I knew of Denny long before I ever met her as she was a legend in the German Shepherd breed as a great handler and a successful breeder.” She and her husband Les reared their family (David and Peter) in the mid-west and no matter where she went she carried a strong and true Midwest demeanor. In dogs she didn’t shoot from the hip on anything. She told it like it was and never gave it a second thought if she believed in what needed to be said.
The history of the Drentsche Patrijshond can be traced back to the 16th century. Inventing of the gun meant a pointing dog was needed.
Many stories describing the history of a breed proudly start with: “This breed was known in Roman times” or “The ancestors of this breed can be seen on Egyptian tombs.” We could start the history of the Kromfohrländer with: “This breed is by far the youngest breed in Germany” or “This breed is the result of a meeting between two neighboring dogs shortly after the Second World War.” And indeed this breed is the result of a chance hit with two leading actors, a French pointing dog – probably a Grand Griffon Vendéen – and ‘Fiffi’, a black-and-white female Fox Terrier without a pedigree. It is not sure whether the Griffon was purebred or not. If nothing had happened afterward, the puppies would just have been mongrels, and if they were lucky, they might have found good homes. End of story.
The original Morris & Essex Kennel Club Dog Show was the realization of one extraordinary woman’s vision. Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge set a standard for shows in the first half of the twentieth century. She had the influence and resources to craft a show to her own specifications. However, when Mrs. Dodge could no longer orchestrate the show, Morris & Essex ended. Only memories remained and a treasure trove of catalogs, pictures and memorabilia were forgotten in an attic at St. Hubert’s Giralda, the shelter established on Mrs. Dodge’s Madison, New Jersey estate after her death.
Showing dogs today is rarely glamorous. Aside from the moments in the ring and a chance to catch up with friends, there’s a lot of back-breaking work and too little time. Too often, exhibitors leave a show with no idea of what happened in the groups, much less which dog went Best In Show. It’s understandable – most dog fanciers have jobs, families and responsibilities waiting for them at home. And most have never experienced the grandeur and scope of the great dog shows of the past.
This article contains thirteen questions asked of three men who took the same dog to the Westminster Kennel Club Show three times and finally won Best In Show the third time with that dog. They are Mr. F. J. Bob Bartos, Jr. (BB) with the Scottie dog, Ch. Bardene Bingo in 1967, Mr. Richard Chashoudian (RC) with the Lakeland dog, Ch. Jo Ni’s Red Baron of Crofton in 1976, and Mr. Gabriel Rangel (GR) with the Scottie female, Ch. Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot in 2010.
