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SUSAN ATHERTON, APRIL CLYDE, GAY DUNLAP, JEAN HEATH, LYDIA COLEMAN HUTCHINSON, PATTY KEENAN, MICHAEL LYNCH, BARBARA MILLER, SUSAN RODGERS, LISA SONS, BETTY-ANNE STENMARK, NODIE WILLIAMS & AMY RUTHERFORD
photos courtesy of April Clyde
Someone in the obedience class told me there was a Terrier dog show the upcoming weekend located near my home in Abington, Pennsylvania. So, I made a short 15-minute drive to the greatest Terrier event in the world at the Temple Ambler Campus. I was hooked! When I arrived at the Airedale ring, I saw that everyone had chairs and a catalog so I returned home for a lawn chair and returned to the Airedale ring with my catalog. I stayed all day and immediately started judging the dogs. I still get a kick out of some of my notes in that initial catalog (see pictures). I especially enjoy the notes that say, “Vivid color!” How naive I was! But I also knew that I wanted one of these beautiful show Airedales. When I relocated back to my hometown of Pittsburgh a few years later, I visited Sarah Macklin and purchased a second Airedale “Harbour Hill’s Charybdis”. Carrie didn’t become a champion but she won a few match ribbons and she was the dam of my first two litters. She also introduced me to the local Airedale crowd who were very supportive of owner handlers. That set the hook for me.
Later, I became a successful breeder-owner-handler earn- ing a few Group 1s and even an AOM at MCKC. I have only missed two Montgomery shows since 1981 and, of course, it is my favorite day of the year. Things have changed a lot since that initial Montgomery show. I married Todd Clyde in 2003 and my participation in the dog game intensified. I judged the National Airedale Sweepstakes on Montgomery weekend in 2002 and then judged the Airedale breed at MCKC in 2010. And finally, my early dream came true and my Airedale won BOB in 2013! Who knows what the future will hold? Maybe I will judge Airedales or another Terrier breed at MCKC. Or maybe, my Airedale will win a group placement or even Best in Show! Montgomery has always been about dreams. One thing is for sure—you will always find me at the MCKC show on the first weekend of October!
200 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017
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