28/03/2026
The Belle of Barmere
Making its internet debut here is this Joan Ludwig photo of handler Jimmy Butler showing off Ch. Barmere’s La Dauphin, a bitch sired in 1963 by import foundation stud Ch. Gaystock Le Dauphin.
The Barmere kennel was founded in the early 1930s by a pivotal figure in the U.S. history of not one but two breeds, the aptly named Miriam Breed, originally of Pittsburgh.
Mrs. Breed first made her mark in Boxers, in 1934, when she imported the vastly influential Ch. Sigurd von Dom of Barmere. Sigurd—once described as “an athlete modeled in bronze and brawn and every inch a king”—was one of the fabled “Four Horsemen” from Frau Stockmann’s German breeding program. The “Horsemen” (Sigurd and three of his grandsons) are generally considered the foundation of the modern Boxer. A later Sigurd grandson was breed legend Ch. Bang Away of Sirrah Crest.
After relocating to California, Mrs. Breed founded her Barmere line of Brussels Griffons. She dispatched consummate dog man Harry Sangster on a 1955 European trip to acquire breeding stock. He returned with several excellent specimens, including top stud dog Ch. Gaystock Le Dauphin.
For years Ric Chashoudian handled the Barmere Griffons to record-setting heights. Best remembered is Ch. Barmere’s Mighty Man, one of the Toy Group’s brightest stars of the ’60s.
Mrs. Breed, born Miriam Hostetter, was an oft-married heiress to a great family fortune. The true love of her life was her second husband and Dog News columnist Bill Breed, who died suddenly after just one year of marriage. Mrs. Breed was revered by fanciers of both her breeds as a generous and committed patroness of the sport.
March AKC Gazettehttps://images.akc.org/pdf/gazette/march-2026.pdf
Gazette Gallery slideshow—The Toy Department: toy breeds from the AKC Gazette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wwqjW62qzE
AKC podcast—Small But Significant: The enduring breeds of the toy group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgcQLX_FyVY&list=PLPfEv_pKgm7eKlYtGTtMNag4L1QAYaogi&index=14
If you don’t already subscribe to the Gazette, you can do so at https://www.akc.org/subscribe/ It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s free!
Happy Weekend! We’ll see you around the rings.