PETER J. GREEN (GREENFIELD)

The professional handler, now esteemed AKC judge with the most show dog of the year awards is the Welshman Peter J. Green (Greenfield), winning nine times with terriers.

Born in Neath, South Wales, Peter Green began exhibiting dogs as a boy in 1946. His uncle, the late great Harold Snow, a renowned Welsh Terrier breeder who owned the legendary Felstead Kennels, introduced him to the sport.

Mr. Green emigrated to the U.S. permanently in 1963 (after a short stint from 1958 until 1960), and was a private handler for Dorothy Wimer (Pool Forge) in Churchtown, Pennsylvania. After Pool Forge, Green launched his own business in Bowmansville, Pennsylvania, and began a long and storied career as a professional handler. He built a worldwide reputation as a respected terrier man.

“The first dog show I attended,” writes Green, “was the Glynneath Canine Society. The judge was Mr. Leo Wilson, the editor of Dog World. Every Saturday night I would go to match shows on the bus with a dog in a box. The shows were mostly in pubs and I would have to go in the back door as I was not old enough to be in the pub. I usually had my dogs pretty well-trained and trimmed so I won many best in matches.”* While showing dogs in Wales, Peter Green’s main clients were Olive and George Jackson (Jokyl).

In the United States, Peter Green handled several terrier breeds, and Welsh Terriers for many clients, including Mrs. Edward P. (“Ernestine”) Alker (Twin Ponds), and Mrs. Allen R. Howard, Jr. with Am.Den.DE.FR.Ital.Lux Intl. Ch. High Flyer Top Star, “Susie,” one of three Welsh Terrier bitches simultaneously in the Top Ten All Terrier Charts 1977-78.

Peter Green is a member of the Welsh Terrier Club of America for a contemporary record of 57 years (1966-present), surpassing and closing in on charter WTCA members Beatrice and Gertrude de Coppet (Windermere) at 56 and 60 years respectively. He is the record holder for most wins at the Montgomery Country Kennel Club and the Westminster Kennel Club (the latter equaled with Percy Roberts) and one of only two handlers to steer a dog to Best In Show at both Westminster and Crufts, the latter with Norfolk Terrier, Ch. Cracknor Cause Celebre, “Coco”:

• Montgomery County Kennel Club (nine times: 1965 with Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Rigador Right Again, 1970 with Lakeland Terrier Ch. Special Edition, 1980 with Norwich Terrier Ch. Thrumpton’s Lord Brady, 1985 with Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Forchla Cariad, 1986 with Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Galsul Excellence, 1992 and 1993 with Norwich Terrier Ch. Childley Willum The Conqueror, 1997 with Norwich Terrier Ch. Fairewood Frolic, and 2014 with Norfolk Terrier Ch. Yarrow Venerie Winning Ticket)
• The Westminster Kennel Club (four times: 1968 with Lakeland Terrier Ch. Stingray of Derryabah, 1977 with Sealyham Terrier Ch. Dersade Bobby’s Girl, 1994 with Norwich Terrier Ch. Chidley Willum The Conqueror, and 1998 with Norwich Terrier Ch. Fairewood Frolic).

Among Peter Green’s honors are the AKC Lifetime Achievement Award, four Kennel Review Handler of the Year awards, two Gaines Handler of the Year awards, a Nature’s Recipe Handler of the Year award, and the Bow Tie Dogs in Review Lifetime Advancement Award. He has been a judge at top dog shows around the world, including Best In Show at Crufts in 2009.

Green credits his mentors George Thomas and Bob Barlow, Percy Roberts, Joan Forsyth, and Dr. Josephine Deubier, who was for many years the Show Chairman of the Montgomery Country Kennel Club. “She took me under her wing early on,” he writes, “and was a good friend through life.”*