This was way before air travel with dogs was prevalent. Air travel with dogs was done on old, two engine prop planes. For us, it was the old Flying Tiger Line that we went on. It was a nineteen-hour trip from Burbank, California, to Newark, through Salt Lake City and Detroit. The dogs, tack, handlers, and helpers were weighed in as freight.
The Akita is designated a national monument in Japan. The breed originated in the snowy mountainous region of Japan, dating back as far as 500 B.C. It was used for large game hunting and guarding property. Originally, ownership of Akitas was restricted to royalty, and the breed was seldom allowed out of the country. The first Akita in the United States came as a gift to Helen Keller.
Don’t bitch when a good one beats you. Try harder next time, or get a better dog. Do not show under judges you feel are incompetent.
Dogs were inseparable from the entertainment business long before Hollywood started cranking out screen idols like Lassie and Strongheart.
Let us pay tribute to our foreign and American breeders of the past. The men whose painstaking work for generations helped to create our breeds of today.
Today we find ourselves in a catch 22 situation. AKC guidelines say we judges should not speak to exhibitors except for the usual pleasantries – good day, yes, it is a hot one, etc…This makes it kind of difficult to sneak messages under the table to inform the exhibitor of our honest opinion of their stock. I believe we need to inform the exhibitors better, or we will continue to see a decline in show entries and breeding stock.
The station manager, hearing suspicious sounds emanating from the supposedly vacant restroom, summoned the police to report a burglary in progress. Well, they barged in, weapons drawn, to find Butch zonked out and snoring away as only a Saint can, completely oblivious to the mayhem.
There were so many great Non-Sporting dogs shown in the 1940s and ’50s that have been forgotten. Here are five outstanding Non-Sporting Dogs from that era you should know about. Look for more Great Non-Sporting Dogs of the Past in the coming days!
Forty years ago we had in our dog show presence a veritable example of Clifton Odets “Golden Boy”. His name was Bobby Barlow. He was a handsome, talented, freckled-faced young man who looked somewhat like a young Robert Redford. Well, maybe not quite like Robert Redford, but you get the idea!
Although Leon Whitney was 15 years older than Ernie Hart their lifetime friendship ultimately produced two generations of innovative contributions to the dog world.
When Whitney moved his family to Orange, Connecticut in 1930 it was all about location. Then a tiny rural farming community, Orange was conveniently close to New Haven and Yale. It offered access to cutting edge research and space for his growing kennel. In his 2007 blog, son George describes one of his father’s most ambitious projects, which commenced soon after their arrival. “With the ever-growing numbers of dogs came the expense of feeding so many.
