Do you know the breed of the first FEMA dog deployed to the rubble of the Oklahoma City bombing at the Murrah Building on April 19, 1995?

How about the first dog of any breed to earn an AKC Herding Trial Champion title?

As it happens, both were Belgian Tervurens. The FEMA dog was “Topper,” aka Snowflower Maine Topper, CDX) bred by Carmen Helgesen and owned by Pat Grant, DVM; we’re still trying to find the name of that first Herding Trial champion.

“Firsts” are a favorite topic of ours. The first to do anything is usually acknowledged in history books, if not the Guinness Book of Records. When it comes to dogs, however, early records of  “firsts” can be incomplete. Witnesses of the accomplishment either didn’t think it was noteworthy enough to record, or notes became lost or destroyed over time. As a rule, if we need to know something we’re not able to find on our own, we typically consult the AKC, but even it didn’t know the breeds, let alone names, of some of those “firsts.” Our source there agreed that it would be a great thing to know.

We don’t often post “clarion calls” on our website, but we’re doing it now. We don’t want to know which (fill in the breed) was the first to do something. We want to know who was the first dog of any breed to accomplishment something. It could be a performance title. It could be the breed of the first dog to find something, do something, be part of something, or go along for the ride.  We are fortunate in that our readers are experienced, savvy dog people who know stuff we don’t, so we’re inviting you to contact us with your knowledge of a “canine first” as long as it’s not something silly.  We’ll do the rest. Ultimately, we’d like to create a verifiable list of “firsts.”  Some “firsts” won’t be purebred dogs. The first dog to climb Mt. Everest is Rupee, a mixed breed. We want to know anyway if only to check off the accomplishment.

As an aside, you’ll be interested to know that in AKC History, Belgian Tervurens have been credited with other “firsts.” The breed was:

• The first single dog of any breed to earn the combined titles of Ch/UDT/OTCH and be a High In Trial obedience winner;
• The first single dog in the Herding Group (and 2nd all-breed) to win both Best In Show and High In Trial obedience at the same show;
• The first dog of any breed holding a Champion Tracker title to win a Best In Show.

And finally, we mix things by by mentioning that the first dog of any breed to earn an AKC advanced Herding title was CH Buzzards Red Tubs HX, an Australian Cattle Dog.

Image: Photo of Umberto Nobile and his dog Titina in 1926. Titina, a Fox Terrier, was the first dog to go to the North Pole. Photo from Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43552222

Belgian Tervuren,Australian Cattle Dog, FEMA, titles, firsts