| Judge's Background & History |
Mrs. Patricia V. Trotter
Home: CARMEL, CAHas been a true “dog person” since her childhood in Virginia. Her Vin-Melca Norwegian Elkhounds are internationally famous as both show dogs and producers. They include the top sire and dam in the breed’s history and an incredible ten group firsts at Westminster. Her famous Ch. Vin-Melca’s Vagabond is enshrined in the AKC Museum of the Dog Hall of Fame. In 1953, Mrs. Trotter won the Gaines Research Center’s Girl Show Dog Fancier of the Year award. She has since won fourteen Kennel Review Breeder of the Year and Owner-Handler of the Year awards, is a member of the Quaker Oats (now Nature’s Recipe) Hall of Fame, and has won two Fido Awards—as Dog Woman of the Year (1991) and as Dog Writer of the Year (1998). Became an AKC judge in 1994, and has since judged several national specialty shows, the 1999 Westminster show, and the 2000 Morris & Essex revival. She is the author of the influential book Born to Win, and her breeding column for the AKC Gazette won a 1997 Maxwell Medallion from the Dog Writers Association of America. Is past president and show chairman of the Del Monte Kennel Club and has been a member of the Norwegian Elkhound Association of America for more than forty years.
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