America's top dog show is ready to welcome two new breeds this year.  Two weeks before the start of the Westminster Kennel Club show at Madison Square Garden, a pair of Treeing Walker Coonhounds were introduced today at a hotel across from the arena. 

There will be 187 different breeds and varieties represented at the 137th Westminster event, but this breed might be the talk of the show.  

The treeing Walker coonhound looks like a large beagle. It gets its name for the way it chases raccoons up trees.  More than 2,700 dogs will compete starting Feb. 11 for the title of best in show.  These hounds are affectionate as family pets and enjoy living indoors, but they were bred for a life of action, and require a great deal of outdoor exercise.

Treeing Walker Coonhounds are loving, intelligent, confident, and enjoy interacting with humans. They make a splendid companion dog for an owner who understands the characteristics of the breed and is willing to work with their in-bred nature as a hunting dog. On the scent, they are tireless, alert, and intense. At home; they are mellow, sensitive lovers of comfort. They like having their own kennel or other space into which they can retreat at will, if provided with pillows and blankets, as they love to nest. Owners have noted that "getting a Walker hound out of a bed, off a couch or away from a fireplace will be a feat in itself."

                                                             

 

Treeing Walker Coonhounds get along exceptionally well with other dogs and with children. Like most hounds, they are even-tempered and difficult to annoy or drive into aggression towards people or fellow dogs. With careful introduction, they will even live in happy harmony with the family cat, despite their nature as a small-game hunter. They are very energetic when young, and some people can be alarmed by their tendency to stand up on their hind legs to pursue their curiosity or to bark urgently out of a desire to meet a new dog.