Charles Self – A Life in Sporting Dogs

by Joan Harrigan

The skillful handling of dogs can’t be learned from books. Knowledge is gained from mentors and observation; skill develops with practice and experience. To have a career as a professional handler requires much more than handling skill and rapport with the dogs—it requires the ability to build trust with clients, as well as the business acumen to turn what is a hobby for many into a livelihood.

Charles Self had all these skills. And his career in spaniels—particularly American Cockers—was built on what he learned from the generation before him. When he passed away on June 21, 2016, Self had long before ended his handling career and moved on to judging—but just as he was taught by mentors, he had passed his knowledge on to a new generation.

Self was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He didn’t come from a “dog family;” his father was the superin- tendent of transportation for the local school system. Charles Self grew to teach in the same system that had employed his father; his first wife, Diane, taught there, as well. His widow, Linda Wallaesa Self, describes her husband’s entrance to the sport of purebred dogs simply: “he got a dog, and began to show.”

Whatever Charles Self did, he wanted to do well. His breed of choice—the Cocker Spaniel—required meticulous grooming and Self knew that he had much to learn. He put some points on his own dogs, and turned to Terry and Charlotte Stacy to finish them. He then went to work for the Stacys, who at the time bred Cocker Spaniels, as well as being handlers of all breeds. They gave him his grounding in the business, and Self was able to realize his dream of going out on his own as a handler.

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