Mrs. Claire (Kitty) Steidel – A Lifelong Love of Bassets

By John Contoupe

Mrs. Claire Steidel is not only a most educated and thorough judge, a prominent breeder of Basset Hounds and Petit Basset Griffon Vendéens, a multiple group judge and highly skilled canine-related writer, but she is also a knowledgeable and thorough advocate of her breeds and our dog sport in general. “Kitty,” as she is affectionately known to her friends and family, has proven her knowledge in and out of the rings, through her written works and especially her book: Understanding the Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, a first in any language publication, specifically devoted to the adorable PBGV. The National breeder club assigned her the coordination of the American Kennel Club’s breed video and invited her to write and put together the illustrated standard for the breed.

The love affair with Basset Hounds started for Kitty in 1967 and has resulted in three invitations to judge the National show, while she has also judged the PBGV National on two occasions. She has been a highly sought after judge of hounds and sporting dogs around the world. Kitty became an AKC judge in 1984 and is licensed to judge all Hound and Sporting breeds, Best in Show and Juniors, as well as the Miscellaneous class. Kitty is also approved or on permit for all but two Toys. Her knowledge of dog anatomy, balance and form has taken her to some spectacular places over her lifetime.

This California native has lived in Scottsdale, Arizona for about 25 years. She has bred, co-owned and co-bred three dogs that have National Specialty Best of Breed wins and many others that have harvested top awards over the years. Kitty has owned, bred or co-owned approximately 100 Basset Hound Champions with her partner, Claudia Orlandi of Topsfield. She has proudly co-owned and/or co-bred with Claudia, dogs that have been the number one Basset Hound for 18 years running. That alone should say something!

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Posted by Alex on Mar 14 2018. 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.