This Is Our Life – Jackie and Terry Stacy

by Joan Harrigan

When you ask dog people what dogs have meant to them, the responses have a common theme—dogs aren’t an “interest”—they are a passion. And what have dogs given them? The most common response is “everything!”

Jacqueline and Terry Stacy met each other through purebred dogs; each had chosen to make the sport of dogs a career, rather than a hobby. Today, they are judges and breeders, and as enthusiastic about their shared passion as ever.

Each grew up in a dog-loving family. Terry Stacy grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and can’t remember a time when he didn’t have a passion for dogs. He begged his parents for a dog, brought res- cues home, and finally exacted a promise from his father that he could have his own dog when he turned 13—if he could pay
for the dog himself.

“I wanted a Boxer,” Stacy recalls. “But I was a paperboy, and had only managed to save $50. Boxers cost $100—but I found a cocker I could buy for $50.” In addition to paying the purchase price, Stacy had to promise the breeder that he’d show the dog, and he had to work at the kennel. He cleaned stalls, washed dogs, and learned to handle in the show ring. His best result with this first cocker, Willstay’s Mr. Falstaff, was a reserve and some junior handling wins, but at 13, he was on the road to a career.

During this time, Stacy also worked for Chris and Bob Snowdon, who had Miniature Schnauzers. The Snowdons also mentored Richard Beauchamp and Danny Kidrowski. He “read and did” everything he could about cockers. “I then bought a bitch with distemper teeth from a kennel in Iowa,” he says. He bred her and produced two champions and group winners (Ch. Wooddale’s War Paint and Ch. Wooddale’s War Dancer). When he went to college at Marietta in Ohio, his cockers went with him, though he had to keep them at a local kennel rather than in his dorm.

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Posted by Alex on Jun 12 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.