In the Spotlight: Breeder Owner Handler Eric Steel

Join us for an interview series where we get to know some of our most successful breeder-owner-handlers in purebred dogs.

How did you get started in the sport of purebred dogs, and did you have any mentors?

I waited for a long time to get a saluki from Judith Rothschild, Omega Salukis — one of the great American standard bearers in the breed — and when she finally had one for me, she made me promise to show him and to take handling lessons from Michael Canalizo, which I did — that was in 1988! Michael has been a great mentor and always so willing to share his wealth of knowledge and offer plain advice. The entire group of founders of Take the Lead were all mentors to me as well — Tom Bradley, Dottie Collier and Pat Laurens especially — who shine and shined a light on what it means to be good human and a pillar in our community, to be kind and caring and humble and giving.

What dog has been most influential in your breeding program? Was this dog campaigned past its CH or did it find future success in the whelping box?

The most important dog in my breeding program is my male, Ch Phaeton James Sterling. He was truly stunning — I dont think I understood how to campaign him at the time I had him, not the inclination really to be on the road every weekend at that stage of my life. I had too many work and family demands. But his imprint on my current salukis and on many great salukis across the US, Canada and Scandinavia is pretty undeniable!

Do you show your dogs yourself or do you use a handler? Do you place puppies in show homes?

I like showing my own dogs but I also love seeing them being shown expertly by the true professionals and sometimes I have more than one special I want to have in the ring. I  don’t make showing a dog one of the conditions of placing it — that’s not a priority. The special I am showing now was placed in a show home and the owners, who had salukis already, did a nice amount of winning with him as a young dog and sired two litters for them and when he was 4 they called to say they wanted to send him back, that they were done with him — so now I apply even more scrutiny and suspicion even when people make showing a puppy their priority.

Tell us about your favorite win or memory in the sport of dogs.

Right now, my memory is still pretty strong and since I’ve only shown my own dogs, I can recall almost all of their best wins and moments. Probably the one I get most emotional about is winning Best of Breed at Westminster in 2024 — because even though it was not at Madison Square Garden, it felt like the faces and spirits of so many people who helped me and inspired me and believed in me — literally over decades — were there in the crowd somehow. It kind of caught me off guard — I dont often start to cry in the ring! Plus every now and then I can rewatch the whole thing on YouTube!

What advice would you give to someone else in the sport? 

Be genuine and curious. Ask questions, listen and love to learn. Dogs have way more love to give than social media!!!!!

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Posted by Liz on Dec 3 2025. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.