At the time, the Ziessows knew very little about show dogs and even less about showing Labrador Retrievers, but they knew they had a quality dog on their hands. "A friend told us that this Lab was the best thing he'd seen in the breed," she says. "So we showed the dog, and she ended up placing in Groups at a time when people didn't even know what a Lab was. She went on to produce a litter for us with two champions. Her second litter consisted of a puppy that ended up being Dark Star Franklin, a top-winning black Lab who was a great bird dog and retriever and produced a Field Champion."

Nicky became the Ziessows' foundation bitch, and she went on to make the Franklin Kennel's name famous. "Nicky is in so many pedigrees," says Madge. "And she's behind every Lab we've produced in the past 50 years." Today, the Ziessows have around 70 champions to their name-no small feat in a breed as competitive as the Labrador Retriever. When it comes to showing dogs, the rule of thumb is the more popular your breed, the tougher the competition.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
In the many years the Ziessows have been breeding and showing dogs, they have achieved some considerable accomplishments. This includes having bred the top-winning, American-bred black Labrador Retriever of all time, a record still unbroken despite the fact that it was set more than 40 years ago. One of their bitches won two nationals and came in Best of Opposite in another.

The Ziessows are also proud of the dogs they have bred that have gone on to produce special dogs for the show ring. Their most notable dog in this category is Ch. Franklin's Golden Mandigo, CD. "We bred Ch. Franklin's Golden Mandigo, CD, the sire of Ch. Charisma Lone Star Rick," says Madge. "Ch. Charisma's Lone Star Rick still holds the Lab record for most Best in Shows. He won 13 of them and has around 60 Group wins."

Breeding and raising such successful show dogs call for considerable time and dedication, qualities that are evident in the way the Ziessows handle dogs on a daily basis. "We start our day at 5 in the morn-when we let the house dogs out," says Madge. "At 6AM, we let the kennel dogs out, and then put them back in their kennel runs until about 11AM. At 1PM, we close them indoors because we live in a residential neighborhood and don't want them to bark and disturb the neighbors. At 4PM, we let them out again and fix all their food for the next day. They stay out until around 7 or 7:30, when they come back in for the night."

In addition to their duties as caretakers for their kennel of 10 Labs, the Ziessows spend their time volunteering with both local and national dog clubs, and have also served as judges for the American Kennel Club (AKC). "We like to stay involved in the breed," says Madge. "So Bernie is on the Board of Directors of Labrador Retriever Club of America - he used to be secretary-treasurer of the club. He's also a member of the Oakland County Kennel Club, and is the club's AKC delegate."

Madge is very involved in the Labrador Retriever breed, too, and is a member of the Huron River Labrador Retriever Club, the Women's Field Trial Club and the Wolverine Retriever Club.

Both Ziessows are AKC judges, although Madge is no longer accepting assignments due to failing eyesight. When she was judging, she officiated over Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Springer Spaniels and English Setters. Bernard Ziessow is still judging and is approved for the Sporting, Hound and Non-Sporting Groups. "He's been judging for 30 years now," says Madge.

EMPHASIS ON TEMPERAMENT
While winning in the conformation ring has always been important to the Ziessows, their breeding philosophy is geared much more toward disposition. "We have always tried to produce dogs that will make people happy," says Madge. "We don't think winning in the show ring is the most important thing. We get a lot of calls from people who want our pups, and many of them are people who have had a couple of our dogs in the past. Of course we like to see our pups shown and field trialed, but we also love them enough to let them just be pets if that's what people want them for."

Soundness has also been an important breeding issue to the Ziessows. "Every now and then we see a bad hip, but for the most part, our dogs have been very sound," says Madge. "We have worked hard to achieve this.

"Basically, though, we have tried to breed dogs that can be both field and show dogs," says Madge. "This should be the way the Lab is. We try to breed dogs that are good field trial dogs, have good conformation and are very intelligent."

After 60 years of breeding, the Ziessows are starting to wind down their program. "I'm 82 and Bernie is 86, so we are slowing things down now," she says. "We hope we've made people happy over the years. When we get photos from Guiding Eyes, a group using some of our dogs to help the blind, it sends chills down our backs. Another accomplishment we are proud of is that a bitch of ours was successfully treated for cancer at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan using an experimental technique that is now being used on people. We feel she helped make this technique possible for humans.

"You get to a point in life where winning in the show ring is not as important as having your dogs accomplish some of these other things that are so worthwhile." *

SIDE NOTES