One of Vampira’s sons by Ch. Flo-Star’s Little Tiam, Ch. El Cocagi Wilhelm, went to England, where he joined some other of the Flo-Star Affens at Wendy Boorer’s Furstin kennels. Wilhelm and a grandson out of Ch. Hilane’s Lonesome Cowboy have contributed greatly to the Affenpinschers in the UK. Mrs. Rita Turner, whose kennel name is Gerbrae, and the late Mrs. Pat Patchen, whose prefix was Zipaty, imported five American Affenpinschers. These dogs from Hilane and Tajar added to Balu, Flo-Star, Vroni Kleine and El Cocagi lines comprise the majority of the American influence in England. According to The First Fifty Affenpinscher Champions, compiled by Dr. M. Brown and Mrs. S. Pirrie, every current-day chanpion goes back to these lines.
One of the Hilane Affens added to the breeding program of Patricia and Dr. Christine Dresser, this is Ch. Hilane’s Dress Circle Sunray, the black and tan sire of Ch. Dress Circle Good Grrief.
Ch. Dress Circle Good Grrief, bred by Patricia and Dr. Christine Dresser, won ten all-breed Bests in Show, expertly handled by Tom Glassford.
Owned and exhibited by Patricia and Dr. Christine Dresser, Ch. Hilane Dress Circle Best Bet is seen here winning the Toy Group from the Puppy Class at the 1980 Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show under famous all-breed judge Maxwell Riddle.
FURTHER WAVES OF SUCCESS
Because of the success of the El Cocagi Affenpinschers, more of the established kennels began to share their bloodlines more readily. Aff-Kins, Balu and Flo-Star kennels, with a number of new enthusiasts, eagerly crossed out to one another’s stock and improved on each of their lines. Behind all of the top contemporary show dogs one will find these four kennel names.
Another of the modern influential breeding programs is this author’s own Hilane kennels. Starting with a Kamehameha son, Ch. Sharpette’s Tiny Tim, and a female from the Stoewsands, Ch. El Cocagi Wunder Dame v. Hilane, the Hilane Affenpinschers are included in many breeding programs in North America, England, Australia, France, Sweden, Poland and Finland.
Two females from Tiny Tim and Wunder Dame won Toy Groups in the early 1980s. One of these daughters was Ch. Hilane Dress Circle Best Bet, owned and exhibited by Patricia Dresser and her daughter Dr. Christine Dresser of Medina, Ohio. Best Bet won the Toy Group from the Puppy Class at the prestigious Detroit Kennel Club Dog Show in 1980. The Dressers added several more Hilane Affens to their kennel. A black and tan, Ch. Hilane’s Dress Circle Sunray, out of Lonesome Cowboy, sired one of the top all-breed Best in Show-winning dogs, Ch. Dress Circle Good Grrief. This wonderful show dog won ten all-breed BISs handled by the well-known dog aficionado and AKC dog show official Tom Glassford. In 1989 Ch. Dress Circle Grrease Monkey, co-owned and shown by Dani Rosenberry, won the national specialty under judge James Cavallaro. Another of their breeding, Ch. Dress Circle Grrilla, owned by Connie and Marvin Clapp, won an all-breed Best in Show. Connie Clapp has been active in the breed club and is an AKC judge.
National specialty winner Ch. Dress Circle Grrease Monkey, co-owned and shown by Dani Rosenberry.
The winner of the first two AKC-licensed national Affenpinscher specialties in 1986 and 1987, the fourth Affen to win an all-breed Best in Show and, to date, all-time top-producing sire is Ch. Hilane’s Lonesome Cowboy, bred, owned and shown by Jerome Cushman. His progeny continue to be the top-winning and top-producing Affenpinschers in North America and England. Cowboy’s sire was Ch. El Cocagi’s Wilhelm. Among the other notable Hilane Affenpinschers are Ch. Hilane’s Lili Marlene, Cowboy’s dam, who won Best of Breed at a supported entry under the late judge Herr Hans Holler, who at the time was president of the German PSK (Pinscher Schnauzer Club), and Ch. Hilane’s I’ll Be Jiggered, who was a top winner and supported-entry breed winner under Edith Nash Hellerman in 1981. Both Lili and Jiggers were co-owned by William Beskie and Bonnie Sue (Beskie) Ross. Bonnie Sue Ross was an ardent Affenpinscher enthusiast and worked as the secretary for the Affenpinscher Club of America when the AKC first formally recognized this club and when the first revised breed standard was accepted in 1990. Jiggers, bred to Ch. El Cocagi’s Panda Bear, produced some important males who have contributed greatly to the breed. One of them was Ch. Hilane’s Oberon of Wicksteed, owned by Vicki Garrett-Knill.
All-breed BIS winner Ch. Dress Circle Grrilla, owned by Connie and Marvin Clapp.
Ch. Hilane’s I’ll Be Jiggered, co-owned by William Beskie and Bonnie (Beskie) Ross, produced a number of top sires for the breed.
Ch. Hilane’s Reggie White, owned by Jerome Cushman.
Bred, owned and handled by author Jerome Cushman, Ch. Hilane’s Marlane was the first group-placing Affenpinscher with natural ears and tail.
Another important Affen was Ch. Hilane’s Procyon, owned by Peter Fine and Ramona Martinez Fine. This dog, called “Al,” along with Lonesome Cowboy’s son Ch. Hilane’s Alpha Centauri, became the foundation sires for the Osgood Farm’s Affenpinschers. Their first female was Ch. Wyn Willow Sirius from Bonnie Sellner. The most notable offspring of Ch. Hilane’s Alpha Centauri and Ch. Wyn Willow Sirius was the multiple Best in Show-winning Ch. Osgood Farm’s Bull Market. “Bully” was shown by both Ramona Fine and Maripi Wooldridge and won the 1990 national specialty. He was the sire of several champions including the top-winning show dogs, Ch. Osgood Farm’s Mighty Mouse. Dr. and Mrs. Brian Shack from Long Island, New York owned “Mouse.” This specialty and multiple BIS winner was shown first by Robert Fisher and later by the famous dog handler Peter Green. Mouse placed twice in the Toy Group at the prestigious Westminster Dog Show. He has gone on to produce several champions. Ch. Terian’s Black Storm Rising is one of special note. The Shacks’ dogs included some of Nancy Bryant’s Rosehill females in their Terian breeding program. Dr. Shack passed away in 2004.
In 1988 the first female to win a national Affenpinscher specialty was Ch. Ken-Jo’s Little Affen Annie, bred by Ken and Josephine Harkins and owned by Barbara Sayres. This granddaughter of both Kamehameha and of top-producing Ch. El Cocagi’s Vampira was Mrs. Sayres’s first Affenpinscher. Soon Barbara and her husband Richard, who was from a well-known dog-showing family that specialized in Kerry Blue Terriers, became very involved with the breed. They bred Annie to Ch. Hilane’s Lonesome Cowboy, which was the start of the Gibbs Pond Affenpinschers. Later, the Sayreses purchased a female from Vicki Garrett-Knill, Ch. Wicksteed Cuddler of Gibbs Pond. Their Gibbs Pond kennel moved from Long Island to Maryland and later to Florida, where the Sayreses have retired from showing.
Ken and Josephine Harkins, also from Long Island, started their Affen program with the Mountain View dogs acquired from Dave and Marjorie Saylor. The Harkinses have produced some very fine black and red Affenpinschers including Ch. Ken-Jo’s Little Affen Annie’s red litter sister, Ch. Ken-Jo Ginger Schnapps.
