In Loving Memory of Jeanine Sudinski
AKC Hound Breeder of the Year Award in 2014
AKC Judge since 1972 (50 years)
10-12-1930 – 04-30-2022
Starbarks Coffee and Chat with John Contoupe…
An Interview with Mrs. Jeanine Sudinski
An Interview with Mrs. Jeanine Sudinski
My memories of the dynamic California duo team of mother and daughter are vivid and lucid after all these years. I’d see them at the shows occasionally, mostly at the national, and I was always impressed with their smiles, good natures, and phenomenal Smooth Standard Dachshunds. I recall the silhouette of every dog of theirs. The wrap around the front and the protruding breastbone, the wonderful front assembly, the lovely necks, the strong and wonderfully well-angulated rears captured my attention early on, and it is a splendid feeling to see some of that very same consistency in quality in their newer generations.
When I meet a storyteller, I honor them by letting them do what they do best. I encourage them to tell me their story. And so it goes…
The Story of Lucene
When you think about Jeanine Sudinski, what comes to mind are beautiful smooth standard dachshunds, equally beautiful dachshund artwork, the highly respected Lucene Dachshund Kennel, expert service as an AKC judge, and 50 years of devoted service to the San Diego Dachshund Club. Try an internet search using the words: “Lucene Dachshunds.” It will bring up at least 17 pages of listings describing and picturing the accomplishments of Jeanine, and her daughter Mechelle Sudinski-Stahl, and the line of smooth standard dachshunds they have produced and shown. Some of these listings are even in Spanish, Czech, Japanese, and Korean. All of that is, in itself, quite a tribute to their accomplishments. If you would like to see photos and information about many of their champions, open the website: https://lucene1948.com
Jeanine was not only gifted in creating a most desirable and correct silhouette of a smooth dachshund in flesh and bones. She has also been truly gifted in capturing their beauty on canvas, or paper. I have admired her watercolor paintings since the early eighties but I am particularly fond of her Dachshund art work. She not only captures their spirit, the sparkle in their eyes, but she also makes the image pop off the paper or canvas, as their soul awakens again.
Jeanine Tells The Story Of Her Life In Art
“Recently I was asked to write an article telling you about my experience painting many watercolors, and even some oils of the famous dachshunds of the past. Actually, it was a time when dachshunds were at their best. It began in the 60’s. I was lucky to have been around during this time. I was in the presence of the best, most knowledgeable dachshund enthusiasts of this era. When it came to my sketches for a client, they were very precise in what they wanted. It was stressful work for me, but they liked my work and never let me stop.
I so admired the accomplishments of those breeders. I wanted to be accepted in some way, and my paintings helped me. Their corrections I took as a lesson in learning.
During this time, I was active in many art groups, even finding time to attend more art school. Exhibited my works in the Art Institute in Balboa Park. Had a ‘One Woman Art Show’ there with around 60 dog paintings.
I was a charter member when the Del Sur Kennel Club and Cabrillo Kennel Club began. The young San Diego Dachshund Club was just getting started. I served every office in that club over 55 plus years. Lastly, I was also a member of the Obedience Club of San Diego County, Inc. My daughter was a very successful obedience trainer in both dachshunds and Rottweilers, but that is another story.”
Being into so many diverse interests among people with many different breeds I was among the busiest artists around. Many nights you would find the light on in my art room till 2am in the morning.
Pet clients were the hardest to please. They never saw their dog the way it really was. Invariably, I would have to change something, mostly color. My work was very tight lined, much like an etching. Every hair was painted and visible. Tedious, long hours of work. It was a shame I had to cover it with pastels to satisfy the client. But there was one thing that I never had to change on the painting and it was the way I can catch the soul of the dog in their eyes. My mother told me I was one with the dogs the way I loved them.
Pet clients were the hardest to please. They never saw their dog the way it really was. Invariably, I would have to change something, mostly color. My work was very tight lined, much like an etching. Every hair was painted and visible. Tedious, long hours of work. It was a shame I had to cover it with pastels to satisfy the client. But there was one thing that I never had to change on the painting and it was the way I can catch the soul of the dog in their eyes. My mother told me I was one with the dogs the way I loved them.
“This is a story about my infatuation with the movie, ‘Lassie Come Home.’ I went to the library and read the book from cover to cover, after seeing the movie. Reed every book Albert Payson Terhune wrote about collies. I even went so far as to do a watercolor painting of the actor in the movie, Roddy McDowall and the dog that played Lassie. The painting was sent to Roddy and he replied that he loved it and hung it in his bedroom above his bed. Well, for a little girl of 10, I was destined on a career as an artist. I was enrolled in classes at the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Field Museum for the next 10 years.
When I was 20, I was married and two weeks later my husband Julius was drafted into the army hospital corp. We moved to San Antonio, Texas and for six months, where he attended pre-med school, and I went to work for an insurance company. Of the 35 men and women in his company he and one other man were kept state side. We ended up at Ft. Ord, Calif., just outside of Monterey. I began painting again, this time the native birds in the area. I bought a dachshund with the money I made selling paintings.
My seriousness as a dachshund’s” breeder is another story. We spent two years at Ft. Ord, Calif. I fell in love with the climate, and it was hard to leave this beautiful place. The summer was spent back in our home town of Whiting, Indiana, where I saw the autumn leaves falling from the trees. I decided it was not for me. No more cold winds off Lake Michigan. We decided, after my persistent persuasion, to return to southern California. My husband took a six month leave from his job in case we couldn’t find work in California. Well, it was hard at first, but we did find work and to this day we are still in a town east of San Diego, Calif. It was the beginning of the most exciting period in my life in art and dachshunds, and yes, Rottweilers too.
