INTERVIEW: SANDRA L. FREI, STORMHILL AFGHANS
successful breeders competing at that time. Entries at spe- cialties, all-breed shows, and even matches were huge. We learned a lot from each other. Back then, there was more discussion about dogs and pedigrees. Also back then, there was a lot more socializing among exhibitors, both at the shows and afterwards, than there is now. I participated in Junior Handling when I was a kid. Back then it was usually judged by a professional handler and held over the lunch hour. It only cost a dollar to enter and you could show any dog that you chose or your parents chose for you on the day. It was lots of fun. There was no pressure on the kids to win, so it was quite relaxed com- pared to today. 4. The Stormhill Afghans are widely known, highly suc- cessful and well respected. What breeding philosophies do you adhere to? Like my mother, I have always adhered to trying to breed to the standard. I have carried this philosophy over to my judging. Temperament is of utmost importance to me. We work hard on socializing our puppies from a young age. We put them on a very fine martingale leash at eight weeks of age and teach them how to walk on a leash by fol- lowing their mother on a short walk. It takes around two to three days to leash-train them using this method. 5. How many Afghans do you currently house? Tell us about your facilities and how the dogs are maintained. Currently, we have five Afghan Hounds, ranging in age from one year to nine years. We have “SJ” and his sister, “Milky Way,” who just turned a year; “Zolton,” who is five; and “Cooper” and his sister “Rylie” who are nine. At night, they sleep in the kennel, but in the morning they come in the house to chew on their bones. We try to take several of them on walks in the morning when the weather is nice. The main house has a detached garage with an apart- ment that Dave and I turned into a kennel when we first moved from California to Woodinville, Washington. There are six 15-foot indoor runs. Each dog has its own raised bed. Each run goes out into a 20-foot covered, out- door run. Each outdoor run has a gate that opens up for them to run over a grassy, fenced half-acre. There is also a fenced-in sports court off the kennel for them to run in. The garage has a built-in, raised tub for bathing. There is a raised grooming table along with several standing dog dryers. I have two large, stainless steel veterinary cages that my mom had that we use for storage and cage-drying. There is a sink for washing dog bowls, and a washer and dryer in the kennel area as well. 6. Who were/are some of your most significant dogs, both in the whelping box and in the show ring? For me/us: the dogs that we have carried on with are all an extension of my mother’s breeding. I attribute the success that Stormhill has had over all these years to the development of a strong bitch line that started with Ch. Stormhill San Dahl, a daughter of Ch. Stormhill Silver Dream. “Dahl” was bred to Ch. Shirkhan of Grandeur,
Gini Withington with Koh-I-Baba UD
Multi BIS & SBIS CH Stormhill’s Who’s Zoomin Who, “Zoomie”
62 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 2022
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