ANNE HIER — AMPIRION BULLDOGS
Who were your mentors in the sport? Please elaborate on their influence. In 1973, I started to work for Joan Lueck at her Oakwood Farms Samoyed kennel, mostly as a groomer. Although I had other jobs at the time, I worked on and off for her for about 10 years. I had the opportunity to work with and groom a magnificent col- lection of dogs. The kennel was immaculate and at the time there were upwards of 40 dogs. OFA started in 1964, and Joan Lueck was one of the pioneers in the 1970s in health testing and certifica- tions. All the dogs she produced, not just the ones she kept, were screened for hips and PRA. She was a master breeder, and from her I learned that the fastest way to improve and preserve breed type and health is to linebreed. However, to do so successfully, it is imperative to screen all dogs, keep immaculate records, eliminate from the program those that do not pass muster, either conforma- tionally, typewise, or health, and to continually raise one’s stan- dards. For example, when I was there, she had a multiple Specialty and Group winner that she removed from public stud because he was only siring a 60% passage rate on hips. She felt that a 40% failure rate on pups sired was unacceptable, as she now had dogs that were producing better, among them her true star of the ken- nel, Ch. Oakwood Farms Kari J’Go Diko. This dog was handled to Group wins by Bill Trainor and ended his show career winning the National Specialty. Initially, OFA rated passing hips merely as “normal.” Diko had a 90% hip passage rate on pups he sired, which was extraordinary at the time. Another big influence was the early 1970s AKC film, The Dog in Motion , created with Rachel Page Elliott. I purchased that vid- eo and watched it many times. It is a film that really needs to be remastered and rereleased, as there are plenty of exhibitors today needing a refresher course in correct movement. After watching that video, I was determined to find a Bulldog that had sound movement. In the early ‘70s, there were dozens of Bulldogs that had magnificent heads, which is more of a rarity today. However, in a lot of those dogs, soundness was questionable, particularly in the rears.
In 1974, I went to my first Westminster as a spectator and saw Henry Helmar put on a real show, winning the Non-Sporting Group with the Bulldog, Ch. Dey Del, bred by Marge Deyorra and owned by Robert Kullman. Later that year, back in Michi- gan, Henry was now showing a new special, Ch. Showbiz Fairy Prince (Hal), bred and owned by Joan Fisher. I couldn’t believe the beautiful, fluid movement of this dog. Hal did a lot of big winning and though he could be criticized for being rather coarse, with heavy ears, he became a HOF sire and all of his get inherited his beautiful movement. It was my good fortune to obtain a puppy sired by Hal the fol- lowing year from Joan Fisher. As a novice, I said that I wanted a bitch that I could show in conformation and obedience. I was able to finish her myself and eventually complete what I didn’t know was “impossible”—earning a Utility Dog title on her. Looking back to that initial purchase, I was fortunate to find an honest, knowledgeable breeder who sold a complete novice a show-quality bitch with no strings attached.
118 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2022
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