Contributor

Pat Rock

4 published articles

Pat Rock of Providence Forge, Virginia, breeds and shows AKC Lakeland Terriers. She is a member in good standing with the United States Lakeland Terrier Club and the American Working Terrier Association, and is an American Kennel Club licensed judge for Earthdog Tests. Pat has been recognized as a Breeder of Merit Platinum in the American Kennel Club’s Breeder of Merit Program for Lakeland Terriers. Pat has had a passion for genetics and animal breeding since she was a child. (How many other kids did their school science project on coat color genetics in puppies?) Growing up with Pointers and Setters, and always at least one Terrier that her dad kept as a squirrel dog, she bred her first litter in 1961, studying the performance records of potential stud dogs through the pages of The American Field weekly, and shipping that first English Setter bitch in a rented crate on a train via Railway Express to be bred. Getting involved with conformation showing was the fault of her husband. While they were still teens, he took her to her first dog show, knowing that she loved dogs and because it was a cheap date. After they were married and his job had them moving frequently, it just wasn’t possible to breed anything the size of Pointers. So, she turned to the Lakeland Terrier, having fallen in love with the look of them at that first dog show. Twenty twenty-one marks her 50th year showing Lakelands. Pat has bred over 100 show champions, five MACH Lakelands (one of them attaining MACH5), and a high percentage of all AKC Earthdog titles earned by Lakelands are Hollybriar owned or bred. Pat has been a member of the United States Lakeland Terrier Club since the early 1970s, has served terms on the Board, including President, has chaired the Health Committee, brought about the club’s first Breed Health Survey, has written columns for the AKC Gazette for many decades, and was instrumental in the enrollment of the breed in the UCDavis Canine Genetic Diversity Project, an ongoing endeavor to preserve as much genetic diversity in the gene pool as possible for the preservation of the breed into the future. Pat is active in Judge’s Education, has chaired the first and second Lakiepalooza events, and is looking forward to continuing to be active in promoting the breed she loves so much.