Searching for Miss P – 1986

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102 – February, 2023

By Will Alexander

Chapter 4: “1986”

I thought she was the most beautiful girl at the shows, if not the most beautiful I had ever seen. I was the assistant of the late great Garry MacDonald who–though many trials and tribulations (mostly self-inflicted)–Garry always had a home and that was the dog show. He thrived and at 43 years of age was one of the winningest professional handlers this country had seen. She was the assistant of the legend herself, the first lady of Canadian dog shows, Susan Hillman. Somebody once asked Mrs. Clark who Susan Hillman was. Mrs. Clark replied, “if you bred me to Janey, you would get Susan Hillman.”

Our first meeting was far from a fairy tale. I wonder if Allison even remembers the encounter. I certainly do. Susan had flown east to attend one of our bigger shows, or maybe there were not any shows in the West that weekend. Ontario–for the longest time–was the mecca of shows. We seemed to have shows every weekend, while in other parts of the country shows were limited. This meant if you wanted to run a dog for a number one ranking, you needed to travel. Susan always had a contender, so we were fortunate to have her company quite frequently. At this show, we found ourselves set up within view of each other, and I caught myself staring into Susan’s set-up to the point that Garry noticed my distraction. “Go introduce yourself,” he said “then maybe you can get your head on straight and get some work done.” I don’t think my work was faltering; dogs were getting done up and making ring time, but I was definitely distracted.

Click here to read the complete article
102 – February, 2023

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