Award Ceremony Featured on National Broadcast of AKC/Eukanuba National Championship

The recipients of the AKC Breeder of the Year Award, Douglas and Michaelanne Johnson of Colorado Springs, CO, were honored on the live national broadcast of the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship on Saturday, December 2. The annual award honors those breeders who have dedicated their lives to improving the health, temperament and quality of purebred dogs.

“We are proud to honor the Johnsons with the 2006 AKC Breeder of the Year award,” said Ron Menaker, AKC's Chairman of the Board. “The Bugaboo prefix has adorned top quality Old English Sheepdogs in the United States and abroad. Their influence on the breed will be seen for years to come.”

One honoree is chosen from each of the seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. From those seven, one Group winner is selected as “AKC Breeder of the Year” during the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, which was held this year in Long Beach, Calif. The show will re-air on Animal Planet on Saturday, December 23 at 8 p.m. ET.

The 2006 AKC Breeder of the Year award winners, represented the Herding Group. The Johnsons have made participation in the sport of purebred dogs a family affair. As a young married couple in 1972, the Johnsons purchased their first Old English Sheepdog. Soon after, they purchased their first boarding kennel and began breeding, handling and exhibiting Old English Sheepdogs under the Bugaboo prefix. In time, participation in the sport became a past-time for the whole family.

Bugaboo dogs have won multiple All-Breed Bests in Show and Old English Sheepdog Club of America (OESCA) National Specialties. Most recently CH. Bugaboo's Big Resolution won the Herding Group at both the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and Westminster Kennel Club show, exhibited by the Johnsons' son and daughter-in-law.

Bugaboo Old English Sheepdogs have also enjoyed great success abroad, winning in Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan. The Johnsons have bred or co-bred international winners including International and American Ch. Bugaboo's Big Puff Daddy, who won the OESCA National Specialty in 2004.

All seven Group honorees were presented with medallions during the show on December 2, 2006. AKC Breeder of the Year recipients, Douglas and Michaelanne Johnson, will be honored with a commission from a canine portraitist to memorialize a prominent dog from their kennel. Their name will be inscribed on a perpetual trophy on permanent display at the AKC headquarters in New York City.

The honorees from the six remaining Groups were:

• Sporting: Judy Colan – Foster, RI, Colsidex Weimaraners
• Hound: Susan Lacroix Hamil – Laguna Beach, CA, Quiet Creek Bloodhounds
• Working: Sandra D'Andrea – Lockport, NY, Nanuke Alaskan Malamutes
• Terrier: Beverly J. Verna – Tracy, CA, Regency Miniature Schnauzers
• Toy: Jose A. Cabrera & Fabian Arienti – Miami, FL, Starfire Pomeranians
• Non Sporting: Kathy & George Beliew – Redlands, CA, Imagine Chow Chows

More information on all of the AKC Breeder of the Year Group honorees.