In order to confidently evaluate any dog, you must have experience and intimate knowledge of his breed. This should enable you to decide whether the dog is just a nice specimen or an outstanding example that should be used in an extensive breeding program. This background information stored in your own personal computer (your brain) […]

n 1897, when two Newfoundland puppies, Canton and Sailor, were rescued from a shipwreck off the Maryland coast, the heritage of the Chesapeake Water Dogs began. Hunting season on the Chesapeake Bay is cold and stormy, with icy winds and strong tides. The sportsmen needed a tough retriever who could brave the bay’s freezing waters […]

“Times Past,” AKC Gazette: In the mid-1950s, industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and his wife, the former Alyce Chester (Aly or Ale to her friends), adopted Manalua Bay, Hawaii, as their home. A 1960 Time magazine article described their beachfront palace, and the kennel built to house their Alekai Poodles: “In true Kaiser style, even his […]

The magnificent snow-white standard Poodle Ch. Puttencove Promise was whelped in 1955 and won Best in Show at Westminster three years later. He was the turning point for the standard Poodle as we know the breed today, a bridge from the working water dogs of the past who brought the breed into the present. Because he was […]

Standard Poodle Ch. Blakeen Jung Frau was from the famous line of Poodles owned by Hayes Blake Hoyt, a woman who lived the word “elegant” in and out of the show ring. Jung Frau’s breeding was impeccable. Her father was legendary Swiss import Duc, 1935’s Westminster winner. In 62 shows entered, Jung Frau won the breed […]

  Looking at these ragamuffin little dogs, you have to ask yourself, why on earth would anyone consider a Löwchen? They have a funny clip, which certainly defines the breed and which we, as breeders, love—but to the general public who keep them in a typical puppy clip, they really don’t look like what people […]

This is an excerpt from Bo Bengtson’s 1994 AKC Gazette profile of photographer Joan Ludwig, who reigned for a half century as the acknowledged West Coast master of canine photography: If it’s true that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, then Joan Ludwig has spoken more to the dog fancy than almost […]

Not a lot has changed regarding the fear and myths surrounding canine epilepsy since the first person observed seizing dogs when animal/human cohabitation started. Throughout history, thousands of people suffering from epilepsy have been killed because they were thought to be possessed by the devil. Sadly, despite all the scientific improvement and understanding of this […]

Thanks to technological advances and a robust economy in the years following the second world war, the modern media took off like a rocket—and the Westminster Kennel Club dog show took off with it. Of course, the big event at Madison Square Garden had been America’s most prestigious dog show since it began in 1877. […]

Monday, March 30 Welsh Springer Spaniel Tuesday, March 31 Belgian Laekenois Wednesday, April 1 Ibizan Hound Thursday, April 2 Puli Friday April 3 Airedale Terrier Monday, April 6 Sloughi Tuesday, April 7 Affenpinscher Wednesday, April 8 Lagotto Romagnolo Thursday, April 9 Rottweiler Monday, April 13 Finnish Spitz Tuesday, April 14 Welsh Terrier Wednesday, April 15 […]