731 — Buddy the Beagle, Children’s Books and Dog Show Life with Will Alexander
Buddy the Beagle, Children’s Books and Dog Show Life with Will Alexander
Will Alexander joins host Laura Reeves to talk about his charming new children’s book series starring Buddy the Beagle, plus judging, podcasting and the timeless chaos of navigating dog shows without GPS.
Longtime dog show handler and judge Will Alexander returns to Pure Dog Talk with something unexpected in his portfolio: a children’s book series. Inspired by his real-life beagle — a 1992 American National winner nicknamed “Bud Man” — Will wrote the first book, What Is My Name? at his kitchen table on a whim. What followed was a growing series including Buddy Finds a Family and Buddy’s First Christmas, with Buddy the Beagle and the Easter Egg Hunt coming soon.
The books target the five-to-six-year-old crowd and feature a real child, Savannah Bernardin, Katie and Adam’s daughter, as Buddy’s companion. Will used AI illustration tools to bring Buddy to life after early attempts with family members proved less than reliable. He also touches on his earlier novel For the Love of Dogs, a coming-of-age story about a boy who discovers the dog show world.
Beyond the books, Will and Laura cover plenty of ground familiar to longtime fanciers. They discuss the state of crop and dock legislation in Canada, where Ontario remains the last province permitting the practices. They celebrate the new AKC-CKC title recognition agreement that will finally show Canadian championships properly on pedigrees. And they reflect on the shrinking but still vibrant Canadian show scene, noting that Western Canadian shows maintain strong entries partly because they draw from multiple provinces.
The conversation winds down with a laugh-out-loud exchange about pre-GPS dog show navigation — road atlases, wrong exits, and dads who somehow just knew how to get places.
262 — Will Alexander on Grooming, Handling and Heroes
Will Alexander on Grooming, Handling and Heroes
Will Alexander winning BOB in Gordon Setters at Westminster Kennel Club this week.
Canadian dog handling legend, Will Alexander, shares his memories, his handling tips and grooming tools that have brought him significant success in the last 25 years.
“My heroes were people like George Alston,” Alexander said. “He basically taught me to trim Irish Setters over the phone.”
“I always wanted to be a handler, but before embarking on a handling career I worked for Garry MacDonald in Canada, and for Bobby Stebbins in the States,” Alexander said.
Carving the picture
Will Alexander grew up with Irish Setters and learned from George Alston, over the phone, how to trim them.
Grooming is not a recipe, Alexander noted. Every dog is different. Famous for his meticulous grooming of setters particularly, Alexander describes a process to “build a shell around the dog” when trimming the back coat. He works with a stripping knife, his fingers, a grooming stone and, the most important piece, a bristle brush to bring up the oils in the coat.
Attention to detail
“I hate it when I hear “Oh, they won because they are so and so… well, they didn’t just grow up and they were so and so… they had to work hard to become so and so,” Alexander said. “It’s hard work. For every 15 minutes of fame there are 23 hrs 45 minutes working on your dog. It’s not age, it’s mileage.”
Tips of the trade
- Think in slow motion. In real time you’re doing exactly the right speed.
“When Miss P won the group at the Garden, George Alston called and yelled at me that I had gone too fast on the down and back. It was terrifying!”
- Attention to detail.
“I like to sit and watch the ring, pretend I’m in there already, making my mistakes in my head so I don’t make them in the ring.”
- “Old fashioned” isn’t bad
“I have a mind’s eye picture of the dogs. So much of type is in how they move, how they carry themselves,” Alexander said. “We need to be preserving the breeds not ‘improving’ them.”
Dream Best in Show Lineup
- English Springer Spaniel Ch. Salilyn’s Condor
- Borzoi Ch. Kishniga’s Desert Song
- Doberman Pinscher Ch. Brunswig’s Cryptonite
- Wire Fox Terrer ch galsul excellence
- Pekingese Ch. Wendessa Crown Prince
- Standard Poodle Ch. Rimskittle Ruffian
- German Shepherd Dog Ch Altana’s Mystique
BIS to Robert the Springer
For more information, videos, the book and more, visit http://www.doghandlingtips.com/