The Encyclopedic Dog Lover – Will Judy

By Debra Lampert-Rudman

Dog fanciers, travel back in time with me to the 1930s – that wacky decade of ups and downs – beginning with America’s Great Depression and ending with America’s entry into World War II. One thing that remained constant throughout the 1930s and continues today is America’s love for dogs…and one of the people responsible for developing and encouraging America’s love for dogs in that era and beyond was Captain Will Judy.

Judy, born in 1891, was a lawyer, teacher, prolific author on dog-related topics, writer/publisher/editor of Dog World magazine, and was also a Captain in the United States Army. Along with “an impartial group of national sportsmen”, Judy founded the “National Dog Week” movement. Its slogan: “Every home needs a dog, and every good dog needs a home.”

The objects of National Dog Week:

1. A dog in every home.
2. A good home for every dog.
3. To educate dog owners as to their obligations both to their dogs and to the public generally.
4, To teach kindness and consideration by children and adults towards dogs and animals in general.
5. To emphasize the use of the dog as home protector and faithful companion.
6. To secure fair and just laws for dogs and their owners.

Judy’s list of dog-related books written by him and published by his Judy Publishing Company is impressive – from general books on breeding, training, and kennel construction – to specific breed books on then-rare breeds including the Chow Chow, booklets on care and feeding – and even selling dogs, to placards and poems and dog show and grooming instruction books.

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Posted by Alex on Jan 8 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.