Page 298 - ShowSight - November 2019

Breeder Owner Handler Q & A
KELLI KUJAWA
I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My only passion is Dog Shows!
I bought my first show dog in 1998 a Shiba Inu named Sake that’s when the bug of showing started and now 21 years later I still love show- ing. My original breed was the Shiba Inu and then I ended up with a Vizsla in 2003 from my Shiba Inu groomer and my life changed. I had great suc- cess with GCHB Sztori Eddie
Bauer ltd. We went on to win over a 100 breed wins multi group placements and two first award of excellence at the Eukanuba Dog Show. Eddie was my heart dog and was a once in a life time dog.
I think the toughest part of being a breeder is placing puppies. I have been very lucky with homes for my puppies as I have owners with three generations of dogs of mine and this my favorite part of being a breeder seeing my dogs make others happy. I do feel as a owner handler you have a different kind of bond with a dog that have you have raised and shown from the start as my dogs are so aware of everything that happens from leaving to go to a show and showing , As a Owner Handler you have the one on one time with your dog all the time from feeding to grooming to showing, It builds a bond. I feel a Specialty Win is more important to me as a breeder as these wins are from breeder judges who you have grown up respecting and to show them your dog is much more reward- ing than all breed wins. Showing dogs and having a regular fam- ily life is hard as it is changing priorities around to fit dog show schedules, getting time off work and grooming schedules with the Afghan Hounds. I can not attend as many shows as I would like do to work so it makes the shows we can attend important. I personally love the NOHS program as for me it gives me a chance to show off my dogs more times in the ring and to show the judges what kind of dogs owner handlers have, I like the ranking of owner handler because owner handlers can not travel every weekend and be seen every show so it gives us a place to shine with our dogs. My advice to any newcomer to breeding is: you must have a mentor!
I had the best mentor with afghan hounds Kuhlbreeze Kennels, Deb Ridley without her knowledge of the breed, grooming pedi- grees I would not have been as successful as I have been with my Afghan Hounds. All newcomers need to understand pedigrees and health tests and why do you want to breed?
I feel that not every dog should be bred and that it takes years of knowledge of the breed and mentors to breed the best dog to the standard.
JEANIE TROYAN MCADAMS
Jeanie Troyan McAdams is a breeder/owner/handler of Miniature American Shep- herds and an AKC Breeder of Merit. Her kennel name is ‘Love That’ and she is a parent breed club Judge’s Education Breed Mentor.
She and her husband Dr. Douglas McAdams live in Denton County, Texas where they have a dental practice that Jeanie manages. Jeanie was on
the parent breed club (MASCUSA) Board that negotiated entrance into AKC and the Breed was accepted into AKC FSS in 2012. The breed was fully recognized July 1, 2015.
She has had ‘Mini’s’ since 2007 and have been promoting the breed since then! She has had Australian Shepherds from 1975-2017. Jeanie has trained and shown horses most of her life and her greatest passion was training and showing Reining Horses in the 1980’s to late 1990’s winning many National Reining Horse Asso- ciation Major Events and NRHA World Titles. When she retired from reining she missed the training of an animal and putting a show record on them so started showing ‘Mini Aussies’ successfully in 2007 before they were recognized by AKC. Since recognized by AKC FSS in 2012 (and the breed’s name was changed to Miniature American Shepherd) she has been showing and promoting this fun breed at AKC shows across the country. While in the AKC Misc. she and her bred by boy won the highest number of Certificate of
Merits at that time, 17!
Jeanie has won the MASCUSA National Specialty three times,
two with bred by dogs. Since the breed became recognized by AKC just over four years ago she and her bred by dogs have won one AKC Gold Grand Championship, two Silver Grand Championships, five Grand Championships and six Championships. They have won two regular AKC Best in Shows, one Reserve Best in Show, 34 Regular Group One’s and many Group placements. Five of these dogs have won or placed in the regular group ring and have been ranked high in the all breed and breed stats. This year her bred by boy is cur- rently #2 All Breed MAS, #4 Breed MAS and #1 NOHS MAS. Several of her bred by dogs have won Specialties! In the NOHS ring her bred by dogs are #1 and #2 all time NOHS MAS, has been #1 All Breed NOHS and have won many NOHS Best and Reserve Best in Shows. At the AKC National NOHS competition, she and her bred by boy won the 2016 NOHS Best in Show and has won the AKC National NOHS Best of Breed MAS every year since the breed has been fully recognized.
Jeanie’s biggest passion is showcasing her bred by dogs in the regular AKC Group Ring and AKC Best in Show ring. Her philoso- phy is “It’s more fun to win with a bred by” and tries to make every show fun for her dogs.
My husband and I live in Denton County, Texas just a few miles from our Dental practice in Denton. My husband Doug is a Dentist and I manage our practice. Besides loving to put a show record on a dog, (especially a bred by), my passions include traveling, exploring, learning and trying new things, snow skiing, waterskiing, design, architecture and construction, reining horses (I used to own/train and show them) and just hanging out with Doug and the dogs at home!
I bought my first Miniature American Shepherd in 2007 and started showing in conformation then at the ‘rare breed’ shows. This was before the breed was accepted into AKC and they were registered as Miniature Australian Shepherds. I was on the parent breed club board that negotiated entrance into AKC and was the Liaison for our Breed Standard Committee . Our breed (under the new name Miniature American Shepherd) was accepted into AKC FSS in 2012 and became fully recognized in 2015. I have had Aus- tralian Shepherds since 1975 but did not show them. Most of my Aussies were not much bigger than my Minis now! I am a board approved Judge’s Education Mentor and have done many Meet The Breeds promoting our breed to the public including numerous years at the AKC National show in Orlando, the Rose City Classic in Portland, OR and the Houston Reliant show. I was also one of three people nationwide nominated for the 2018 Showdogs of the Year/ Purina Pro Plan Owner Handler of the Year award.
For me the toughest part of breeding is finding great homes for the pups. The best part is seeing one of your bred by’s float across the backyard like living art! Also it’s more fun to win with a bred by!
296 • ShowSight Magazine, noveMber 2019