Dogs In Review Magazine December Issue | Page 96

Chuck Millner
much as a phone call to make sure she would be home .
“ We are looking for an Afghan puppy ,” he boldly informed her . Old-timers will remember Gerda ’ s imperious demeanor , but the Viennese surgeon must have recognized potential in the young man because she suggested , “ Dahlink , vhy not take two ?” Done ! Charles and Morris left with a pair of promising young black-masked puppies , Shangrila Pharaoh Bhima and his litter sister , Shangrila Pharahna Tara .
Reading all those Dog Worlds got Chuck curious about dog shows , so when Bhima was 16 months old , he found one in Oklahoma to enter . It was the first-ever show for either of them , and wouldn ’ t you know , Bhima went BIS from the Open class under judge Tom Rainey at the Mid-Del-Tinker Kennel Club ! Oriana Afghans was launched !
Fast forward to the early 1990s when a young , aspiring handler left his home in rural Illinois for the big sky of Texas . He won his very first all-breed BIS with a stunning black / silver Afghan Hound bitch named Ch . Oriana Bombay Sapphire , bred and owned by Chuck . That young man was none other than Loran Morgan , who went on to win more all-breed and specialty Bests piloting ‘ Ginny .’ Today Loran is a successful , nationally known professional handler based in Los Angeles . Chuck was one of Loran ’ s earliest clients , and a lifelong friendship between the two was cemented during those Texas years .
Whether you knew him as Charles or Chuck , you could depend on him to be larger than life , cook you a gourmet meal , choose a great bottle of wine for you , keep you entertained with his caustic wit and endless stories , share his strongly held opinions on whatever subject and , of course , recite Afghan Hound pedigrees , relying on his encyclopedic memory . Chuck bred many top dogs over the decades , and was an active member and volunteer in his local all-breed kennel clubs and several regional Afghan Hound clubs .
A few years ago he was asked to cater a post-specialty Southernstyle dinner in York , Pa . The number of guests seemed to grow daily from a smallish , intimate gathering to a group of around 50 , and we had to transport the brisket all the way from Texas , along with the dogs we ’ d entered ! Chuck never refused a friend and thought the whole escapade was hilarious . He made many new friends that night , among them lots of newbies who had only read about his dogs . Old contemporaries in the breed reconnected with him and were happy we ’ d made the road trip . The Afghans resting at my feet as I type this eulogy represent the ninth generation of Oriana champions .
In recent years , Chuck talked about wanting to judge the breed to which he had devoted his life . He judged many matches and stewarded at shows to gather the required AKC credits . As usual , and sadly in this case , he proceeded at his typical , leisurely Southern pace .

Audrey Sutton

SEPTEMBER 14 , 1935 – AUGUST 31 , 2016 BY LILIAN BARBER

One of the truly grand dames of the Italian Greyhound fancy passed away on August 31 , only two weeks short of her 81st birthday . Audrey was an active member of the Italian Greyhound Club of America since October of 1967 . A past President of the organization and holder of several other club positions , she participated not only as an exhibitor of top-winning dogs , most of them bred under her Westwind kennel name , but was always lending a willing hand , doing whatever was asked of her to aid in the running of one of the specialties .

She often served as chief ring steward at the National Specialty and had been scheduled to do that at the September 2016 show . She was a popular judge of Italian Greyhounds and several Hound breeds , as well as Junior Showmanship , and was extremely active with her all-breed club , the Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club , for which she served several terms as President and as Show Chair for more than 20 years . She
Left : Chuck Milner , Julie Mueller and Allan Reznik .
DECEMBER 2016 DOGS IN REVIEW 93