New York, NY — The American Kennel Club (AKC®) announced today the winners of the 2006 AKC Lifetime Achievement Awards. The awards will be presented to the winners by AKC President and Chief Executive Officer, Dennis B. Sprung, at the January 17, 2006 Delegates Meeting in Tampa, Florida, in conjunction with the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. The winners will each receive 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.
The 2006 recipients are:
Conformation: Dr. Harry Smith
From Durham, North Carolina, Dr. Smith started with Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, showing them exclusively in retriever trials. Dr. Smith acquired his first Pug in the 1950’s and owned the first black Pug to win the Pug Dog Club of America Futurity. Co-founder of the Pug Club of Greater Cincinnati, he served as the Pug Dog Club of America’s AKC Delegate for 10 years. Dr. Smith began judging Pugs in 1966 and added his final group, the Hound Group, in 1999, becoming an AKC all-breed judge. Dr. Smith has judged on five continents, with judging highlights that include the Toy Group at Westminster, the Non-Sporting Group at the 2001 AKC/Eukanuba American Dog Classic, Best Bred-By-Exhibitor Toy Group at the 2005 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, and all Groups and Best in Show at the Welsh Kennel Club Show.
Companion Events: Rosalie Alvarez
Mrs. Alvarez of Los Altos Hills, California, has been involved in Obedience since 1957. Ten of her Dobermans have earned Utility and Tracking degrees and she trained the first Doberman in the United States to obtain the UDT SchH 3 degree. She has numerous High in Trials to her credit, including two at the Doberman Pinscher Club of America’s National Specialty. In addition to Obedience, she has competed in tracking, flyball, agility events, and trained dogs for protection and scent work for bomb and narcotics detection. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department recognized her with a citation for developing and training their canine unit. Mrs. Alvarez founded the Doberman Drill Team, which toured the United States and Canada for nearly 30 years giving demonstrations at hospitals and public events. She is an AKC Obedience judge and an active member of the Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club and the Northern California AKC Obedience Association. She is the training director of Town and Country and Deep Peninsula Dog Training Clubs. Mrs. Alvarez has helped to organize and present four AKC Obedience seminars and judged the AKC Obedience Invitational in 2001.
Performance: Marshall “Pete” Simonds
From Morrisville, Vermont, Mr. Simonds got his start in Labradors in 1952. Simonds is an active member of five retriever clubs including the Labrador Retriever Club, Inc., for which he served as director and officer. He has judged retriever trials for over 40 years and has served as president and treasurer for the National Retriever Club. Mr. Simonds also served as the chair of the subcommittee on Rules of the Retriever Advisory Council for more than 20 years. He has been serving as a Delegate to the AKC for over a decade and has been chairman of the Delegates Committee on Field Trials and Hunting Tests from its inception. He has served as a Director of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and had a major role in the planning and development of the Canine Health Information Center. Mr. Simonds has trained and handled Labradors across the country and has owned more than a dozen Field Champions and Amateur Field Champions. He has owned Brittanys, Pointers and English Setters. He owned the winner of the American Brittany Club National Gun Dog Championship in 2002.