On this edition of Pick of the Litter, we honor search-and-rescue dogs; the PETS Act turns 5, an ancient breed re-joins the AKC, and seeing dogs through a photographer’s eyes.
The AKC’s annual Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence, or ACE awards, honors one exemplary dog in each of five categories. We hear about the 2011 search-and-rescue winner, Border Collie Hunter, from Captain Billy Monahan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “He’s just one of us, one of the team,” says Monahan of his partner, who helped locate victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
Award-winning photographer Lisa Croft-Elliott thinks of dogs as “fashion models with four legs,” and cites as her influences David Bailey, Richard Avedon and Italian Vogue. The results speak for themselves—imaginative, unconventional pictures, like the one of the Bracco Italiano shown here—that she shoots for clients all over the world. Croft-Elliott tells us about her process, and why she knows dogs from “both sides of the lens and leash.”
Speaking of photogenic, the Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolo, Mexico’s ancient breed, was reintroduced to the American Kennel Club registry this year, and fancier Joe Patalano tells us why he’s devoted to this unusual-looking dog.
We’re also initiating a call for your dog stories, your own “picks of the litter.”