Rody Best receives inaugural award from Master National Retriever Club for lending a hand to Hurricane Harvey victims and helping fellow retriever enthusiasts
I had been doing conformation classes since early 80's. Finally settled on French Bulldogs in the late 90's. By then I had started my breeding program to bring forth what we have today.
A fan of the Working breeds, Tracy Houlihan of OutBack Kennel in Berkley, Mass., has owned Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, Boxers and Doberman Pinschers throughout her career as a breeder.
My story begins seven years ago. I was a grouse hunter without a dog. I met an older gentleman at a gun show and he invited me to go with him and his Llewellins to Wisconsin.
Some of my first memories are of my parents showing their Bullmastiffs, playing "show dog" with the puppies. I put points on my first dog - a Chihuahua named Ruby when I was only 5 years old. Dogs are, and have been my entire life.
I started showing shelties as a junior handler in the 1980's. Being involved in junior showmanship kept me out of trouble and focused on a goal. The years I competed I was ranked number 2 and number 6 in the nation.
I started in purebred dogs in 1999 with Alaskan Malamutes. Fell in love with boxers and purchased my first boxer in 2001, and haven't looked back. We train for show and working, and started working on SAR training in 2008.
My Dad introduced me to deer hunting at a very young age and I have be obsessed with it ever since. I started shed hunting a few years ago and have been hooked ever since.
We are all about bird dogs. We run a bird dog training facility in northeastern Oklahoma. At our facility we accept two classes of pointing and flushing dogs a year.