Honor, prize-winning Bichon Frise, with his handler, Lisa Bettis, at a show last year.
Five years old and already retiring.
Bichon Frise “Grand Champion Vogelflight’s ‘Honor’ to Pillow Talk” — or just “Honor” for short — has racked up 202 group first-place wins and 31 all-breed best-in-show wins in his career.
The Bichon, owned and bred by the late Lori Kornfeld and her husband, Tracy, of Pillow Talk Bichon Frises in Ridgefield, was recognized Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Purina Pro Plan Show Dogs of the Year Awards for having the most group wins throughout the year.
This year Honor had 91 group wins, including one at the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club show and at the National Dog Show, televised on Thanksgiving.
The Show Dogs of the Year Awards aren’t affiliated with the popular Westminster show, but the timing isn’t accidental, Mr. Kornfeld said. They draw from the same pool of the top dogs and breeders.
“This is the big weekend of the year for the dog world,” Kornfeld said.
Among many wins, this one is a big honor, Mr. Kornfeld said. “It’s a gold medal if you will make the Olympic comparison.”
Honor’s career is something of a tribute to both Mrs. Kornfeld, and her dog breeding mentor Mary Vogel — both of whom died within months of each other in 2006.
Mrs. Kornfeld had planned the breeding of the dog as the next step up to her decades as a breeder. Both the dog’s parents were champion Bichons from the Pillow Talk kennel. The mother was bred here in Ridgefield. The father was purchased as a puppy from California.
Amid shared grief, Mr. Kornfeld and Ms. Vogel’s daughter, Kathie, decided to proceed with the dog breeding planned by his wife and her mother.
Honor is retiring an accomplished dog.
“It’s nice to go out on top,” Mr. Kornfeld said.
How does Mr. Kornfeld feel about the end of his run in dog shows?
“Thank God,” Mr. Kornfeld said with a chuckle.
Mr. Kornfeld said he’s not sure how many shows he’s been to or how many generations of dogs he and his wife had bred over the years.
“Thirty years of dogs. There might have been three years in a row that we didn’t breed a dog because we didn’t like what was out there,” Mr. Kornfeld said.
“It’s been a fun career, but it’s time to hand it out to the younger folks.”