We’ve all done it, myself included. Back in the mid-to-late seventies I placed a handsome young dog with a family willing to have him shown. In fact, the husband was open to the idea of handling the dog himself. The pup had a rather strong personality and I soon found myself regretting the placement. I became acutely aware that the pup was getting away with murder, the owners giggling over his stubborn and rather headstrong demeanor.
From the archives of The Canine Chronicle, April 2011 By Lee Canalizo Chic showing in 1960 Look at the rings made of string and the big brown heavy tents. Once again it’s another “Look Back” to a family in our sport that left an indelible mark. In Boxers if you were a handler with a […]
The worldwide need for explosive detection and parole dogs continues to grow despite the fact that there are more than 80 million dog owners in the US. The shortage quickly followed the events of 9/11, Brussels, Boston, Las Vegas, New York and London. According to government sources, the U.S. has historically been buying about 90 percent of its detection and patrol dogs from European breeders. Other countries have also relied on these European breeders for the same dogs, and European vendors have become the middleman who brings dogs to several locations for the convenience of the buyers. Most of the dogs are sold without pedigrees because most buyers have no interest in breeding. This system works, but not without some fault. There are issues involving the quality of the dogs, the cost and time required to train them and the fact that only about 35% of those purchased successfully complete their training and ultimately become working dogs (3). Guide dogs have a somewhat better success rate at about 50% (4).
It seems to me that I have seen breeds come and go then come back again, and some seem to have lost it forever. In order for a breed to prosper there have to be some ‘keepers’ of these breeds. These people are usually very keen judges and/or breeders who really care about a breed, and do not mind a little controversy along the way. These keepers of the breeds are very dedicated people, usually, who do not mind sounding off and fighting for the right way. If they are not fighters, they usually get trampled and ridiculed enough so that they give up in disgust and say to hell with it.
The Great Pyrenees was named for the Pyrenees mountain range, which forms a natural border between France and Spain, where they have been used as flock guardians for millennia. In Europe, the breed is called Pyrenean Mountain Dog. Their ancestors were likely the primarily white mountain flock guardian dogs from thousands of years ago in Asia Minor. They are renowned for their devotion to their flocks and their shepherds and their families. Many people recognize some breeds as dual dogs, succeeding in their original function as well as the show ring. The same can be said for flock guardian dogs. Many of these breeds we see in the show ring also work to protect livestock and other animals.
Getting To Know Us is especially happy to write about long-time friends and fellow fanciers Mr. and Mrs. Herman L. Felton, owners of the Mandith Kennels in Marietta, Georgia, where more than 50 famous champions have been housed during the Felton’s years of activity in the world of purebred dogs.
Could Manhattan and Mystique be as successful if they were competing today? The breed has evolved, Moses says
The virus came in deadly silence. One by one, it stalked its victims. There was no immunity against it. Clinics and hospitals around the U.S., and the world, soon were overwhelmed with patients; fatality rates soared. Sound familiar? It should: the canine parvovirus outbreak in the late 1970s did to dogs what the 2020 coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak is doing to humans.
Frank Baylis of Bayshore Kennel and Farm in Toms Brook, Va. has lived the equivalent of several lives in his six decades. “If I ever write about my life, I think I’ll call it ‘Life in the Fast Lane,’” he says.
She became Mrs. Sam Warner in 1925 and in 1929 she would be the star of movies and productions directed by the likes of Frank Capra and Cecile B. DeMille.
