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| Our Story |
Albiona
Arabians and Kennels is a small operation located in Manhattan, Kansas
dedicated to breeding quality Pointers and Arabian horses. AAK is owned
and run by mother and daughter Karen Pratt and Courtney Crichlow. Karen
has been involved in the dog show industry for over 25 years now,
showing dogs of all different breeds. Albiona Kennels started when
Karen and Courtney acquired a lemon Pointer bitch from Judith Goodin of
Leavenworth, KS. Ch. Emerydon's Sweet Liberty was their first pointer
and Karen took "Abby" to her championship. After Abby had finished they
acquired Emerydon's Albiona Abraxas CGC and the two were bred. The
litter
produced was phenomenal for a first litter. Out of the 4 puppies the
star, Ch. Albiona America Emrydn was shown to her championship before
she was 8 months old.
The other 2 bitches are major pointed and will be completing their
championships this year. The bitches, Albiona Freedom Emrydn and
Albiona Liberty Emrydn are both gorgeous bitches.The other pup, Rebel
was never shown but is just now starting his training as a hunting dog.
Albiona Kennel's newest star is the
dog Ch. Sagir's Crocodile Dunbee. "Mick" is all that AAK could wish
for. This phenomenal 4 year old stud dog's pedigree is filled with
champions, every dog in his 6 generation pedigree is a champion and are
known nationally as being famous Pointers.
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| Karen and her legacy in the dog show world |
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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| Courtney's Start |
I started my involvement with dogs at a very young age, recieving my
first puppy at the age of 3 months. The Parti-Colored Cocker Spaniel
named Ditto found his way into my heart and started my love for dogs.
After years of growing up with just one dog, I found myself becoming
friends with Ch. Emerydon's Sweet Liberty, who we acquired from the
well known AKC judge, Judith Goodin. Abby was shy towards my mom and I,
so I found that I just had to sleep on my bedroom floor with her until
she felt totally safe with us. I was 9 at the time, so I didn't know
any better, I thought it was normal for anyone to sleep with their dog.
At the age of 11 while at a show, Judith Goodin
approached me while my mom was in the show ring. She looked at me in a
sort of odd way, then asked, "Well why aren't you out showing your
dog?". I simply told her I didn't have a dog of my own to show. Judith
fixed that within a month. After many begging sessions and a lot of
persuasion, my mom agreed to let me have my own show dog. We acquired
Emerydons Albiona Abraxas CGC in 2000, when he was about 10 months old.
It was heaven for me owning a dog of my own, I could imagine anything
better. I didn't know the ropes of showing back then, so at first my
mom showed Brax for me. We couldn't figure out why, but he just didn't
present himself as well in the show ring as he did at home. So just for
fun my mom let me give it a shot and low and behold, Brax loved to show
for me. He just lights up the ring when I am on other end of the lead.
We have no idea why, but Brax has a particular liking for me, my guess
is that it derives from the bond we share.
After we had our first Pointer litter I found I had
the responsibility of having to show one of the bitches. I chose Honey
(Albiona Freedom Emrydn), liking her conformation earlier on, when
everyone else prefered her sisters. Well turns out Honey is a superb
Pointer bitch, some judges even telling us she is the silhouette of
what a Pointer bitch should look like. I found it challenging to go
from showing in the Bred By class into the Open Dogs, without even
getting the chance to run Brax a little to warm the big guy up. After
all was said and done, I always went home happy with whatever I got,
sometimes the outcome good, and sometimes dissapointing. I have learned
a lot from those first few years, they really helped me to understand
how to take a win and how to deal with a loss. Both important lessons
of the dog show world.
Currently I have 3 dogs that I show in the
conformation ring, all of them I have a particular liking to. I show
both of our stud dogs, Brax and our new dog Ch.Sagirs Crocodile Dunbee
as well as occasionally showing Honey. I have found a new part of the
dog show world that I am very addicted to. After co-owning the
tri-color Austrailian Sheperd, Stoneharts Jambalaya Accent CGC, I
started into agility. I love agility, and it has a huge difference from
the conformation ring. Even though me and "Bayou" have been ready to
show since last fall, we have wait and finessed our skills and our
ready to start showing this show season.
I am an active member of our local kennel club. At
the Manhattan Kansas Kennel Club (MKKC) I have been helping out for a
good 3 years now, and have just now started to help train dogs in the
classes. I hope to become a board member this year, and when I turn 18
I want to be able to test dogs and handlers for their CGC tests.
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