Page 18 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2026

COAST NOTE
Best of BREED
Elle Earns Her Spotlight
story by Lynn Lofton
photos courtesy of Janet and Allan Baker
Some dogs are not just family pets, they’re also show winners. Such is the case with Elle, a Berger Picard, owned by Janet and Allan Baker. Elle is part of an ancient French sheep herding breed with Berger Picard pronounced berh- ZHAY pea-Carr.
Recently, Elle was the number-one ranked Berger Picard in the nation for 2025. She won Best of Breed at the National Dog Show in Philadelphia last November, and on February 2 won Best of Breed at Westminster Kennel Club. She is an AKC Grand Champion.
“She was invited to enter, which is an honor,” Janet Baker says. “She retired at Westminster, so that was her last show.” However, the Bakers own two other Berger Picards so possible other champions are in their future.
The Berger Picard or Picardy Shepherd, is a French herding dog originating in Picardy. These dogs nearly became extinct after both World War I and World War II and remain a rare breed. They are known for being loyal, loving, and good with children they’re raised with, but they are high-energy herding dogs that need extensive exercise, training, and socialization to manage their protective instincts and potential prey drive, making them best suited for active, experienced owners rather than novice ones, according to the American Kennel Club.
That explains Baker’s comments about Elle’s love of sports. “Elle’s true joy is sports! She runs FastCat and does coursing, Frisbee and tennis balls. She learned to retrieve watching a lovely English Lab train next door and basically insisted I teach her to do everything the Lab, Annie, does,” she said.
The Bakers have had Elle since she was eight weeks old and she celebrated her fourth birthday in March. “All
of her training was through the Mississippi Gulf Coast Kennel Club,” Baker said. “She started there at 12 weeks in a puppy training class, earned her Canine Good Citizen designation (a pre-courser to becoming a therapy dog), a Trick Dog title, and lots of show training.”
18 | April 2026
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