In asking this month’s contributors in which groups they currently find their personal strengths and challenges, you will find some similarities and diversity in their responses. Isn’t that truly what might be expected?
The fancy lost two strong women last year: Iris Love and Sue Jeffries. They inhabited different spheres, but both contributed hugely to the fancy and its extended communities. They are remembered as inspiring mentors and teachers and as generous and beloved friends. In this first of two articles, we celebrate the incandescent Iris Love.
Talk about extremes!!!! Take notice. I deliberately put exclamation points, not question marks, at the end of the sentence. Why? That’s easy. It is alarming to see so many extremes in our daily lives. Just think about the weather recently. Hurricanes have been barreling through like eighteen-wheelers on the interstate. Torrential rain, destructive wind, and tornadoes have hit places where they rarely ever go. Raging wildfires have not just destroyed countless acres of land, but record numbers of homes. All that smoke then migrates into the atmosphere where it spreads across the sky from coast to coast. At some level, we have been touched by one or more of these recent extremes. Correct?
I have always been amazed by the number of Motor Heads in the dog world. Cars and motorcycles ranging from the classics to just plain funky are hidden in some of dogdom’s secret garages. Today, Kerry McComisky Boyd shares her 1969 Camaro and a little history with The Canine Chronicle.
When was the last time you heard or saw something great about the conformation community? Heck, about dog fanciers at all?
Arthur Fredrick Jones was somewhat addicted to melodrama, but he wasn’t exaggerating about the pervading sentiment leading up to M & E 1952. Noting that America had just endured WWII, the Korean War and was gliding into the Cold War era “To be sure, Morris and Essex does not wipe out all the troubles of the world, but it does mute them down to the point where life has some bounce again.” Jones acknowledged that Americans were justifiably tired and cynical by 1952 (which sounds a lot like the general mood of 2021.) By then, M & E was sustaining its global status in the sport. Entries hadn’t yet returned to those glory days like 1939 when almost 4500 dogs competed on the polo fields, but the 1952 gate was a record breaker. Dog lovers truly were seeking a “purebred doggy holiday”. Attendance far exceeded 25,000 as seen in past years, and halfway through the show vendors ran out snacks, drinks, everything.
A dear friend, loving wife, AKC judge, breeder, charitable organizor… the list could go on and on. Peggy Hauck left us much too soon. We will sadly miss the enthusiasm and cameraderie she displayed at so many of the Florida dog shows. The show was always a little better when Peggy was there.
From the start, every big event in our sport has been preceded by months of speculation and prediction. And based on history, going into it as “the favorite” generally spells disaster. No need to illustrate the truth of that point. It’s a primary reason why Westminster winners usually retire then and there.
“Every dog has his day” that saying entered the realm of annoying advice about a million years ago. But once in a while it turns out to be true and we are way overdue for one of those “days” in this sport. But that’s also what everyone was thinking back in 1946 when dog shows really did seem to be down for the count.
The Morris and Essex Kennel Club show had been the centerpiece of AKC competition for two preceding decades. That fact alone was a bit weird, and it would never ever happen today. A private show…well AKC didn’t love the idea, but they couldn’t do a thing about it, especially since the whole thing came courtesy of Remington/Rockefeller money.
