Lines From Linda: Candid Candidates
BY LINDA AYERS TURNER KNORR continued
Hunting Tests (Pointing and Retriever) and Field Trials. I am a former board member of the Spinone Parent club, newslet- ter editor and Treasurer for the Southern New England Point- ing Dog Club. I received the AKC Bailey Award for my work with Newtown Police Department in 2013 and in 2016 the AKC Visionary Award. I was a speaker/presenter at the 2016 and 2017(Washington DC) AKC GR Conference and the New England Conference. I founded the adopt a K-9 Cop program that, in conjunc- tion with AKC Reunite, helps local police departments fund the purchase of police dogs which includes placing the AKC Reunite logo on the police patrol vehicle. To date they have funded Police K-9’s for numerous departments in the country. HAROLD “RED” TATRO III DELEGATE FOR THE FORT WORTH KC, CROWLEY, TEXAS, USA I love the AKC because of the people, places and dogs. My life has been enriched by all the inter- esting people from so many walks of life that I have met and become friends with over the many years of attending all the various AKC events. I have been blessed to visit and see so many areas of the US and wonderful international desti- nations. The dogs, well I think we all do this because of our great love of dogs and what better way to fill that passion than to attend an AKC event! In my non-dog life I am a Certified Public Accountant and work as the Chief Financial Officer for an Architectural and Engineering design company in Arlington, Texas. Originally from northern Vermont, I was transplanted to Texas after an enlistment in the US Air Force. That is where I met my wife, Denise, and where we share our home with several Whippets. I have a BBA in Accounting—Magna Cum Laude as well as a Mas- ter of Science degree from the University of Texas in Arlington. My involvement with animals began in 4-H while grow- ing up in northern Vermont. My competitive purebred dog experience began with a Doberman who I trained and com- peted in Obedience. I acquired my first Lakeland Terrier in 1982. Learned to groom and trim and successfully showed him to his championship and several Group placements—I was hooked. In 1988 I married my lovely wife, Denise, and began my involvement and love of Whippets. Over the past 35 years we have been successful breeder-owner-handlers in both the Terrier and Hound groups, having bred or owned several Champions, Group winners, Specialty winners and a couple of Best In Show winners as well. I am still an active breeder and train, condition and compete in Conformation, Obedience, Rally, Lure Coursing, and the new Fast CAT events. Denise and I believe in preserving the functionality of
our breed and also compete in Whippet straight track racing with a non-AKC organization whose purpose is to promote purebred Whippet racing with dogs that conform to the AKC breed standard and disqualifications. In addition to serving as the delegate for the Fort Worth KC, I was recently elected to the By Laws committee. I am the President of the American Whippet Club and have served in that position for the past five years. I serve on the education committee and have served on the AWC national specialty show committee for several years. I am a longtime member of the US Lakeland Terrier Club where I have served as their JEC for the past 15 years. I have also served as Past-President, Treasurer, Secretary and Director of the USLTC at various times since 1989. I am the founding Past-President of the Lone Star Whippet Club. Over the years I have belonged to and served on the boards of a few other all-breed, specialty and group clubs. I have been an AKC conformation judge since 2003, currently approved for the Terrier Group, most of the Hounds (recently submitted and interviewed for the last five breeds), Jr. Showmanship and Best in Show. I have had the honor to judge the national specialties for both of my breeds—twice at Montgomery County KC for Lakelands and this year in Denver for Whippets. I have judged several specialties and shows across the US as well as internationally in Sweden and Australia. ANN WALLIN DELEGATE THE ATLANTA KENNEL CLUB I love AKC because we are the
best advocate for not only for the purebred dog, the purpose bred dog, but also for the well-being, health and protection of all dogs. We have a strong mission state- ment that defines what we stand for and we are not afraid to stand up for our core beliefs. We cher- ish our sport, our breeders and our clubs that are the foundation
of The American Kennel Club. We support the right to own dogs and truly understand the importance and benefits of the human animal bond. I am proud to be a part of this great organization. We truly love dogs. My love of dogs began at a very early age. My dad was a devoted horseman so I was on a horse as soon as I could walk and dogs were always a part of our household. My time was spent in the horse show world until I left for college and it was then that I got my first purebred Weimaraner named Faust. He had the honor of attending our wedding reception, as all our friends knew that he needed to be a part of such an important occasion because he was such an important part of our lives. One of the groomsmen escorted him in wearing dark sunglasses so he easily got past security as his seeing-eye dog. He was our only child for several years and lived a long wonderful life until the age of 12. So continued my lifelong love of dogs, which continues to this day.
112 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , N OVEMBER 2017
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