10 Questions ...

Profession: Freelance commercial and fine artist, self-employed. 

Dog-sport involvement: I began in obedience in 1979, migrated to conformation shortly after. I serve on the executive of the MSC of Canada, Saskatchewan Terrier and am editor of the American Miniature Schnauzer Club’s breed magazine.

Hometown: Delisle, SK Canada

Astrological sign: Sagittarius

01 Do you have any dog-show superstitions?
Each time I leave for a show, my husband says “break a dog’s leg!”. I don’t leave the driveway until I’ve heard it. 

02 TV-show guilty pleasure?
Like millions of others, we’ve “cut the cable” and no longer watch TV.

03 If you were president of AKC for one day, what would you do?
Get out of geo-politics -- it’s a worm can of awkward hypocrisies. The job description is “preservation and betterment of purebred dogs”. We are in trouble, we need you to FOCUS. We could use some serious marketing directed at the public, alerting them that the treasured breeds of their childhood face extinction. Borrow language from endangered species campaigns (which they already recognize and that resonates) to reframe the debate.

04 Most valued material possession?
My collection of Dan Kedrowski’s Schnauzer Shorts magazines.

05What is something no one would guess about you?
That I’m on a “first name basis” with a number of national and international journalists and opinion writers.

06 Who would you compare yourself to?
That’s a tricky question. I’ll list instead a few childhood (Leonardo da Vinci, Katharine Hepburn) and current role models, people whom I admire for their absolute fearlessness: the late Christopher Hitchens, writer Douglas Murray, Elon Musk and most recently and tragically, Charlie Kirk.

07 What are you “famous” for?
Stirring the pot.

08 What are your thoughts on Social Media?
Social media and the internet more broadly, have freed millions from Plato’s cave. Despite the abuses and risks, that’s a net good. More narrowly, platforms like Facebook have eroded dog show participation by serving up dopamine hits on demand. Too many have left the tough work of real world competition behind, and turned to posting photos on these platforms to generate cheap, fleeting (and often insincere) “likes”.

09 What was more memorable, your most satisfying win or disappointing defeat? And what was it? 
Most memorable by far, was a Group 4th win at Montgomery County KC under breeder-judge David Kirkland with my 9th generation homebred. I don’t  dwell on defeats.

10 What do you wish someone would ask you?
Please show people how to stop strangling their Mini Schnauzers on choke collars.