetic,”’ Nancy Nelson of
Norwalk, Connecticut, said as
her 5-year-old pumi, Zsa Zsa,
lent a paw to the gathering.
But prospective owners
need to consider that the pumi,
originally bred to herd cattle
and other animals, needs more
activity than simple walks,
Nelson said.
The sloughi (pronounced
(SLOO’-ghee), or Arabian
greyhound, is also an athletic
dog, with a history of hunt-
ing game as big as gazelles.
Sloughis retain a yen for chas-
ing yard animals and often are
shy with strangers, but they
bond closely with their human
families as pets, says owner
Julie tenBensel of Boling-
brook, Illinois.
CHICAGO — Even in
your 70s and beyond, sim-
ple activities including
web-surfing, playing bridge
and socializing can stave off
mental decline, new research
says.
Benefits were greatest in
computer users and in those
without a gene variation
linked with Alzheimer’s dis-
ease. But even among seniors
with that trait, mental decline
that sometimes precedes
dementia was less common
among those who engaged in
mind-stimulating activities.
The results don’t apply to
costly, computer-based games
that purport to keep the brain
sharp — those were not stud-
ied. The benefits were found
from activities that many
seniors have access to.
“They don’t have to spend
their life savings” on fancy
gadgets, said Dr. Yonas Geda,
the study’s senior author and
a neurologist at the Mayo
Clinic’s Scottsdale, Arizona,
campus.
The study was published
Monday in the journal JAMA
Neurology. The researchers
noted that the statistical link
they found with reduced risk
does not prove the activities
were responsible.
Still, said Heather Sny-
der of the Alzheimer’s Asso-
ciation, the results support
the idea that “being engaged
mentally is good for brain
health.”
The study looked at five
types of activities that are
ONLINE
Journal: http://bit.ly/2kMWXuN
thought to help keep the mind
sharp: computer use; mak-
ing crafts; playing games
including chess or bridge;
going to movies or other
types of socializing; and read-
ing books. The idea was to
see if these activities could
help prevent mild cognitive
impairment. That condition
involves problems with mem-
ory, thinking and attention
that don’t interfere much with
daily life but which increase
risks for developing Alzhei-
mer’s disease and other types
of dementia.
Almost 2,000 adults aged
70 to 93 without any memory
problems participated. They
lived in Minnesota’s Olm-
sted County, where the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester is located.
They were asked whether
they had engaged in any of
the five activities during the
previous year and if so, how
often. They were tested for
the condition in mental exams
at the beginning and every 15
months for about four years.
During that time, 456 study
participants developed the
mild impairment.
Analysis found a protec-
tive effect from each activ-
ity except for reading books.
Study participants who
engaged in any of the other
activities at least once weekly
were 20 percent to 30 percent
less likely to develop the con-
dition over the four years than
those who never did those
activities.
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