Showsight September 2021

BREEDER INTERVIEW: DR. ADAM KING, ASKIN HAVANESE

CH Askin Breakfast at Tiffany’s ROM (Holly), the best dog in the world, at eleven.

CH Askin Backstage Romance (Christian) going Best In Specialty Show at the HCA Regional Specialty from the Bred-By Exhibitor Class to finish is championship.

hang out in the house together (generally on the back of the couch, the favorite spot of every Havanese). Any Havanese that is in coat gets supervised playtime with the others, but otherwise they’re in individual exercise pens in a four-season room at the back of our house that opens into the dog yard. At night, everyone sleeps in their own kennel, aside from our 11½-year-old “bed dog.” Puppies are whelped and raised in our finished basement. Who were/are some of your most significant Havanese, both in the whelping box and in the show ring? The most significant Havanese in the whelping box was, undoubtedly, CH Askin Breakfast at Tiffanys’ ROM (Holly). Holly was the one and only puppy that the bitch I owner-handled to BOB at Westminster (CH Los Perritos When Sparks Fly) ever produced from three attempts at breeding. Holly produced eight champions and five Group-placing offspring, including two Group winners. Her two daughters that I kept have gone on to produce beautifully, each producing a BOW/Best Bred-By at a Havanese Club of Amer- ica Regional Specialty. A significant sire I bred that my good friend, Connie Field (Har- bor Havanese, a truly masterful breeder), owned was CH Askin Geek in the Pink ROMX. While I never bred to him (I had his full brother from a repeat breeding who is the sire of the previously men- tioned Holly), Connie managed his stud career wonderfully and he was utilized by Havanese breeders to much success, siring a multiple BIS winner and multiple specialty winners. One of the most significant Havanese that I handled and co- owned was CH Starkette Pride of Wincroft ROMX (Buster), bred by my mentor, Jan Stark, and owned by Barbara and Michele Johannes. Buster was actually the first Havanese I ever met in the flesh when my parents drove me over to the Louisville dog show so that I could “meet” a Havanese. After I finished my first Havanese and realized he wasn’t going to be a special, Barb and Michele asked if I wanted to handle Buster. He and I clicked immediately, and the rest is history. He placed in many competitive Midwest Toy Groups and we even went to Crufts where we went Reserve dog! Aside from his successes in the ring, he is one of the most influential sires in the breed’s history. GCHG Askin Steppin’ To The Bad Side (Thunder), owned by Dr. Ernest and Lynn Curtis and handled by Andy Linton, is the biggest-winning dog I’ve bred. His coloring (solid silver) may not have been as eye-catching in a ring of black partis, but his head, out- line, and movement were just stunning. I think he was a dog ahead of his time, and is still one of my favorite Havanese of all time.

Multiple Group-Winning GCHG Askin Steppin’ To The Bad Side (Thunder) when he was being campaigned.

While he’s just starting his career, I believe CH Askin Back- stage Romance (Christian) will be a significant winner. He’s the grandson of both Thunder and Holly through their daughter GCH Askin Wait Until Dark, a corded bitch that did some very nice winning in her short career, and sired by a Havanese that needs no introduction, GCHP2 Oeste’s In The Name of Love (Bono). Christian is the firstborn Bono puppy, and I think he’s already making his sire proud. In four weekends total of showing, he finished with two specialty majors, a regional specialty win from the Bred-By Class, and won five placements in very competi- tive Toy Groups. He is just starting, but I am so excited for what the future holds!

118 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 2021

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