A letter from
Katie Barrett Kramer

I have loved dogs since I was a little girl. I spent hours researching dog breeds at the St. Paul Public Library. One fateful day in the backstacks of that library, I found an out-of-print book called Uncommon Dog breeds written by longtime PWD breeder and historian Kitty Braund. The book showcased a dog called the Portuguese Water Dog, a breed with bravery, heart, and loyalty who loved to swim and whose coat was less likely to offend allergy sufferers, like those we had in my family. At the same time this breed saved from irrelevance and extinction was capturing my heart, my backstacks explorations brought me another treasure, a book called Kids and Dog Shows by Lynn Hall,  noted breeder and dog show judge from the Midwest. Turning the pages of this book in middle school turned the course of my life.

I convinced my parents to let me get a dog, a dog to show. While I am now a non-profit Strategy & Communication executive writing memos and communications all the time, my first memo was entitled “Case for the Acquisition of a Portuguese Water Dog.” I made the case, I won the case, and I babysat to make the money necessary to realize the vision of this founding dog fancier document. When it was time to find my first show dog, I asked my mother to contact a breeder with a successful pet supply store I’d learned about through the dog shows I could attend because they were on the city bus line.

Letty Afong is well-known as a knowledgeable and lauded breeder in PWDs. She is well-known to me as a mentor, a friend, and someone whose kindness, generosity, and faith enabled my life in dogs. When I was just in high school, she sold my family and me my first PWD, “Henry,” Neocles Henrique Habil, from a litter she co-bred with Helen Berg, another angel for the breed and for me.  I showed Henry in Junior Showmanship and to his breed championship. In the process, Letty taught me about the breed and let me know, prepare, and show dogs from her program; she invited me to tag along to shows and, in the process, I learned a precious lot about the foundational dogs of the breed, many of whom are still shaping pedigrees today.

When I graduated from college, Letty and my parents gave me my foundation bitch and heart dog, Neocles Eeve of Hope, “Eve,” as a graduation gift. I chose her name to honor Letty’s EE litter designation and, with anticipation and joy, I chose the name Hope for the kennel I hoped to build. The name represented to me then - and still does now - the hopeful renaissance of a beautiful breed and the odds of faith in the face of realistic doubt that I’d be able to live my dog dreams and share the joy they brought me with others. Every dog I produced and every person who loved them in the decade or so I was actively breeding was part of this Hope.

As part of my study of the breed in those early days, I met and admired Beverly Jorgensen and her Sun Joy line. Bev had accomplished some very successful breedings of her American and import stock with Neocles lines. In 2001, when my husband Matt and I lived in New York City while I was teaching with the Teach for America program, I took seriously the advice Pat Trotter shares: start your program with two foundation bitches that you can take to different dogs and whose get you can breed to one another to arrive at a strong, beautiful line with your own stamp. With that idea in mind, Matt and I drove to Connecticut that year to pick up Sun Joy Wind of Hope, our “Winnie.”

When we moved back home to Minnesota later that year, I was excited about finally breed dogs after years of watching and learning from the capable breeders I’d mentored under as they found success and, sometimes, heartbreak. Like all breeders, I found some of both, too, but the unexpected gift of this time in my life was the family I found and made through my breedings and through the countless hours we all spent together planning, showing, whelping, trialing. A golden time and a legacy I treasure.

Thanks to my first litter sired by Jean LeJeune and Jill Gilbert’s Northwind’s Jackson, “Jackson,” I met Cindy Kauffman; our girl “Java,” A Cuppa Tea of Hope, helped forge a lifetime friendship and partnership. Cindy’s love for and dedication to Java, her puppies, grand puppies, and the humans who love them is and continues to be a grace. In my second litter, the amazing groomer, fancier, and friend, Lori Dechiene found her heart dog Bayshore Cruz of Hope, “Cruz,” and Beryl Nord found her Top Ten girl “Breezy,” Praia Norte Breeze of Hope; we all spent many happy hours together enjoying these wonderful dogs and their accomplishments - and the accomplishments of their downlines.  Through the final breeding of Eve to her Peja’s Comico Cabrito “Mico,” local breeder and PWD legend Peg Thomas became a dear friend and we co-owned special dogs together from linebred litters, including my darling Peja Divine Comedy of Hope, “Dante,” and her stalwart companion, Peja Forever Fina of Hope, “Fina.” I was honored beyond measure when esteemed performance trainer and friend Sandy Kott took a beautiful puppy back from a litter Letty whelped in MS who later became the incomparable “Pepin,” Neocles Pepin Waves of Hope, a agility superstar and a dog who escorted me to the Best Bred-By ring of the Eukanuba National Dog Show after PWD expert and savior Carla Molinari sent us there. His beautiful daughter “Jackie,” Praia Norte Dakota Dreams of Hope, represented the crossing of my two lines; she continues to represent the breed each year at agility championships and she earned her breed championship after being awarded a Sweepstakes win from Jack Girton at our National Specialty, shown by Jamie Donalson, who we sadly lost a few years ago.

During these heady times, I met fellow educator and animal lover Christine Peper at a statistics class we were both taking as we pursued our MA degrees. I saw in her and her husband Chris a love for animals and, soon, the diligence and dedication to Portuguese Water Dogs and the sport of dogs that I recognized and loved. Two Hope dogs joined their family from my breeding, “Ike,” Commander of Hope and “Eliza,” Forever First Lady of Hope. Through these special dogs, Chris and Christine learned about dogs and dog shows and showed the impact of that learning spectacularly when they piloted the amazing show career of their “Kirby.”

Chris and Christine showed their dedication to the breed and responsible breeding with their careful tending of litters from and downline from enthusiastic fancier Barbara Burwell’s “Smooch,” Forever Smooch of Hope and with their engagement and leadership in health initiatives that benefit the breed, including the establishment of a test for PES. They love to learn about the breed and they believe in breeding for beauty, brains, and heart. 

I’m honored that they will continue to breed using the kennel name Hope. 

I picked that name so many years ago to hold the love and dreams I had as a budding fancier of this special breed. I know their love and dreams will hold this legacy in good stead. And that the deep gratitude and love I feel for all the people and dogs who made this sweet and beautiful part of my life matter to me and the fancy will be at the heart of their breeding program.

My Hopeful best wishes go with you all on the journey…

KBK
Katie Barrett Kramer