Picking your Performance Puppy
Helen Grinnell King was being led around on a horse long before she could walk. Dogs and horses have been a major part of her entire life.  Helen grew up on a horse, riding every day after school and spending nearly every Saturday fox hunting and Sundays competing at hunter/jumper shows around New England. In 1966, Helen spent the summer in Ireland at a school for equestrian studies. While there, she learned the importance of structure and how it relates to performance. She attended many horse shows in Ireland as well as sales and fairs and this exposure to hundreds of performance animals helped develop her eye for what it takes for an animal to excel in performance. She also rode some open jumpers while there and that taught her that structure is crucial not only to winning but to safety and soundness as well. In the 1970s, Helen raised and showed harlequin Great Danes and Basset Hounds as well a few other breeds. She owned and/or bred many AKC champions including the breed winner at a Great Dane Club of America National specialty as well as multiple Group and all breed Best in Show winning Basset Hounds. One of her Basset Hound bitches produced 8 AKC breed champions and was awarded the Register of Merit title from the BHCA as a top producer of champions. Helen also bred one of the first dual champion Basset Hounds (field and breed champion) and to this day there are very few dual champions in the breed. As an award winning sculptor, Helen has studied structure in depth to enhance her understanding of conformation and how it relates to movement. She and her husband, Mel, bred successful race and performance horses for many years. One of the Connemara stallions Helen bred and owned was immortalized as a limited edition Breyer model. “Rocky” was well known for his many championships in hand and over fences.  Helen has been an Inspector for the American Connemara Pony Society for many years as well as a Connemara judge and seminar presenter.  Helen’s lifelong passion has been the study of structure and how it relates to performance.  She has observed thousands of dogs in agility to compare conformation and performance.  Helen & Mel's dogs include: ADCH MACH 7 Josephine MFX, SACH, CD, RN,  HIT, VCX, CGC MACH Isabella RN, O-EJC, EAC, OGC, NTC, AAD, JM,  HIT, VCX, CGC PDCH MACH 6 MeMe RN, MXG2, MJB3, PTM, HIT, VCX, CGC MACH 2 Charisse Poodle NF, RN, HIT, VCX, CGC Crush (BC) MXS, MJB, MXF, MFB, T2B, TM, HIT, CGC UPGRAYEDD AXJ, HIT Barque OAJ, HIT