At our kennel in Pennsylvania, we recently had an open house. Since I wasn’t in town for the occasion, the staff sent me pictures – and I saw close to fifty dogs and their people enjoying a sunny day at my home, Pennywood.

My family has been part of Pennywood for more than eighty years now, and the kennel goes back to the early 1940s. In those years, dog lovers have seen many things – some of them good and some of them strange. There have been discoveries of ancient civilizations and the unraveling of astrological mysteries. There have been inventions and creative accomplishments that almost defy the imagination. There have been achievements that almost touch the brightest heavens and there have been dangers throwing us, as a community of dog lovers throughout the world, tumbling into blackness and despair.

Through it all, there have been our dogs. Dogs of every variety and character we could think of … and some that we wish never happened . . . all brought into existence because we hoped for them and we did what had to be done in order to make it happen. Right or wrong, good or bad (win or lose) dog lovers have seen our “world” survive. And, survive, it has …

Paintings from times long gone by reveal dogs beside us in our lives. Running beside Egyptian chariots, scrounging on left-overs beneath the king’s table in the political strife of the Middle Ages, strapped into rockets aiming for outer space. Very few animals have been so honored in history. For our dogs, we have created jobs. As I write this on the eve of the Kentucky Derby, I’m reminded that horses aren’t the only animals for which we have created smooth surfaces (race tracks) on which they can run. Dogs have been racing across the desert for ages. They may be chasing toys on the end of a pole these days, instead of chasing gazelle or antelope, but the activity is the same.

Fast-forward to times within our recent memory, and we know kennels made it through wars and famines just as they flourished in prosperity. Dedicated breeders, exhibitors and just plain lovers of dogs in general, took care of their dogs. Maybe they had to trade for what they wanted – bartering goods and services, trading breeding stock. Maybe they even traded Grandma’s good china.

When I was growing up, I found a book in the library about a Boxer breeder in Europe during the World Wars. She made cigarettes and traded them for dog food. But she was protecting the seed-stock of the kennel that was her life’s work … and her bloodline became the source of many champions.

Likewise, one of our readers was kind enough to send me a copy of a book written by a successful Afghan breeder. I loved the story of her life, and how she managed to guide her dogs, horses and cats through the collapse of her country and into the many years that followed. Because of laws regulating currency, she would trade dogs for goods (a supply of coffee came every month) … and what I especially loved was reading about the dog shows during that time. Yes, with countries falling apart all around them, dog lovers still managed to have shows.

By studying these things, we realize that “the show goes on” no matter what happens around us … it all depends on how we handle things, on what we want to happen … and on what is important to us. As Grandpa always says, “Just because everybody else is going crazy, it doesn’t mean you have to.”

As your friend Ron Hevener says: “Your life is a great big movie – and only YOU can write the script ……. On With The Show!”