The Top Winning Welsh Terrier Dog of All Time is Ch. Anasazi Billy The Kid, “Billy,” bred by Nancy and Michael O’Neal (Windsong, then Anasazi) and owned by Bruce Schwartz (Bruhil). With 100 All-Breed Best in Show wins by 1999, no Welsh Terrier has come close to his record.
“Billy’s” illustrious career included wins at most of the country’s prestigious shows including Montgomery County, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Boston, Ladies (MA), Westbury, Golden Gate, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and the inaugural Great Western Terrier Association of Southern California, Northern California, and Oregon. He won the Welsh Terrier Club of America Specialty at Montgomery County twice as he did the breed at Westminster, and Best in Show at Montgomery in 1996 under Judge Jim Reynolds. “Billy” has sired 33 Champions including three Best In Show winners.
“Billy” was the fifth Welsh Terrier of only seven to win Best In Show at Montgomery County Kennel Club in 1996. The six other MCKC winners include Ch. Toplight Template of Twin Ponds in 1952 and 1953, Ch. Caradoc Llwyd of St. Aubrey in 1961, Ch. Dewi of St. Aubrey in 1962, Ch. Copperboots Wee Blaste in 1978, in 1996, GCh. Ch. Abbeyrose Captain Jack in 2018, and GCh. Ch. Brightluck Money Talks in 2019.
Bruce Schwartz (Bruhil) has been exhibiting and breeding Welsh Terriers for more than 50 years, starting out as a teen in 1966. It was the acclaimed breeder, handler and esteemed judge Peter Green (who handled a Schnauzer bitch for the Schwartz family in the late 1960s), who introduced Schwartz to the legendary Ric Chashoudian, and his subsequent love and devotion to Welsh Terriers.
His first show dog was Ch. Philtown Protocol, bred by Drys Thomas of Phillipstown, New Tredegar, Wales, and Schwartz’s first Group winner at the Devon dog show on October 6, 1973. “Protocol” sired Ch. Bruhil’s Concordat, his first homebred Welsh Terrier Champion. Other specials followed, including Ch. Tujays’ Touchdown, the sire of Ch. Anasazi Trail Boss, and the sire of both Ch. Bruhil’s Paradice and Ch. Anasazi Billy The Kid. Over the years, Bruce Schwartz’s dogs have won 150 all breed Best In Show awards, numerous national and regional specialties, and several terrier group shows.
Bruce Schwartz has served as an AKC judge for the Terrier Group since 1990; Doberman Pinschers, Giant Schnauzers, and Standard Schnauzers since 2002; Akitas, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Boxers, Bullmastiffs, Great Danes, Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, and Mastiffs since 2009, and Best In Show since 1996. He is the president of the Montgomery County Kennel Club classic and previously served as a president of the Welsh Terrier Club of America.
The Welsh Terrier Club of America reported in its November 2018 newsletter The Wag: “Nancy O’Neal passed away in August 2018 at her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She had been a club member since 1970 and was made an Honorary Member in 2000. She bred a number of record-breaking dogs, with her husband, Michael, who died of cancer in 1999. All club members will be familiar with the names of Ch. Anasazi Billy The Kid, who holds the record as the Welsh Terrier with most Best in Show wins. Ch. Anasazi Annie Oakley, who held the record for the Welsh Terrier bitch with most Best in Show wins (40 BIS) for thirty years until 2014; and, Ch. Anasazi Trail Boss, who holds the record as top producing sire, with 66 champions.
Nancy O’Neal became an AKC judge for Irish and Welsh terriers in 1998, adding Smooth and Wire Fox terriers in 2000. She judged Welsh Terriers at the National Specialty in 2010.
