Showsight November 2018

ShowSight Interviews: Karen Staudt Cartabona, Majenkir Borzoi BY ALLAN REZNIK continued

4. Your Borzoi are widely known, highly successful and well respect- ed. What breeding philosophies do you adhere to? I always refer to the AKC standard. Ours is one of the better standards in the world, taken from the original Rus- sian. It presents a picture to my mind’s eye of the important things to select for. Louis Murr explained to me that it took him decades to find the right dogs to put his bloodline together. His advice was when I bred I could incorpo- rate outcrosses but should always breed back to the main line. Murr insisted that it would never do me wrong, and he was right; with discretion and selec- tion, it never has. The main line goes back quite quickly to the coursing dogs bred by the great kennels in Russia. It was Joseph Thomas, a wealthy Ameri- can financier, who went to Russia in the early part of the 20th century and was able to bring foundation dogs back to America from such kennels as Perchino, owned by the Grand Duke Nicolai Niko- layevich. Soon after Thomas’ importa- tions to America the majority of Rus- sian dogs were destroyed during their revolution. To Joseph Thomas goes credit for saving the breed as we now know it. How fortunate I was to have been handed those genes to work with. I have also frozen some of my ROM pro- ducing sires over the decades. I am now benefiting from the use of semen from those early dogs. Very like looking into a crystal ball to learn what a stud dog

assignment, but now that the age of elegance is over, “Designer Dogs” have become the norm. 3. Who were your mentors in the sport? Please elaborate on their contributions to your early life in dogs. My earliest mentor was Louis Murr of the Romanoff Borzoi, breeder extraor- dinaire and all- rounder judge. Mr. Murr gave his valuable time to a young enthu- siast when I turned up unannounced on his doorstep, eager to show him my newly acquired Borzoi. Mr. Murr brushed his indignant wife aside, left his dinner and walked me through the house and kennel, showing me paint- ings and statues. He had his daughter run several of the dogs, all while he explained the importance of various points of the Borzoi. Mr. Murr must have sensed something of the future passion in me for this breed. I still recall those early teachings and I even remember his response that first day. As he was pointing out to me what was correct in the proportions of the head of a Borzoi in an oil painting I asked, “Is that what you like?” Mr. Murr turned and glared at me. He answered, “It’s not what you like, it’s what’s correct that matters and don’t you ever forget it!” I never have. In later years Mr. Murr came to the kennel and pointed out faults and vir- tues in my own Borzoi while explaining which dogs I should keep and breed and which dogs would be better off going to

pet homes. He felt certain points were hard to overcome and would be detri- mental to my breeding program. So many people mentored me over the years, most long gone, who gave so much of themselves. High in my estima- tion is Sam Ewing of Eagle Irish Wolf- hounds, a great instructor. Also I always learned from my peers when I did co- breedings with them. I spent many productive and enjoyable hours putting together pedigrees and planning future breedings with people such as Nancy Shanner McLean of Conamor Borzoi. Nancy owned the first stud dog I used. An extraordinary breeder of her era of several breeds, including Bull Terriers and Salukis. Another was Fred Edlin MD, Ridgeside Borzoi. While driving to dog club meetings, Fred and I played the game of “If you owned this bitch, who would you breed her to, why, and what would you get?” The results often opened our minds to combina- tions we had never considered and that at times became reality and produced outstanding results. Even those who were rivals in and out of the show ring and with whom I often locked horns, I could learn from. Lena Tamboer (now a judge) and I could shoot barbs at each other with our eyes, but we worked compatibly and produc- tively as part of a committee at the AKC offices to put together the first AKC Bor- zoi standard interpretation slide show. I still sometimes refer to it today when giving a lecture or symposium.

124 • S how S ight M agazine , N ovember 2018

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