For anyone wondering why I regularly focus on women in my posts on the dog fancy around the turn of the century, it’s because misogyny is real. Consider this ad for a dog magazine that ran in The second annual bench show of dogs, official catalogue by The Butterfly Bench Show Association in 1896:
As in all aspects of life, women struggled and fought for a semblance of equal footing within the dog fancy of the era and their successes are therefore noteworthy.
Following is a glance at two kennels owned by ladies, the first in England and the second in New Jersey:
Here are two profiles of a collie kennel owned by Mrs. Clara M. Lunt and Miss Minnie Bullocke in New York (the kennel was later moved to New Jersey):
A few of Mrs. Lunt’s dogs:
Some years later, when the American Kennel Club refused to accept Mrs. Lunt as a delegate because she was female, prominent dog show judge Frank F. Dole spoke in her favor:
In fact, it would take another half century before the AKC finally allowed women to serve as delegates, with many men still opposed to the idea:
Although the AKC refused to accept Mrs. Lunt as a delegate in 1921, she did well for herself the following year by hosting and winning her breed’s national specialty show:
Her imported dog, who also won Best Collie at the Westminster Kennel Club and the NY Collie Club’s specialty show that year:
