Happy Birthday – In Dog Years!

After celebrating my husband’s birthday Monday, I teased him that our oldest dog, Jinx, an 11-year-old elkhound, is the about same age as him in ‘human years.’ We joked about it because we call her “the ol’ bitch” because she has that grizzled look of a wise old dog. This look – white hairs nearly covering her once black muzzle – afflicts many species. My husband joked back, “We are both grizzled.”

Puppy Bitch ~ Ol’ Bitch

Dog Age in Human Years
In my previous career as the American Kennel Club’s communications director and in-house dog expert, I’d routinely answer questions from the media such as, “Where did the one dog year equals seven human years in calculating a dog’s ‘human age’ come from?” Press inquiries usually came after the death of really old dogs, like a 21-year-old dachshund from Long Island or an allegedly 29-year-old mixed breed from England. Over the years, I’ve answered this seven-to-one conversion question for Esquire’s Answer Fella column, the Wall Street Journal’s ‘The Numbers Guy’ Carl Bialik, and even Slate’s Christopher Beam.

The origins of this conversion as unknown. Most journalists tend to point to the first mention of a human to dog year equivalent in 1268, based on an inscription on the floor of Westminster Abbey in London. Human and canine ages were used in calculating how old one would be around Judgment Day. Ancient scrawl stated that a dog’s average life span was nine years and that humans lived to be 81 years. Another notable comparison example is from Georges Buffon, the 18th century French naturalist, who declared that dogs live about 10 to 12 years while humans live about 90 to 100 years.

Using a rough mathematical formula a nine to one rule was born from these early notations. Then, according to William Fortney, a Kansas State University veterinarian, as quoted in the WSJ piece, human life expectancy was pegged at 70 years (thank you life insurance expectancy tables) and dogs at 10 years and thus the seven-to-one rule was forged into our dog-loving psyche. I tend to believe Fortney’s explanation for the origin of this rule, “My guess is it was a marketing ploy…a way to educate the public on how fast a dog ages compared to a human, predominantly from a health standpoint. It was a way to encourage owners to bring in their pets once a year.” Or you could believe Esquire’s Answer Fella who reported my quote on the rule this way, ..the origin of the seven-year rubic is — like Keith Olbermann’s colon — “shrouded in mystery.”

The Dog Age Formula
But more than half a century ago, science, researchers, and canine studies started to debunk the seven-to-one rule as not a “one-size fits all” for determining you dog’s age in human years. In fact, they learned that the formula varies based on the dog’s advancing age and the dog’s weight as an adult. So unfortunately, like most well-executed marketing campaigns, the seven-to-one rule lives on in popular culture and now must be continually debunked. But if you want to accurately calculate which dog in your household is closest in age to your husband then follow these tried and true guidelines that have been around for the last decade.

Ol’ Bitch Jinx Stealing Ray’s Spot

The first year of a dog’s life is very similar across all the size categories. Most calculating charts have four sizes based on the adult weight of your dog: Small (under 21 pounds); Medium (21-50 pounds); Large (50-90 pounds); and Giant (90 plus pounds). The first two years of a dog’s life show tremendous growth and aging.

1-year-old
Small (under 21 pounds) = 15 years
Medium (21-50 pounds) = 15 years
Large (50-90 pounds) = 14 years
Giant (90 plus pounds) = 12 years

Two-years-old
Small(under 21 pounds) = 24 years
Medium (21-50 pounds) = 24 years
Large (50-90 pounds) = 22 years
Giant (90 plus pounds) = 20 years

But as dogs age, another mystery enters the formula. The larger the dog the quicker it ages (in human equivalents), so by the time a giant dog is 8-years-old, its human equivalent would be 64-years-old. Compare that to the 8-year-old small dog, who would be only 48-years-old, a difference of 16 years aging between the two! Curious to find our about your dog’s human age? Here’s a complete chart for equivalent age in human years.

		Dog Size
Dog Years	Giant Dogs (> 90 lbs.)	Large Dogs (51-90 lbs.)	Medium Dogs (21-50 lbs.)	Small Dogs (< 21 lbs.)
1	12	14	15	15
2	20	22	24	24
3	28	29	29	28
4	35	34	34	32
5	42	40	38	36
6	49	45	42	40
7	56	50	47	44
8	64	55	51	48
9	71	61	56	52
10	78	66	60	56
11	86	72	65	60
12	93	77	69	64
13	101	82	74	68
14	108	88	78	72
15	115	93	83	76

Save the Carriage Horses of New York City

Posted by Lisa Peterson

With the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show right around the corner, it’s time to share a column I recently wrote about the Carriage Horses of New York City. If you are coming to the city for the big dog show, stop by the stables to meet the horses, take a tour and go for a carriage ride. Go to Facebook for Canines and Coaches 2015 open house event info: https://www.facebook.com/caninesandcoachesNYC2015

Grooming Tyson before he heads out for a carriage ride

Lisa Unleashed ~ Originally published in The Newtown Bee, November 14, 2014:

Last summer I was invited by a fellow dog breeder to go on a tour of the carriage horse stables on 52nd Street in New York City. I was vaguely aware that New York City’s Mayor Bill DeBlasio had made a campaign pledge to remove the horse carriage industry from Manhattan and replace them with electric car rides in Central Park. As a horse lover, I found this political promise odd and even dangerous. Animal rights extremists were alleging that the carriage horses were not be treated humanely and that they needed to be “rescued” from this dangerous life on the city streets. I was curious, so I accepted the invitation and went to tour the stables.

Tyson & I - Carriage horse Extraordinaire!

Tyson and Lisa Peterson. Carriage Horse Extraordinaire! Tyson is a handsome 12-year-old Percheron/Morgan cross.

What I found amazed me! As I toured the three-story stables, I was impressed with with rubber matted ramps connecting the floors in a barn any horseman would be proud of. It was summer and there was neither a foul odor from the box stalls nor a fly that I could find. What I did find where well cared for, well-groomed, well-fed, content horses munching on good quality hay, drinking clean water, and taking carrots from my hand. One of the drivers, Steve Malone, a second-generation horseman, offered us a carriage ride through Central Park. We climbed aboard the open-air carriage and enjoyed the views, the clip clop of the hooves on the roads, and the slowing down of a hectic day to enjoy the nature of the park. It was a touch point with horses and history.

Carriage Horse Driver Stephen Malone takes us for a tour of Central Park

Because I had taken the time to visit with the horses, experience a carriage ride, ask questions of the owners on all matters of care, conditioning and retirement, I was soundly convinced that these horses, who have a job and do it well, don’t need to be rescued from the city streets. In fact, this industry is highly regulated since the 1850s with oversight by five city agencies and a 144 pages of regulations. Horses cannot work if it’s too hot, the can not work if its too cold, they get mandatory vet visits several times a year and five weeks of vacation away form the city. They even have a retirement home called Blue Star Equiculture.

Rally for Support

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend a conference in support of animal welfare where one of the licensed drivers from New York, Christina Hansen, spoke on the topic of the threat to ban the horses. It appears to me that there is a hidden agenda behind this issue. I won’t taint your objectivity about it but it involves real estate developers and animal rights groups electing a political candidate. It also involves a community’s response in the face of attacks. In addition this issue has created a rare occurrence in New York City media, where The New York Times, the New York Daily News and the New York Post, all come out in favor of the carriage horses in their editorials. I urge people who want to learn more about this topic, this hidden agenda, and how to support saving this important tradition of horses in our everyday lives to visit www.savenychorsecarriages.com. Please watch the video, narrated by Liam Neeson, a strong advocate to preserve this historic tradition in the city. Also, stop by the blog posts of author Jon Katz at www.bedlamfarm.com for yet more insight about our humanity and our horses.

Stall with a view!

Canines and Coaches & Clip Clop NYC!

The industry has several opportunities each year for open houses and tours of the stables. They believe in being transparent and are proud to show off the care their give their horses. Last June they held their annual ClipClopNYC open house – www.clipclopnyc.com – and in February they held the first annual Canine and Coaches open house in conjunction with the venerable Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The carriage drivers offered discounted rides for any exhibitor and their dog who had been to Westminster. It’s nice to see that when the going gets tough, the dog and horse people always pull together. Next year, Canines and Coaches will be happening again. For more information visit http://www.facebook.com/caninesandcoachesNYC2015.

Stopping for a drink of cool water from a water trough used by horses for more than a century

The movement to ban the carriage horses is not over and it’s an issue still before the New York City Council, despite a recent poll showing that New Yorkers are 2-to-1 in favor of keeping the carriage horses in Central Park. If you are a horse lover and want to support keeping this tradition alive, please, follow “The Famous Horse-Drawn Carriages of Central Park” on Facebook and @NYChorses on Twitter. Use their hashtag, #SaveNYCHorseCarriages to stay informed and help however you can.

Bulow at Sunday School

Posted by Lisa Peterson

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending a service at the Union Church of Pocantico Hills. It was my childhood church, located near Sleepy Hollow, New York. It was here I was christened, attended Sunday school and participated in easter egg hunts. The church is celebrating its centennial this year. As part of that celebration vignettes are being read about past members from the last 100 years. I went to church to hear about my grandparents involvement in this non-denominational church, financed in part by the Rockefellers and over the years adorned with magical windows by Henri Matisse and Mark Chagall. Today, the building is part of the Historic Hudson Valley properties but the congregation still worships together every Sunday.

Before there was a Union Church, a group of residents formed The Pocantico Hills Society for Christian Work in 1900. Among their members were the Rockefellers and the Miltons who called the little hamlet home. Early meetings of this group met at the Lyceum building, which had housed the Pocantico Hills Library Association shortly after its construction in 1891.

Bulow Nelson, my grandfather, was born in 1904 on the Pocantico Hills estate ‘Meriwether,’ home to Ellen and David Milton. The Miltons – who employed Bulow’s parents Oscar and Alma Nelson – were next door neighbors to the Rockefellers and were instrumental in the early affairs of the Society and Union Church.

One Sunday in 1910, 6-year-old Bulow was summoned by his mother Alma to get dressed. Mrs. Milton, standing in their kitchen said, “Alma I want Bulow to come with me to the Lyceum for Sunday school classes we are starting.” Dressed in his knickers suit, Mrs. Milton took him by the hand to the Lyceum building where the Pocantico Hills Society for Christian Work had organized. Bulow remembers being terrified as Mrs. Milton asked him to shake hands with John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Mr. David Milton, Mr. Archer, Mr. Perry and Rev. Deams. Bulow recalled that all around the room were groups of local children studying bible pictures on easels. After Sunday school was over, the elder Mr. Rockefeller gave the children six cents on the porch of the Lyceum building. Bulow was told, “to spend the penny and save the nickel’ by the richest man in the world.

Bulow Nelson after attending Sunday School at the Lyceum building in 1910 where The Pocantico Hills Society for Christian Work had organized.

Bulow graduated from the Pocantico Hills Free School in 1918, a four-room schoolhouse located in the field behind the present day Union Church, when Ray Walker first became principal. In the meantime, the Society that met at the Lyceum had formally organized into The Union Church of Pocantico Hills in 1915. Among his school buddies where some longtime church members including Milton Johnson and his younger brother Oscar Nelson, who helped build the new sanctuary in the 1920s. After many a church service, Bulow and Ray would recall childhood tales on the outside steps of the new sanctuary, which was dedicated in 1922.

Bulow learned to drive trucks on the Meriwether estate, which by 1919 had been purchased by Barron Collier. Even though the Miltons had departed Pocantico Hills, Barron Collier, an advertising executive and owner of Coney Island’s Luna Park and Manhattan’s Hippodrome, filled in as a church benefactor. Collier not only helped donate and raise funds for the new sanctuary, but donated a Wurlitzer pipe organ, in memory of his mother and father, from the Hippodrome as the church’s first organ.

By 1924, Bulow had moved to Manhattan as Mrs. Milton’s chauffeur and it would be more than 20 years before he set foot in Union Church again.

Behind Estate Gates

Posted by Lisa Peterson

Today is the 111th anniversary of the birth of my grandfather – Bülow Waldemar Nelson. He grew up on the Meriwether estate in Pocantico Hills, New York. Meriwether was next door to Kykuit which was owned by the richest man in the world, John D. Rockefeller. My grandfather chronicled his life as a chauffeur to the wealthy from the 1920s Jazz age through the Great Depression of the 1930s. He lived on various iconic Westchester County properties like Weskora, Beechwood and the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Eventually he was promoted from chauffeur to superintendent of an enchanted – some would say haunted by the tales of Washington Irving – estate called Zeeview-on-Hudson. I personally picked up his story when I was a little girl growing up on the habitat of the headless horseman now called Belvedere.

Zeeview (later Belvedere) Estate Gate – front entrance to the habitat of the headless horseman and the haunt of Rip Van Winkle

During ‘Papa’s’ 81 years he collected family photos, postcards, letters, ephemera, news clippings, and books about his life and times. He hand wrote pages and pages of personal recollections along with countless stories told to generations. Come with me as I follow my family through a century filled with happiness and heartaches serving the rich while living behind estate gates.

My great-grandparents had sailed to America from different villages in Sweden in the 1880s. Their names had changed along the way from Oskar Alfred Nilsson to Oscar Nelson and Alma Karoline Pettersson to Alma Peterson. After meeting in Englewood, New Jersey, the came to New York City to find jobs in the late 1890s. They married on Dec. 2, 1902 in New York City. And a little over a year later, in the early morning hours of January 4, 1904, Alma gave birth to their first child, Bulow.

Oscar Nelson was employed as a coachman by David Meriwether Milton, a direct descendent from Meriwether Lewis on his mother’s side. He was a successful attorney in New York City and had a ‘country estate’ named ‘Meriwether’ in Pocantico Hills, New York. The Miltons lived across the street from John D. Rockefeller and his family. By 1904, his estate, Kykuit, was still under transition from a small private home to one of the most famous homes in the world.

The Nelson family lived in the 6-room coachman’s cottage near the stables. The simple house had running water and was supplied by the estate with all the coal, wood, oil, and milk they needed. Oscar Nelson tended to three horses and their carriages, sleighs, wagons, and plows. The barn also had running water. Besides the care of the horses, one or two for pulling carriages and one for tilling the fields, he would drive Mr. Milton and his family around the small hamlet to visit his neighbors, take him to the train station each morning for work in the city, or into the city to pick up provisions, dry goods and sundries for the estate. Alma, while tending to her new baby, would also cook for the estate staff and tend to the flocks of geese, chickens and ducks, and help with milking cows, tending the vegetable garden, and mending clothes. It was into this bucolic estate, still run like a self-sufficient 19th century home of a robber baron a few miles from the Hudson River that my grandfather took his first breath.

Bulow in a wicker pram as a baby

Several photos found among my grandfather’s belongings are his first known photograph of him taken as a two-year-old sitting in the ubiquitous white lace dress with lace collar worn by all babies of the era (see featured photo). The date 1906 is scrawled on the back in my grandfather’s hand. The studio imprint on the front – Rud. Bachmann, 6E. 14th St., New York, may be the first place my grandfather ever visited in New York City, a place he would come to know intimately in his career as a chauffeur. But for his early childhood he would be the son of a coachman.

Young Bulow outside the coachman’s cottage on Meriwether in Pocantico Hills, New York circa 1906

New Year’s Hope

Posted by Lisa Peterson

There are two paths we take as one year passes into the next; one looking forward to the coming year another looking back on what just transpired. Some face firmly in one direction or the other, some do both, a moment of reflection before planning another year. I used to take that two-faced approach, looking back over my shoulder then looking ahead to the unknown. This New Year’s ritual I found mostly depressing as it forced me to focus on what I didn’t accomplish looking back. Then along with setting new goals for the future I found myself putting the same items back onto the resolution list all over again. So, I stopped doing it! Instead I followed my dogs’ advice, which was staring me right in the face, usually after they just licked it.

No Resolutions
My dogs’ advice is simple. Live in the moment. When you spend a great deal of time observing your dogs, you watch them in a variety of moments. I watch them eat, I watch them sleep, I watch them play. I watch them steal bones from each other. I watch them run outdoors. I watch them ‘nest’ before lying down on a blanket. And to borrow a phrase my grandmother, “When we work, we work, when we eat, we eat and when we sleep, we sleep.” This phrase used to come up when someone tried to do something like read at the dinner table or take a nap in the afternoon. In fact, to her, all waking hours were devoted to either work, eat or sleep. Kind of like my dogs. And if you notice that when dogs are eating, they are not trying to play or do basic commands like sit or down. They are focused on the getting to the bottom of the ceramic bowl, to eat every morsel in sight so they can lick the bowl clean and find that blue paw print on the bottom. Then, the bowl is picked up, and eating is done. Fully lived. Finished. Forward. All of us should aspire to live life this way.

So like my dogs, I too live in the moment, I don’t dwell on what just happened and try not to think too far into the future. This has worked out pretty well for both me and my dogs. It also includes not making any resolutions because that would be focusing way into the future where what I’m planning to stick to may never actually happen. Actually, sticking to those resolutions has never happened. So watch and learn from your dogs and discover how they live, from moment to moment to moment. By doing this they create a journey of life moments that flow with ease and take no emotional baggage with them. Besides baggage is heavy, cumbersome and we tend to trip over it. I find their zest for life curious as dogs also thrive on routine, while us humans tend to get bored by routine, especially a dull routine. But to dogs, that routine is again nothing more than lived moments, enjoyed to their fullest, and then moved on to the next one.

All puppies need love!

Hound Hopes
While I don’t make resolutions anymore, I do still have hopes. Buy my hopes are bigger for all dogs and the owners who love them. Here are my New Year’s Hopes for 2015 and that if you find yourself in these moments, no matter how good or difficult, embrace them fully.

– To be in such a still place with your dog – so close, so connected – that you feel the canine-human bond and it becomes the moment.
– To be reminded of the joy your dog feels during the daily walk, evening playtime, couch potato hour watching TV, weekly grooming, and fun training sessions and you don’t let those moments slip by.
– To be considering getting rid of your dog because you made a bad judgement in getting it – and it was just too hard to keep the dog – that you changed your mind in a moment to keep the dog and work it out.
– To be in the position of having to say goodbye to an old or sick dog and you finally found the right moment to do so – and you did with grace and compassion.

Puppy’s First Christmas

Posted by Lisa Peterson

One of my favorite holiday traditions is celebrating with the newest member of the family, the puppy! No matter when the puppy arrived during the year they will always have a first Christmas. Like most of us dog lovers, I’m guilty of overindulgence of my treasured pets. Besides the toys and treats, monogrammed stockings were ordered for them this year. Ok, that was more for me than them.

Holiday Decorating for Dogs
Puppy’s first Christmas is full of wonder and investigation, so in the spirit of safety, no decoration reaches into the puppy zone. Believe me, it’s taken multiple puppies and years of broken ornaments, knocked down large trees, drinking Christmas tree water, licking pine needles, ripped open packages, eaten candles and close calls with poinsettias to come to this design. There are just too many holiday hazards with poisonous plants, glass ornaments, tinsel, chocolate, electrical wires, and open flames to even consider using them. I prefer simplicity and peace of mind for my newest puppy and family pack of high energy hunting hounds.

Adele and Jinx with their elevated Christmas tree

The centerpiece, a two-foot tall Douglas Fur tree in a bucket, rests atop a three-foot tall table placed behind the couch. This keeps it above puppy’s sightline and out of the indoor play area (i.e., the center of the living room). By wrapping a tree skirt (I’ve repurposed an old horse’s dark green quarter sheet) around the bucket and draping table, it keeps inquisitive puppy noses away. Tree decorations are kept to a minimum: one strand of gold garland, a handful of little ornaments and one string of lights. Lights are strung from the tree across the narrow passage way 3 feet above the floor behind the couch to behind a secretary to plug in. This way, no electrical cords are on the floor for a nosy puppy to check out.

Elevated electrical wires for tree lights safely above a prying puppy’s nose

With no room under the tree for the gifts, again, we elevate them even higher, on top of the secretaries near the ceiling. A few larger ornaments previously hung on the big tree now dangle from hutch door fronts and wall sconces. My favorite are two lovely gold painted horseshoes adorned with jingle bells given by the NBLA as party favors at one of their holiday celebrations years ago. Every decoration and wrapped gift is placed 3 to 5 feet above the puppy zone.

Keeping all decorations way above the elkhound’s sightline keeps all elkhounds safe for the holidays.

Christmas Eve Fables
I don’t know when I first heard this fable, but as a child I always believed that all animals bowed down on their front legs at midnight on Christmas Eve to pay homage to all the animals at the Bethlehem manger watching over the birth of Christ. In my childhood home we had a miniature manger complete with biblical action figures, glittering wise men, and an assortment of animals. While counting down the 12 days of Christmas I’d play out this fable with cows, camels and sheep all bowing down in front of the little cradle with the baby Jesus. One day I noticed baby Jesus’ leg bore teeth marks, no doubt from one of the family dogs, who thought he was a toy! The following year, the manager moved from under the tree to the table top. I was never awake at midnight, since I didn’t want to scare away Santa Claus, to see if my pets took part in this tradition.

For the first time in decades, just my husband and hounds will be home, just the five of us, to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. Our puppy will be introduced to the giving of the gifts. The celebration begins with the unwrapping of numerous toys that all three dogs will vie for. After they rip off the wrapping paper, the fun begins. Anyone with a pack knows that what ever toy/bone/treat the other dog has is always better than what they have. The pack plays what I call musical bones! And it usually starts with the youngest puppy going after the alpha dog’s bone, if successful, the alpha goes after beta’s bone, who then turns around and goes after the puppy’s bone. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

This bone-stealing ritual continues unrelenting until they are all exhausted from posturing, chewing and the sheer excitement of something new to play with. After about an hour, the puppy collapses on the floor into immediate slumber, the old dogs soon follow. Then us humans can open our gifts in relative peace. This year I’m hoping to extend the celebration to midnight to finally see for myself if the dogs bow down in honor of the animals in Bethlehem. Happy Holidays to all Hounds from Adele, Jinx & Linx.

A Breeder’s Choice

Posted by Lisa Peterson

Happy Birthday Jazzy & Linx!

AKC Dog Lovers

By Lisa Peterson

Eight years ago today I whelped a litter of puppies. This morning I received an email from the owners of one of those puppies. It boldly declared “Happy Birthday Jazzy!” as it has for the previous seven years. As the breeder of Jazzy, I knew in my heart that this puppy I had planned, whelped, raised and lovingly placed with new owners, had made her way into their hearts.

As a breeder, the most difficult part of the whole process is not the endless hours waiting for the delivery, not cleaning up mountains of newspapers and what’s inside them, but making sure they go to a good home. And not just a good home, but the right home. Each breed presents unique temperaments that must be matched to its new family. Then on top of that, each individual puppy in a litter presents unique characteristics that must…

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Be Thankful for Purpose-bred Puppies

Posted by Lisa Peterson

This past weekend dog lovers descended on the “Thanksgiving Classic Cluster” in Springfield, Massachusetts. This cluster of dogs shows is presented by the Springfield, South Windsor, Holyoke and Windham County kennel clubs who join together to offer four days of dog shows at the Eastern States Exposition, home of the iconic “The Big E” fair. Amongst the more than 2,500 purebred dogs representing 167 breeds at the shows, were dozens of darling puppies.

Dog shows are put on by volunteers who then give a part of the proceeds to needy canine causes in their communities. Yes, dog shows are fundraisers. But the best by-product is meeting all the puppies! There is nothing cuter than a ring full of wagging and wiggling puppies waiting to kiss anyone who calls their name. Every size and shape were on hand, from the handsome Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen to Miniature Longhaired Dachshund in the hound puppy ring. There was the large Great Dane and the little Chihuahua, and of course, everyone’s favorite, the Golden Retriever puppy.

Count Our Blessings

Adele in the wilds of the backyard in Dodgingtown

During the annual turkey tradition many are faced with the “Let’s go around the table and say what we are thankful for” routine. Heard are the familiar refrains of spouse’s and parent’s names and the occasional ‘good health’ thrown into the mix before consuming an 8,000 calorie meal. But this year when asked that question, my reply will be, “I’m thankful for puppies!” Everyone at the table will giggle and laugh but to someone who has spent a lifetime “in dogs” I really mean this as something serious.

Ray welcomes Adele to Dodgingtown

I’m thankful for all the dedicated responsible breeders who plan and lovingly raise litters of puppies. I’m thankful they have spent decades of scientific study in health research, genetics and pedigrees. I’m thankful that when families want a happy, healthy purebred puppy, that meets their needs and lifestyle, they can find one at the home of a responsible breeder. I’m thankful that purebred puppies come with predictable personalities, sizes and coat types, making a lifetime match with a new owner’s needs a very simple and rewarding process.

I’m thankful for the hundreds of breeds (and therefore puppies) in the world. This past weekend I met a 15 week-old Pumi puppy. What’s a Pumi, you say? An adorable Hungarian herding breed with a soft coat like a Poodle and erect ears with floppy tips that give it the cutest expression ever. I melted when I met a 6-month-old Maltese puppy so tiny with its white flowing coat, yet so calm you could cradle him in your arms. Then I met a 17-week-old Norwich Terrier puppy all the way from Finland. His hardy coat, “like a hedgehog” the owner said was a tactile delight. Oh, did I mention the puppy kisses? I am thankful for all of them.

Puppies for the 21st Century
These breeds all had a fundamental purpose to help mankind survive the millennium. Whether to help us with hunting for food, guarding our farms and flocks, or just keeping us warm at night. Some simply being small enough to fit up the sleeve of a royal princess’ robe to ward off the chill in the palace at night. Today I’m thankful for their 21st century purpose. The Pumi is going into Agility, a fast-paced and athletic dog sport to keep her owner active. The Maltese belongs to a senior couple who needs a small lapdog to keep them company in retirement. The Norwich Terrier will be bringing genetic diversity to a breeder’s responsible breeding program. Each puppy has a story, each breed has a purpose. I am thankful that in America each new puppy owner has the freedom of choice for the type of puppy they want.

Adele and Lisa Visit the Enchanted Garden

I’m also thankful that there are smart people who combat and defeat proposed mandatory spay and neuter laws of all puppies sold in America. If that were to happen, eventually, there would be no more puppies. And that would be a very sad world indeed.

So this Thanksgiving I’m thankful for all the puppies and the people who love them. I’m thankful for the volunteers that put on dog shows so the public has easy access to learn and meet scores of breeds and breeders on any given weekend. And I’m thankful for the breeders who preserve and protect them for future generations to enjoy. I am thankful that after the Thanksgiving meal there will be a purebred puppy curled up by the fireplace for everyone to enjoy.

Watch AKC This Week

Posted by Lisa Peterson

My Norwegian Elkhound puppy Adele took some time this week to join me in New York City at the American Kennel Club to talk about our experiences in the 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy Competition. Now that she is 6 months old, she is practicing for the “big dog” shows.

