the lady’s Toys is featured in a photo with a caption that reads, “Ticky, the parti-colored Toy Poodle, challeng- ing a teddy bear to a fight.” CHIHUAHUA (SMOOTH COAT) Mrs. Henrietta Proctor Donnell Reilly was an American promoter of many Toy breeds, most notably the English Toy Spaniel, Miniature Pin- scher, Affenpinscher, and Chihuahua. In its heyday, her Etty Haven Kennels in Larchmont, Westchester County, New York, was home to more than 100 dogs. Mrs. Proctor Donnell was co-founder of the Chihuahua Club of America and its president for eight years. She was also the first presi- dent of the Progressive Dog Club, the revered Group show where a Group First is officially considered a Best in Show win by the American Ken- nel Club. The Etty Haven Kennel’s top-winning Chihuahuas included littermates Ch. Uz of Etty Haven and Ch. Buz of Etty Haven, and the di- minutive Ch. Cecillee of Etty Haven. Beginning in 1933, Ch. Joya Preciosa was a reliable winner for the ken- nel, earning Best of Breed wins and multiple Group placements for three years running. POMERANIAN According to the AKC Blue Book, Po- meranian fancier Mrs. Vincent Mat- ta was “one of the most prominent personages in ‘Poms’…representing years of careful breeding and fear- less showing.” A resident of Astoria on New York’s Long Island, Mrs. Matta is described as favoring line-breeding based on several imports, including Ch. SealandMoneybox and Ch. Little Sahib, both grandsons of Ch. Wood- field Diamond King whose progeny influenced the breed in America and Australia. In 1937, Little Sahib won Best of Breed 21 times, Best Toy 20 times, and Best in Show on three oc- casions. He was top American-Bred Toy for 1936 and runner-up for Best American-Bred dog all-breeds the following year. For three consecutive years, he was Best of Breed and Best
MINIATURE PINSCHER In 1929, the American parent club of the Miniature Pinscher was formed, four years after AKC recognition. In- terestingly, the “King of Toys” origi- nally competed in the Terrier Group. Among the breed’s early supporters in the US was Mrs. B. J. Wentker of Burlington, Wisconsin. (A brew pub by the name B. J. Wentker’s operated in the city, though it is unclear wheth- er its German immigrant proprietor and his wife were associated with the Min. Pin.) In any event, Ch. Princess Sylvia v. Konigsbach was owned by a Mrs. Wentker and competed success- fully on the bench during the breed’s earliest years in America. As detailed in the 1938 Blue Book, “This beauti- ful little Miniature Pinscher set the circuit ‘on fire.’ She would show ‘just enough’ against her own breed. In the Groups she would get steamed up, but when she was in against larger breeds she’d really ‘turn on the heat’ and show her champion class.” POODLE (TOY) By the 1930s, the Poodle had be- come a force to be reckoned with in the ring. The dogs of Pillicoc, Misty Isles, Fair Acres, and Blakeen feature prominently throughout the pages of the AKC Blue Book of Dogs. Most, if not all, are Standards, with a few gor- geous Miniatures included for good measure. A notable exception is a small white Toy that appears on page 126, sandwiched between two Pom- eranians. Mitor of Muriclar is the sole representative of the variety that would ultimately capture the hearts of innumerable fanciers in the US and around the world. Owned byMrs. Charles Clark of San Francisco and bred by Florence Orsie, the coy little coquette is listed as having been sired by Happy Chappy out of Orsie’s Mit Zee. According to Mackey J. Irick Jr. in The New Poodle , many US Poodles can be traced back to this particu- lar sire. Mrs. Clark’s involvement in the breed apparently spanned sev- eral decades. In a 1951 San Francisco Chronicle article covering the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show, one of
Ch. Itho of Offley (Trytho x Bella du Chauffeur)
Ch. Princess Sylvia v. Konigsbach (Nichol’s Buddy Boy x Ch. Eui v. d. Konigs- bach)
Mitor of Muriclar (Happy Chappy x Orsie’s Mit Zee)
Ch. Joya Preciosa (Ch. Little Meron x Angelica) 34 • T op N otch T oys , N ovember /D ecember 2020
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