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by Linda Michaels

One could say that Jim Hutchins knows a thing or two about dog training. The year 2000 marks the third time in four years that Jim and his canine partner have posted the highest combined score in open and utility at the American Boxer Club National Specialty show in Frederick, Maryland. In 1996 and 1997, his partner was My Sweet Suzette UDX AX AXJ, "Susie," a veteran now almost nine years old. This year, it was his youngster, Sweet'r Th'Anne Whine, "Annie," UD AX, AXJ with a score of 370. Annie and Susie also competed in the brace competition earning a winning score of 192.

Hutchins first began training boxers in obedience in 1962, but after three or four years he took a twenty-year break to raise his children. "My wife of twenty-four years, Ruth, and I have ten children," he explains casually. When we married, I had eight and she had two. The minister asked her if she was sure she knew what she was getting into!" Not one to sit on the sidelines, Hutchins coached baseball and soccer and softball, and generally immersed himself in the job at hand. Now the children are all grown and on their own. "About half are married and the other half are still getting married and we have five grandchildren," he says. "So now I'm back to training dogs, which is a heck of a lot easier. They don't talk back and you continue to be the center of their lives."

A native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Hutchins is a quiet, soft-spoken man with a hint of a Southern drawl. He was completing graduate school in chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when he bought his first boxer, Folly, from Ortman Kennels in Chicago. He and Folly earned a CD title when she was three years old. Now retired from Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hutchins and his wife have ample time to pursue their hobby. "I'm on the board of directors of the Queen City Dog Training Club, the oldest and largest club in Cincinnati," he says. "I teach obedience a couple of times a week and one night a week I teach agility. I run the agility program. Ruth teaches also. We are very involved in dog training and it is a rewarding interest."

Hutchins doesn't really have a "theory" of dog training. Over the years he has moved from using leash pops to using more treats and praise. "Sometimes you have to check boxers," he admits. "You have to be firm with them. But you also have to understand your dog. Some are soft and some are not so soft." When selecting a puppy as an obedience prospect, Hutchins looks for one that is rambunctious with lots of energy and lots of spirit. Both his girls were rambunctious as puppies but are quite dissimilar as adults. "Susie is kind of laid back. I have to be a cheerleader for her," he says. "Annie, on the other hand, keeps me on my toes all the time." Hutchins generally prefers to train the girls. "I trained a male once," he says, "Susie's brother, Winston. We lost him at age four to liver cancer. He was always at least six months behind her in everything. Teaching a male boxer obedience is like teaching a boy to play the piano. It can be done but they generally have other interests," he says with a chuckle.

Like most people who are successful at what they do, Hutchins has goals and admits to being driven. While some people try over and over for the highest score at each level, Hutchin's plan is to get a UD as quickly as possible. Annie got her seventh UDX leg at the ABC event and he will continue to show her for additional legs. "Susie has thirty-one UDX legs," he says with pride. "I think its more than any other boxer." But Hutchin's intent is to switch his primary focus with Annie to agility. "I'm pretty sure we have a shot at a MACH (the highest agility title) while realism tells me we probably can't achieve an OTCH. Now that AKC has this new versatility title, I might give tracking another try," he says. "I trained Susie, and her mom, Calliope, and Winston in tracking for about a year but I didn't really relish the environment."

This year's highest scoring dog in the regular classes was Highborns' Arapaho Superchief, "Chief," from the Novice B class, with a score of 196. Chief's partner is Deb Johnson from the Chicago suburbs, another one of those quiet people who simply and unobtrusively get the job done. She was accompanied to the trial by her daughter, Sammi (8), in whom she is hoping to cultivate an interest in dog sports. Sammi's brother, Derek (11), and dad, Neal, remained at home caring for Cheyanne Autumn Blaze, a five-year-old brindle bitch who was entered in Open B but hurt her hip and couldn't show.

Johnson grew up with many dogs. "My mom was sort of a collector and the dogs were always very out-of-control," she says. "It wasn't very appealing. As a result, I didn't get my first dog until I was forty." Soon thereafter, seeing herself on the same path to lack of control, Johnson took up obedience training. Her first dog was a Brittany spaniel that she trained to a UD. She retired him when they "were no longer a team." She then began working with Cheyanne.

Chief had a bit of a rocky start in life. He was originally placed with a family who, it turned out, did not understand the boxer breed. After months of listening to complaints about the dog, his breeders, Tim and Anita Ranieri, took him back and placed him with Johnson. "This dog was completely unmanageable and out of control," says Johnson, while Chief is lying nonchalantly at her feet observing the general chaos in the ballroom of the hotel where the conformation events were in progress. Within four months, Johnson had trained Chief for his CGC. "He's a dog that really wants to please," she says.

Johnson takes regular lessons from trainer Ronnie Bizer in Maple Park, Illinois, and teaches at Fox Valley Dog Training in St. Charles. "Boxers are easier to train than the golden retrievers in my class," she confides. "The boxers just seem to have more self-control." She also goes once a week to Boxer Rebound in Greenwood, Illinois, where she spends time training the rescue dogs. "I'm sure that Chief would have would up in the pound or in Boxer Rebound if his breeders hadn't taken him back," she says. "A trained dog is so much more placeable." Johnson is full of admiration for the program. "They have a huge facility and they train the dogs once or twice a week. They do lots of socialization, too. And they don't sugar-coat the dogs. They make sure that people know what they are getting."

Johnson is motivated by having her dogs enjoy the work they are asked to do. "Having Chief or Cheyanne heel with me in the ring and having them be right where they are supposed to be and having them look happy is one of the greatest joys of my life," she says. When asked about her plans for the future, Johnson's voice drops almost to a whisper. "I'd like to put an OTCH on a boxer," she says. "I'm afraid to say it too loud; people might laugh at me. You know, the greatest resistance to boxers in obedience comes from boxer people. They buy into the idea that boxers can't be trained to do this." Johnson will surely prove them wrong. :-)