AKC Dog Lovers

Enjoy AKC This Week, which shares buzz around recent and upcoming shows, news from the dog world, and interviews with members of the fancy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umF0yKT_o5M

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The Fall Indoor Circuit

Posted by Lisa Peterson

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show just finished 10 days showcasing premier hunters and jumpers ridden by juniors and adults, all culminating in the $85,000 Grand Prix de Penn National. I watched nearly ever round of every class thanks to live streaming on the USEF Network (www.usefnetwork.com) the online channel of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Thanks to technology horse-crazy girls like myself can experience equine sports to the extreme from the bending lines, in and outs, and long approaches of those exquisitely executed hunter courses to those thrilling triple combinations, rollbacks, and jumper jump-offs. To my delight I also watched Hunt Night, complete with a pack of hounds and the Ladies Side Saddle division, including jumping! Think about that for a moment.

Horse Show of the Gilded Age
Premier horse shows, like dog shows, grew up in Manhattan’s gilded age in the 1870s and 1880s. The famous Westminster Kennel Club dog show, founded in 1877, which promotes itself as the second longest sporting event in America after the Kentucky Derby, was founded by a group of sportsmen. So too was the National Horse Show founded in 1883 by a group of sportsmen. And while horse sports, in the form of racing was established much earlier, with such venues as the Saratoga Race Course in 1863 during the Civil War, it was the post-war economic boom which fueled incredible wealth and the need to spend it on leisurely pursuits.

At this point those gilded gentlemen and their ladies, needed some entertainment and bragging rights to amuse themselves during the rest of the year when they weren’t up at the “Saratoga Spa” but stuck in New York City for the fall and winter social seasons. Both Westminster and the National Horse Show chose the original Madison Square Garden at 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue as the venue for the premier events in their respective sports.

“The National” became “the place” to be seen. In fact, according to the event’s website, “By 1887, the National Horse Show Directory, listing directors and 920 members, formed the basis for Louis Keller’s first New York Social Register.” Even The New York Times journalist Joe Drape gave a nod to the social status of the National when recounting the racehorse Cigar, “to his final destination of Madison Square Garden, where on Nov. 2, 1996, he was thrown a retirement party before the white-gloved set at the National Horse Show.”

As the popularity of equine sports soared after World War II the National had company. The Pennsylvania National Horse Show was founded in Harrisburg in 1945 followed by the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) in 1958 in DC. These three top-rated urban horse shows held in large indoor arenas a few weeks apart in October were dubbed “the indoor circuit” or “fall indoors” for the last half century.

Horse-Crazy Girls
I recall my first trip to the National as a young child mesmerized by something called the Puissance. This class basically asks a horse to gallop at a 7-foot brick wall made of wooden boxes and jump it. I also remember watching the Maclay Equitation Finals because a fellow rider at my barn was showing her sister’s beautiful black Thoroughbred mare Fleet Nancy, a relative of 1943 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet. I also remember another young girl who won that class, Leslie Burr, who hailed from Connecticut. It was at that show I fell in love with horse shows, jumping and Thoroughbreds!

Last week I watched that same Leslie Burr, now Howard, pilot many jumpers around the Farm Complex at the Penn National via live stream. It was a different kind of thrilling than some 40 years earlier at the Garden, but still, today I could watch it where ever I was! And, Olympic veteran Howard keeps those beautiful horses right here in Newtown.

This week I’ll be tuning in to watch the WIHS, which now bills its self as ‘the country’s leading metropolitan indoor horse show,” since the venerable National left Madison Square Garden in 1990s. Indeed, the WIHS has other bragging rights as well, including “The standing North American indoor Puissance (high jump) record of 7 feet 7 1/2 inches was set at Washington in 1983 by Anthony D’Ambrosio and Sweet N’ Low.

And to finish up the indoor circuit October 28-November 2, the Alltech National Horse Show can be viewed online from USEF’s headquarters at the Kentucky Horse Park, the show’s home since 2011. It pleases me to know that the National, at one point near extinction once it left New York City, was a tradition founded and saved by a “group of sportsmen” and sportswomen too!