Edie MacKenzie

Edie MacKenzie is a published author, traveler, dog lover, and tortoise enthusiast. Passionate about what she does, her books provide peopel a firm grounding in the dog breed and their unique characteristics with a nice touch of humor.

The Paisley Breed Of Dalmatian

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The Paisley Dalmatian is owned by Dave and Sue MacMillan who are located at St. Paul, Minnesota.  When Paisley Peterbilt completed his championship in March of 1985, he became the 50th conformation champion owned or bred at Paisley.  And during that same month, Paisley’s QindaBritt became the 30th obedience Dalmatian to have earned a C.D. degree.

Although she was actually their fourth Dalmatian and third champion, champion Melody Up-Up and Away, more familiarly known as “Pooka,” is credited with being the true foundation of the Paisley breeding program, probably because she is to be found in the background of all but one champion carrying the Paisley name.  All of the younger dogs are line-bred on this remarkable dog, some of them having as many as five crossed to her in their pedigrees.

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Pooka was a liver colored Dalmatian and a multi-Group winner.  Her show credits include having been a Top Ten Dalmatian, and she was Best of Opposite Sex at the Dalmatian Club of America Specialty in 1974.  But despite these accomplishments, it was in the whelping box that her most notable successes were achieved, such as becoming the dam of 15 champions, second in this number only to her half sister, Champion Melody Sweet, C.D. who exceeded
her number by only one, making a total of 16 champions.  Adding to her success as a producer is the fact that Pooka’s offspring seem to be following in her pawmarks in this regard, and a number of them are providing foundation for other highly successful Dalmatian kennels.

Paisley is basically a combination of Melody and Watseka lines with the addition of some Long Last and Coachman.  Each of these lines has its strong points, and Sue is finding that the combination is giving them the look that they prefer.  At the time their breeding program was started, Sue and Dave felt that there was no line that really possessed the combination of characteristics that they wanted in their Dalmatians, and they saw no point in line-breeding just for the sake of doing so.

Thus they started out by doing judicious outcrosses attempting to pick up the features they felt they needed to add. Although initially they received considerable criticism for pursuing this course rather than the more conservative line-breeding, these outcrosses laid the groundwork by bringing in those qualities they had felt they wanted to improve upon, and thus incorporating them into the developing Paisley Dalmatian lines

The Poodle: A Brief History Lesson

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The Poodle – A  History

Poodles found their way to America from England. They did so in 1887. Prior to World War I, Poodle popularity reached a peak at American dog shows. Originally, Standards and Miniatures in America were shown as a single breed, and Toys were shown as a separate breed prior to World War II.

The Poodle Club of America, founded in 1931 to govern the standard of perfection for all Poodles, offered classes with the same criteria for all three sizes. As a matter of fact, the first Miniature to earn an American championship title was the black English dog named “Chopstick”.

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Some of England’s finest Poodles as well as several from the Continent were imported to America during the early 1900s. Their genetic heritage still carries on today, and we often see the names of well-known English dogs in the pedigrees of modern American Poodles.

By 1960, America had caught up with the British and European interest in the breed. Poodles became the most popular breed of dog in American Kennel Club registration. In the 1930s, Helen Whitehouse Walker, owner of Carillon Kennels, wanted to introduce the sport of obedience into America. She was tired of hearing people say that Poodles, with their fancy hairdos, were vanity dogs. She vowed to prove the Poodle’s intelligence and ability to be well-trained to America.

In 1934, as England was enjoying the growing sport of obedience “trialing”, Mrs. Walker went to Great Britain to study the sport and the training methods for obedience. When she returned
home to America, she shared what she had learned with others, including her dear friend, Blanche Sauders, who ultimately became a renowned obedience exhibitor and teacher.

By 1947, America was ready to recognize obedience competition. The American Kennel Club officially adopted the rules and regulations for the sport and established an obedience department within its ranks.

From the working Poodle-like dogs of Europe in the 12th century to the sophisticated Poodles of the 21st century, the breed maintains its ancestral traits  that endear it to people around the world. Thus, centuries after the breed’s development, there seems no reason to believe the Poodle will be any less popular in the future than they have been in the past.

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