Prince, with co-owner Debbie Gagnon, of Dresden, strikes a pose for the judges at a show. (Photo courtesy Debbie Gagnon)
There’s an American champion living in Dresden. He’s a boxer named Prince, co-owned by Debbie Gagnon and Donna Schafer. With Gagnon, also his trainer and handler, he earned the title of American champion with his performance at a series of competitions, most recently the Greater Harrington Dog Show in Springfield, Mass. on Feb. 2.
The show is for all breeds. Prince was in the class for 12- to 18-month-olds. He won not only his class, but also the award for dogs of all classes.
To achieve the title of American champion, Prince had to earn points over a series of shows. He had to accumulate nine “winning points,” determined by judges, and two “major wins,” in which he earns three, four, or five points at one show.
The judge looks at everything, examining the dog’s eyes and mouth and putting her hands on the dog to determine its structure.
“Then the judge has them run around in a big circle to check their gait, and then she likes to see a free ‘stack,’ or pose, where the dog stands and itself shows a beautiful, alert expression,” Gagnon said.
After the judge chooses the first-place winners in each class, she brings all the dogs back into the ring and chooses the best of the first-place winners.
Prince, whose full name is DC’s Purple Reign At Cove’s Edge, is 14 months old and shares a home with Gagnon; two more boxers, Billie Jean and Jamie; and a Boston terrier rescue, Daisy Duke.
DC is a kennel name for Schafer and her husband, Purple Reign a play on the album by the dog’s namesake, and Cove’s Edge a place where Gagnon once lived in Wiscasset. Show dogs traditionally have multiple names.
Prince came to Gagnon from New York at 8 weeks old. Gagnon had seen Prince’s sire, or father, Deni, at a dog show when he was 6 months old, and it was love at first sight. She started following Deni’s owner, Schafer, on Facebook.
Prince with his little sister, Billie Jean, at home in Dresden. (Photo courtesy Debbie Gagnon)
Deni went on to win a lot of awards, and when Gagnon, who had just lost two boxers, Elvis and Elton, saw a litter of puppies sired by him on Facebook, she contacted Schafer.
“I was looking for a boy and I picked one out and kept an eye on him as he grew, through Facebook photos,” Gagnon said. Eight weeks later, Prince came to Maine.
He won his first award at 4 months old.
Gagnon got her first boxer, Rocky, in 1990. When he died of cancer at only 3 years old, she was devastated. She called the president of the New Hampshire Boxer Club, who helped her find another boxer, Kelsey.
When Gagnon decided to breed Kelsey, she found a stud whose owner showed boxers. “I remember her stacking, or posing, her dogs, and I knew I wanted to learn to do that,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon started educating herself about training and showing boxers. “I read every book I could find, went to handling classes, and did everything I could to learn more about showing dogs,” she said.
When Kelsey had a litter of puppies, Gagnon kept one, Tessa, who became her first champion. Gagnon was especially proud because Tessa was her first owner-handled boxer. Later, when Tessa earned an American Kennel Club championship, Gagnon said it was one of her proudest moments.
Now Prince is continuing with the winning tradition and Gagnon couldn’t be a prouder owner. “He’s had a lot of impressive wins from the time he was a 4-month-old puppy all the way to 14 months old,” she said.
“Prince has attitude,” Gagnon said. “Judges look for attitude in dogs. Prince isn’t shy. The minute we walk into a showroom, his tail’s up and he’s prancing. He always acts like he’s saying, ‘Look out – here I am.’ He’s like Secretariat.”
Most of Gagnon’s boxers have been related, thanks to the practice of freezing sperm. “Jamie’s father is Tucker, who won a lot of shows, and Tucker was the grandfather of my Kelsey and the great-grandfather of Prince,” she said. “And Billie Jean is a repeat breeding of Prince. They’re brother and sister.”
Most, including Elton and Elvis, have been named for musicians, or a music-related theme. “I love music,” Gagnon said. “If there’s anything that can make me happy, it’s music and dogs. Prince was named for one of the most fabulous entertainers of all time.”
“Billie Jean’s full name is DC’s Moonwalking to Cove’s Edge, because the other most fabulous entertainer in my life is Michael Jackson,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon attributes much of her success with her boxers to Marcia Welch, the owner of Positively Best Friends in Edgecomb, where Prince got most of his training, and where 4-month-old Billie Jean is taking classes too.
“Marcia is amazing,” Gagnon said. “She offers classes in everything from show handling, to agility training, to herding, to all kinds of fun things for dogs.”
Prince’s sire, Deni, with handler Diego Garcia and a judge at the American Boxer Club show. (Photo courtesy Donna Schafer)
Gagnon said she couldn’t do what she does without the help and expertise of local veterinarians Dean Domeyer and Kristen Mugnai, who co-own Boothbay Animal Hospital. “To be able to show a dog who’s healthy and well is very important, and it’s so important to have a good relationship with your vets,” she said. “I like, trust, and respect them so much.”
When Gagnon isn’t working with her boxers, she’s managing her family-owned business, the Wiscasset icon Red’s Eats, during the summer, or working as a long-term substitute teacher at Wiscasset Elementary School during the winter.
She squeezes competitions into a busy schedule. “There are dog shows from Maine to Florida every weekend,” she said. “I have to pick and choose … but he got ‘best of winners,’ meaning the overall winner of each winner in each category, at every show I took him to.”
Gagnon said training dogs is easy. “It’s all about paying them with treats and consistency. When my dogs need to go out, they don’t scratch the door or bark or twirl,” she said. “When they were puppies, every time we went outside, I rang a bell beside the door. Now they ring that bell whenever they need to go out.”
Along with being smart, Gagnon said her dogs are funny. “Boxers are the clowns of dogdom,” Gagnon said of her favorite breed. “They love to clown around, and the more you laugh, the more they’ll act like clowns.”
“And these dogs love children,” she said. “If a child walks into a room with a boxer in it, the boxer will start wiggling with love.”
Next up for Prince is the Connecticut River Working Group Association Show in March. “He’ll be entered and shown as an American champion,” Gagnon said. “It will be his first time stepping into the ring as an American champion and competing against all the other champions.”
Gagnon is hoping for another win.
