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RUFTS is upon us and some Americans attending are LORAN MORGAN, JOE DEPOO, EDD BIVIN, LIZ TOBIN, JOE VAUDO, NEENA & GEIR FLYCKTPEDERSEN, BETH SWEIGART, PETER GREEN, AMY & ANDREW GREEN, MATT STANDER, BARBARA MILLER, GAYNOR GREEN. LYN SNOW will judge Smooth Fox Terriers; he is a first cousin of PETER GREEN. A lady I consider a great breeder of Dachshunds, ZENA THORN-ANDREWS, whose cleverness at breeding top winners is only equaled to the cleverness she uses to name her dogs, will judge the Utility Group. I was very honored to have been asked to present the Utility Group Trophy. Judging the top spot is RONNIE IRVING, whose credentials for this assignment are second to none, former chairman of the ENGLISH KENNEL CLUB, Border terrier breeder, and proud to say DOG NEWS columnist. As a former kennel club chairman, RONNIE completes this year’s trio of chairmen judging best in show at world famous events. First, former American Kennel Club chairman RON MENAKER judged best at the AKC/ EUKANUBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, DAVID MERRIAM, former chairman of the American Kennel Club, judged best at the WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB and now its RONNIE’S turn at bat. LAUREN HAY-LAVITT, longtime assistant to handlers VALERIE & PETER ATKINSON, has gone out on her own to become a professional handler. We have all watched her grow up into a talented young woman who will no doubt have a brilliant career. She can be contacted at 6171 Choctaw Drive, Westminster, California 92682 phone 714.653.2080 or laurenlavitt1@me.com. With all the money spent on various things canine related, the up and coming future of our sport, the Junior Handler, has somehow been forgotten. To that point Dachshund fancier MAGGIE PEAT has established the JUNIOR FOUNDATION OF AMERICA, a not for profit organization to help raise money to send our top Junior showman to represent the United States in the International Junior Showmanship competition held at Crufts each year. For further information contact MAGGIE at juniorfoundationofamerica@gmail.com or
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phone 415.309.0103. While one of the last remaining bachelors left, PETER KUBACZ, celebrates his birthday, his parents ANNE MARIE & RANDY KUBACZ are on a Hawaiian cruise to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Celebrating several months earlier than their actual anniversary in June, they are travelling with KAROLYNNE MCATEER, TINA TOOHEY and RICHARD HANSEN. The American Kennel Club has announced the hiring of MICHAEL BASONE as the vice president of technology. He will be “….responsible for driving the American Kennel Club digital transformation, discovering technology efficiencies across all departments and creating agile, nimble framework that will benefit our customers ….” Glad he got the job, but it sounds a bit redundant to me (where are the IT employees?) but it’s not my money. He will be working out of the New York office. Happy 90th Birthday to the patriarch of brushes, leads and all things canine DON DAVIS of DAVIS PET SUPPLIES. HOWARD JAMES, husband of all breed judge HELEN LEE JAMES, has passed away. Their interest in dogs, which included the dog clubs in Colorado, led three of their five children into the superintendent business. The JAMES BROTHERS and ONOFRIO DOG SHOWS go together like peanut butter and jelly. The family has requested those wishing can make a contribution to Take The Lead in HOWARD’S memory. All of us at DOG NEWS send our deepest sympathies to the entire JAMES FAMILY. Bichon Frise breeder ESTELLE KELLERMAN has passed away. In addition to her dog breeding she was for many years a well known concessionaire selling dog statutes and figurines. All of us at DOG NEWS send our deepest sympathies to her family, especially her daughter professional handler WENDY KELLERMAN. SANDI GORDON-LENTSCH, breeder of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, has passed away. Breeder of nearly 100 champions under the Dimond prefix, she was the show chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Kennel Club and on the board of directors of the parent club. Our deepest sympathies to her husband JEFF and family. He can be reached at 530 Kettle Run Road, Marlton, New Jersey 08053. We were saddened to hear that VICTORIA LAW passed away. She
bred Standard Poodles under the Luminary prefix. Our deepest sympathies to her family. ANDREW HUNTE, founder, president and CEO of the Hunte Corporation, passed away at the age of 70. DEBBIE HOLLOWAY, the wife of the late professional handler/ multiple group judge D ROY HOLLOWAY, the father of popular judge DOUG HOLLOWAY, has passed away. DEBBIE came from a wealthy Long Island family, where her mother, the late DEBORAH LAWSON, was a successful Saint Bernard breeder and exhibitor. She later became one of our most popular writers for DOG NEWS. All of us send our deepest sympathies to her children and the entire LAWSON and HOLLOWAY families. All of us at DOG NEWS were very saddened to hear that professional handler DON RODGERS passed way following a year-long battle with cancer. Showing many breeds, he was mostly associated with shih tzu, pugs and other toy breeds. Following a move from Southern California, he and his wonderful and equally talented wife PAT settled very happily in the Pacific Northwest, where they had lived for some time. I have great memories of DON & PAT as we traveled together through Japan. I will miss DON and we send our love to PAT and family. We were saddened to hear of the passing of ANGELA DINICOLA. Together with her husband BOB they bred Afghan Hounds with their Anrob prefix. A very popular couple, she leaves many friends in the fancy. A memorial service is being planned to be held in the spring. We send our deepest sympathies to BOB and family.
the Gossip column By Eugene Z. Zaphiris