The Gossip Column: March 27, 2026

Reporting the passing of a member of our dog world community is always difficult but it also brings back happy times spent with that person and if I don’t personally know who I am writing about I think of the family and friends and how they process their grief. But every now and then, a passing hits very close to home as it did with the passing of CAROL REISMAN. A longtime Afghan Hound breeder and group judge known to many but to me she was like a sister. We met on the street while I was walking my Afghan Hound puppy in the village close to both of our homes. It was Spring in the late 1960’s. Together with her sister HONI the three of us were inseparable. For years we did everything together. Like brothers and sisters, our lives changed but the love and knowledge that we were always there for one another existed to this very day. A special relationship that lasted nearly sixty years. As our lives took different paths, CAROL remained dedicated to her original breed, highlighted by her best of breed at the national specialty and then embarked on a successful judging career. Two highlights included judging at the AFGHAN HOUND CLUB OF AMERICA NATIONAL SPECIALTY and judging the HOUND GROUP at the 2003 WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB, pictured. CAROL passed away last Wednesday and took a big part of my heart. I will always cherish our time together (well almost all, the leopard onesie I could have lived without). My love and sympathy go out to CAROL'S sisters HONI & FRAN and their brother JIMMY and their family. The REISMAN FAMILY will host a Celebration of Life at the family home at 3392 Bay Front Place, Baldwin, New York on Tuesday, April 7th from 2 P.M. to 8 P.M. In lieu of flowers the family has requested those wishing to make a donation do so  to the JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE or TAKE THE LEAD in CAROL’S memory.