Betty Davey

Fine Jewelry

BETTY'S STORY

WELCOME TO MY WORLD OF OWNING, BREEDING, EXHIBITING, PAINTING, WRITING ABOUT AND LOVING BULLDOGS

Hi Bulldoggers

My first Bulldog, Duke, was a birthday gift from my parents for my ninth birthday in 1945…..He was one of the great loves of my life…..Duke and I became familiar sights at local Boston pet shows, where he usually walked off with top honors, not because of his outstanding virtues (of which he had very few, despite his illustrious pedigree!) …..but because Bulldogs were such a rarity in those days…..Our show picture frequently appeared in the Boston newspapers .

My first AKC dog show was held at Mechanics Hall some time in the mid 1940's. I remember coming home and telling my mother that "Duke was better than any of them!". It was here, very coincidentaly, where in the late 1880's, a group of dedicated Bulldog fanciers first met to establish what is now known as The Bulldog Club of America. It was indeed a forecast of things to come.

There were always Bulldogs at home, when I was growing up……My Mother was an active member of The Bulldog Club of New England and did a small amount of breeding and showing……When Jim and I first married, we purchased a Bulldog puppy we named Chumley……My Mother convinced me I should enter him in an upcoming Match Show……and so I did……When Chumley walked off with “Best Puppy” ribbon and a can of dog food, it was the beginning of my new lifel

I became a member of The Bulldog Club of New England, serving several terms as president, as well as a member of every other committee known to the dog show world…….Despite my club activities, however, my breeding and showing activities were a disaster…..Nevertheless. I continued to attend the shows, observe the entries and, most importantly, study our Standard……This has become a lifetime obsession!
My luck changed, when I received a surprise gift from my sister, Geri Kelly, breeder of hundreds of Miniature Schnauzer champions…….”Dickens” was a too-good-to-be-true well bred Bulldog puppy, who became my first champion…..His name was Pine Patch Satuit, and he finished his championship at the National Specialty Show week in Memphis, Tennessee in 1980.

During the following years, I was awarded Best National Bulletin as editor of The Bulldog Club of New England’s THE BULLetin…Became editor of the BCA Division 1 Newsletter…..inducted into the prestigious BCA Breeders’ Hall of Fame….became a member of the Advisory Board of BCA’s award-winning national breed magazine, The Bulldogger, where many of my well-researched articles on the Standard were published…..had a large number of my paintings exhibited at BCA’s Gallery of Winners……and my idea for an Illustrated Guide to the Standard, in its final version, was approved and successfully implemented.

Here are a few of my Satuit Champions

My proudest association in my long Bulldog history occurred in the early 70’s……Up until that the time the constitution of the American Kennel Club only recognized males to serve as delegates from their respective clubs….No women allowed…..Fortunately, The Bulldog Club of New England would not tolerate this travesty……My late husband, Jim, an attorney and I were in the forefront of BCNE’s challenge to AKC to change their constitution……The club nominated a highly qualified breeder/judge to serve in this capacity….As expected, our nominee was rejected….We re-nominated her, accompanied by a letter from Jim, challenging the legality of their discrimination……Two other all-breed clubs from the Midwest followed the same procedure…..As a result of our protests, the AKC called a special meeting……They changed their constitution to allow women delegates…..Justice prevailed!.....I am very proud of being part of this challenge by BCNE and others.

My Art Background

Although I attended art classes at the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the Vesper George School of Art, I am largely self taught……

Drawing, however, was one of my prime interests as a child……Pictured is one of my first efforts at Bulldogs, copied from a photograph and drawn in crayola crayons, sometime in the 1940’s……In the mid 50’s I became a staff artist at Rust Craft Publishers, one of the world’s largest publishers of greeting cards……For many years later I freelanced for some of the top greeting card publishers in the U.S and in England…..In the early 2000’s I published a small line of Bulldog Christmas cards…..Fun to do and well received!
In addition to publishing my line of Limited Edition Bulldog prints, I am embarking on a new venture – a line of Fine Bulldog Jewelry.

Bulldog Cards

I reside in the picturesque seaside town of Scituate, Massachusetts, and I am blessed that my four children live nearby……Another coincidence…my home is located on the former grounds of the Thomas Lawson estate and his renowned Dreamwold Bulldog Kennels, which in the early 1900’s housed many imported English champions…..Guess I was destined to be a Bulldogger!

Since I no longer breed, exhibit or own Bulldogs, my main contact with Bulldoggers these days is through facebook chat rooms and engaging in the Bulldog Discussion Group…..I enjoy discussing Bulldog issues with facebook friends the world over…..I miss my “old life” terribly…I miss the camaraderie of my Bulldogger friends, and I miss the love and companionship of my beloved Bulldogs.

Thank you, my friends for plowing through my lengthy Bulldog story…It covered a lot of ground and, for sure, a lot of years,

With kindest regards,
Betty Davey