Lifetime Achievement Awards 2008AKC Honors Recipients of the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Awards
The American Kennel Club (AKC®) honored the recipients of the 2008 AKC Lifetime Achievement Awards at the December 4 Delegates Meeting in Long Beach, California, in conjunction with the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. The winners received an engraved Tiffany and Co. sterling silver bowl. A larger Tiffany and Co. bowl, engraved with the names of all recipients past and present, is on permanent display at the AKC Headquarters in New York City.
The AKC Lifetime Achievement Awards were created to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of purebred dogs on a national level. The recipients were selected by votes cast by AKC member clubs for nominees in each of the following categories: Conformation, Companion Events and Performance.
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| Left to Right: John Lyons (AKC Chief Operating Officer) Doug Ljungren (Director of AKC Performance Events) Curt Curtis (Assistant Vice President of AKC Companion Events) Dennis Sprung (AKC President and Chief Executive Officer) Dennis Bath Mildred (Mid) Rothrock Damara Bolté Ronald H. Menaker (AKC Chairman of the Board) Hon. David C. Merriam (AKC Vice Chairman of the Board) |
The 2008 recipients are:
Conformation: Damara Bolté
Damara Bolté, of Leesburg, Virginia, has been intrigued by animals for as long as she can remember. She majored in Animal Husbandry at Purdue University and spent a winter in Paris studying Animal Sculpture. In 1955 she became the kennel manager for Bettina Belmont Ward's show kennel of Basenjis. She was given Bettinas Fedha, the foundation for Damara's Reveille Basenjis.
While her more than three decades as a supervisory Animal Husbandman at the National Institutes of Health meant handling and breeding on a limited basis, she managed to handle nine Best in Show winners and two Reveille dogs have won the Basenji Club of America's National Specialty. Another Reveille dog was the first Basenji to be named a Pedigree Award winner.
A longtime board member of the Basenji Club of America, Damara is also the current president of Old Dominion Kennel Club of Northern Virginia. She was the AKC GAZETTE breed columnist for three decades and the author of the Hound chapter in The AKC's World of the Purebred Dog.
Damara served on the advisory committee for the AKC Registered Handlers program and is herself an AKC Registered Handler and a member of the Professional Handlers Association. In 2002 she was honored as the first recipient of the AKC Breeder of the Year award in the Hound Group.
Companion Events: Mildred (Mid) Rothrock
Mid acquired her first Rottweiler in 1953 and soon afterward joined the Marin County Dog Training Club. Nine titled Rottweilers followed to the present time, including a CH CDX bitch, a CH UDT dog, and a CDX, TDX dog. A Papillon also made his home with the Rottweilers for 16½ years, earning a CDX and a TD.
A life member of Marin County Dog Training Club, Mid served in many capacities, including trial secretary, tracking test secretary, trainer, and editor of Paw Prints. Also a life member of Western Rottweiler Owners, Mid served as editor of their monthly newsletter and also wrote a monthly column covering Northern California Obedience activities for Front & Finish.
After discovering the joys of Tracking, she became a Tracking judge in 1972 and added Obedience in 1976. She was among the first to be approved to judge the TDX test.
A nine-year-old bitch took her into the world of Herding and she earned a title from the American Herding Breed Association (AHBA), which led to service on the American Rottweiler Club committee, which successfully petitioned the AKC to have Rottweilers admitted to Herding tests.
Performance: Dennis Bath
Dennis has been dedicated to retrievers since purchasing his first Labrador in 1967. His greatest success was with Lawhorn's Cadillac Mack, with whom he won back-to-back National Amateur Championships in 1979 and 1980. Mack accumulated 218 all-age points, and was inducted into the Retriever Hall of Fame in 1992.
Dennis has held every office in the National Open Retriever Club, including two terms as President, and six years as Secretary-Treasurer. He is a past President of the Mississippi Valley Retriever Club, a founder and past President of River King Retriever Club and he acts as Midwest Captain of the Guns for both the National Retriever Club and the National Amateur Retriever Club. He is currently President and Editor in Chief of Retriever Field Trial News.
Dennis was instrumental in creating the Nestlé Purina Outstanding Field Trial Retriever Award program in 1985. He conducts judging seminars throughout the country and has judged over 100 Open and Amateur Championship Stakes and three Nationals. In 2000, he was inducted into the Retriever Hall of Fame and was further honored when in 2002 the Central Time Zone dedicated the National Open Championship to him.
