Misty
started her show career at the Portland Boxer Specialty where she went
Best Puppy in Show under Miriam Breed (Barmere). She told us then
how nice she was and gave us a clue about showing dogs and the politics
that went with it.
Misty went home to grow up and her
handler Larry Ingalls (just had gotten his license) begged my Father to
let him take her to the Texas circuit which started in Witchita, Kansas.
Finally, after Mother, Larry and I begged we got the entries in just before
closing and Misty went off to her first show circuit. She was entered
in Open. At the first show she went BIS All Breeds from the Open
class under three different judges -- Alfred A. LePine, Percy Roberts and
Louis Muir. We were novice enough that when Larry called at 2 AM and told
us we asked what is Best in Show? Hello?
For the rest of the circuit she
won all the points to her championship except her second major -- all two
point shows and Harry Sangster came in from CA with a big-time dog and
that was the end of us for the Breed. Later in the year, she was
entered in the Pacific Northwest Boxer Specialty and she finished with
a five point major under Dr. Dan Gordon. There were three really
nice bitches being shown at that time -- and they would take turns winning
the few majors that were out there. Shows were sparse in the NW at
that time. Something like 3-4 per year. Misty was the second of the
three to finish.
We specialed her and she won the
Group every time she was shown in the NW. She was taken to Canada and won
her Canadian Ch. in one weekend with 3 First in Working Groups and 1 Best
in Show. They did the nose print in those days for identification.
She was shown at what was called the Vancouver Exposition. They had
everything there -- like our state fairs. We were very proud of her Canadian
Championship. In those days, dogs with more than one title in two countries
were called International Champions.
Misty was also a performer in fashion
shows in the Seattle area. She was used by the models for Frederick
& Nelson and the Bon Marche. the department stores. F&N was
owned by Marshall Fields Co. and Seattle, for a frontier town, was quite
a fashion hub and center.
Misty was bred to Ch. Capt. Lookout
of Thorhall and produced 5 champions. The one other flashy pup was
Marjack's Golden Wizard and he had 13 points and one major when his "Mother"
said that was it -- no more dog shows and we couldn't convince her otherwise.
Boo Hoo. Earl Overstreet bought one of the plain sisters which was
named Marjack's Golden Wit and she was the foundation of his breeding program.
Larry Downey tried to show one of the other plain ones, Marjack's Golden
Whirlwind but we couldn't ever get enough weight on her to put her in perfect
show condition which it would have taken to finish a plain bitch in those
days.
Misty was one of those exceptional
dogs who was not only outstanding in the show ring but was a producer in
the whelping box. She was a house pet, never saw the inside of a
crate and rode to the dog shows with Larry in the back of a Cadillac convertible.
Top down, no leashes, scared us to death.
This bitch had more common sense
than any other dog that I have had. She was just plain good at everything
she did!! She was my heart and soul!! |