The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show introduced two new breeds making their debut among the 187 that will be shown at the 137th event.

The Club welcomes the Treeing Walker Coonhound, which was bred to track and tree wild raccoons, and the Russell Terrier.

The energetic Treeing Walker Coonhound is perfectly suited for the task of tracking those wild raccoons. Developed from the Walker Foxhound, the Virginia Hounds, and the earliest English Foxhounds brought to America, the Treeing Walker is a fast, alert, hot-nosed hunter with superb endurance, treeing ability and the desire to perform. It has a clear, ringing bugle voice or a steady clear chop with changeover at the tree. Today's Treeing Walker retains the same color and similar conformation to the Walker Foxhound. The breed is intelligent, confident and sociable.

The Russell terrier is often referred to as a Jack Russell terrier, similar to the dog Eddie popularized on the television show 'Frasier' The taller Parson Russell — with a body more square than the Russell terrier — already is a part of Westminster.

The Russell Terrier is considered the ultimate working earth terrier due to their small size (10" to 12" tall) and unique chest. The hallmark of the breed is its small, oval-shaped, spannable, compressible chest, which allows them to hunt efficiently below ground, pulling, pushing and bending through tight turns and narrow tunnels. Their origin dates back to the 1800's in England where they were utilized for fox hunting and carried horseback in terrier bags. Pack hunters, they are non-confrontational, not a sparring breed. They are predominantly white with spots and come in three coats - smooth, broken, and rough. They are athletic, intelligent, and fiercely loyal.

Two new breeds will be strutting their stuff at America’s top dog show Feb. 11-12, 2013.  

Pet Pal TV's Patty Spitler and Paul Poteet will be at Westminster, thanks to our wonderful sponsors at Ambassadair.   Look for special reports on Pet Pals TV and on PetPalsTV.com