GETTING TO KNOW YOU
AN INTERVIEW WITH PEGGY BEISEL-MCILWAINE, by ALLAN REZNIK
Peggy and her husband Sandy at the Montgomery County Kennel Club show in 2010, the year she judged Best in Show.
C oming from Terriers, Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has risen to the status of one of our most popular AKC multi-group judges. During her years as a professional handler, she worked and exhibited for icons of the sport in the competitive world of Terriers; men and women we continue to revere today. In honor of our Montgomery County Issue, we are pleased to present this interview.
WHERE DID YOU GROW UP AND DO YOU COME FROM A DOG SHOW FAMILY? IF NOT, HOW WERE YOU INTRODUCED TO THE SPORT? I grew up in Green Bay, Wiscon- sin. My family always had a purebred dog but never any show dogs. I like to say I was raised by a Collie. After she passed we got a Golden Retriever from field stock. I didn’t discover dog shows
until I was in high school. I attended a dog show with one of my sisters and her husband after they had purchased a show-quality Old English Sheepdog. I got to be very good friends with the breeders, Frank and Louise Olszewski (Walnut Hill OES), and when I gradu- ated from high school I purchased my first show dog—an OES, of course! My sister and brother-in-law didn’t last long in the sport. I think their purpose was to introduce me to it!
230 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017
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