Russel "Lefty" Dixon, Dixon Kennel’s



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Russel Dixon and FC Saratoga Jake owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Seagraves


At the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Michigans first field trial held in 1946, there appeared a young athletic, energetic man who seemed to know a lot about dogs. He had entries in the trial. At lunch time, this man demonstrated how his dogs would work on a “planted bird”. By command, he could alert his dogs and have one of them work in on the bird and establish a point, and the other two would come into the backing position. A representative from the game division made several pictures of these dogs on point which were used in state publications.



It was Russell Dixon. Little did we know at that time he was destined to become one other all-time great in field trial competition. I will not attempt to enumerate all his wins and placements. It would require a book to record his deeds, techniques, wins, and influences throughout Shorthair fancy. During the war period, he was a member of the Canine Corps which training and experience stood him in good stead, as he learned much about the psychology of obedience and discipline. Mr. Dixon has that inherent teaching ability I have referred to from time to time. Many of his students have become successful trainers. Frank and Al Summers, Carl Schnell, Glen Tatum, Floyd Breaugh, and Ed Caudle to recall some of them. Russ is never too busy or too tired to help diagnose a dog’s problem and set about to overcome it.



Russ Dixon, and his two students, Ed Caudle and Frank Summers, who are sometime called the “holler boys” yodeled and hollered Dixon’s Sheila, Kay Starr Falkenhort, and Caudle’s leader into more wins that any other group on record. These men had many all-age wins and placements , including Nationals. It was generally conceded in the fancy that the trials were never over until these men had finished. Russ is an individualist of the highest order. He says that to be a successful handler you must go down to the dog’s level, understand his language, and until this is accomplished, there is no progress in training.



I recall on occasion when an owner brought a dog to Russ for training. The dog went into the kennel and refused to come out. Russ put on a catcher’s mask, a chest protector, a pair of hockey gloves, and went into the kennel after the dog. There was considerable skirmishing taking place but in a short while the two come out of the kennel together an understanding had been reached. Two weeks later I saw the same dog working in the field, he could be stopped everywhere and would come with zest when called. It would be difficult for one to assess how great has been the influence of Russell Dixon on the shorthair fancy. Let us just say it has been great.

Written By: Dr Clark Lemley.


Russel Dixon and FC Dixon’s Rocky owned by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Seagraves (Pictured)



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