Scottish Deerhound 'Violet' Is Winningest Owner-Handled Hound In History

With head-turning beauty and exquisite movement, a 6-year-old silver-gray Scottish Deerhound named “Violet” has tallied 38 Bests in Show in the AKC National Owner-Handler Series to become the winningest Hound in history. “Violet walks into the show ring as though she owns it. She’s a diva. It’s always all about her,” says breeder-owner-handler Shawny Cirincione, of Danbury, Connecticut. The No. 1 Scottish Deerhound in all systems in 2017 and 2018, Multi-BIS GCH Hobarra’s I Dreamed A Dream has been the top Deerhound in the Owner-Handler Series since 2015. Violet is co-owned by Anthony Cirincione, co-breeder and husband of Shawny Cirincione, and Terry Rizzitello, of Briar Cliff Manor, New York. A breeder of Scottish Deerhounds for 33 years, Cirincione credits her mentor, the late Helen Putrino of Glassonby Deerhounds in Australia, for her success. “If it weren’t for Helen, I would not have the Deerhounds I have,” she says. Putrino allowed Cirincione to breed her bitch, GCH Hobarra’s Let’s Get It Started, the Best of Breed winner at the 2014 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, to her stud, CH Glassonby Defying Gravity, the last Glassonby dog in the U.S., a cross that produced Violet’s litter. Cirincione feeds her “once-in-a-lifetime dog” Purina Pro Plan SPORT Performance 30/20 Salmon Rice Formula.