My dachshund handler and mentor when I first started showing dachshunds in the late 1950’s, was Leon Warner. He liked my dog paintings well enough to get me some commissioned work from his clients. Leon, was one of the most helpful people I ever met especially young novices like myself. I was kept busy painting for Dr. Nyström. Did a couple paintings of his wirehairs and two of his smooths, and a smooth Minnie. They were beautiful dogs that could match any dog today in the conformation ring. From then on for the next twenty years, I would say, were my most industrious productive years in the world of art, and I must add breeding champion dachshunds also.
The greatest thrill in my life as an artist came when the famous breeders and owners of Ch. Favorite von Marienlust and Ch Falcon of Heying-Teckel came and asked me to do a full body, life size watercolor of Falcon. Since my “Lassie” infatuation when I was ten, did I ever love a dog as much as I did now, the beautiful, handsome Falcon. This dog had to be seen to appreciate him. He knew he was special like no other. In his day back in the 1960’s he was awesome to see him enter the ring. The exhibitors seemed to step back with reverence when he passed them. He was breathtaking, a stallion-type black and tan. I was lucky to see him win one of his several Best In Shows at the Silver Bay Kennel Club Show.
So, arrangements were made for me to come up to the Heying kennels to see, sketch and visit with the ‘great Falcon,’ and if I were lucky, have lunch with Fred and Rose. I asked to be left alone with Falcon, so I could get acquainted with his personality. It had to be able to capture what was inside him through his eyes. He was a celebrity, a movie star to me, and I was about to endeavor on the best piece of work in my career as a painter. His favorite thing was playing catch with his tennis ball. The intensity in his eyes described him. He was a falcon just as his name said. My heart and soul went into that painting. It took three months to complete. I was pregnant with my daughter at this time. Maybe this painting set the gene in her to become what she desires most, to breed dachshunds, Rottweilers and be a handler and trainer, which she is doing today.
When the Heyings came for the Falcon painting no words could express my feeling of accomplishment when they said to me: “Well done, Jeanine.” For a moment they just stood there staring at this life size painting of their dog, touching the glass as if they wanted to be sure it was a painting and not actual fur, so real was it to them they said it looked like it could walk off the paper. There are many more stories about my paintings, but I feel more people can relate to this one. You may be wondering whatever happened to this painting after the Heyings passing. The painting along with many dog items were auctioned off in New Braunfels, Texas. “Von Relgib” dachshunds fame went there to bid on the painting.
Since those years I have branched out with my art work, going back to school for another four years learning how to be a landscape and seascapes artist, which I could paint faster, and sold well. My paintings are all over the world, bought by the local, and foreign tourists visiting San Diego.
A few years later, in the 1990’s, Barbara Powers and her companion, Dr. Eve Schindler-Raiman invited me up to their hilltop home in Pasadena to have a one-woman art showing of my landscapes. Over a hundred invitations were sent out, and because of the high location and parking it was skeptical as to how many would come. I was wrong, because cars started appearing, and kept coming till I wondered where they would park. Eva, was a hostess above all hostesses. She and Barbara kept the champagne glasses filled and the Hord’ oeuvres plentiful for the guests. Mechelle showed the people around and made the sales. The paintings were disappearing off the easels. I was astounded, as any artist would be, at the admiration of my work. Even Barbara bought around twelve paintings.
It was a heavenly evening and all to soon the people and their new acquired landscapes began to leave. When it quieted down Eva invited us in for dinner. As I got up, I noticed a car coming up the drive. To me it had to be the longest, shiniest black car in the world! I just could not imagine who it could be, maybe a movie star? The front door of the car opened and out stepped Ethel Biglers husband. He then graciously opened the back seat door out stepped the stately, Ethel Bigler. She looked so regal, I almost curtsied to her. She smiled at me and said: “It is time for this to come home.” She turned towards her husband and he lifted out of the back seat of the car a velvet covered object. When the covering dropped, there it was in all its glory, the Falcon painting, done some thirty plus years ago. It had come home. For the past twenty-five years it hangs with honor in our living room. I hope someday it will make its way into the AKC Art Gallery.
I have made a list of some of the paintings I did from the 1950’s to 2016. It is not a complete listing, but you will know some of the dogs.
Wirehaired Standard Dachshunds:
Ch. Dachsmere Topper, Weber’s Sam Wire,
Ch. Peppermint Wire of Hawthorne,
Ch. Hibner’s Susi-Q,
Ch. Wag’s Spring Wire,
Ch. Bit O Copper of LeLau,
Wirehaired Miniature Dachshunds:
Ch. May’s Tyna-Mite,
Ch. Ellenbush Real George,
Martinovsky’s Fredricka,
Martinovsky’s Fredricka,
Longhaired Standard Dachshunds:
Ch. Han-Jo’s Flaming Flare,
Ch. Han-Jo’s Lollipop, Han-Jo’s Ulyssis,
Ch. Dach Ridge Hoss,
Ch. Dach Ridge Super Chief,
Ch. Dach Ridge Forever Amber,
Ch. Passenheim’s First Love,
Ch. Karlew’s Triton
Smooth Standard Dachshunds:
Ch. Brenner’s Jason,
Ch. Rebel of Tuftdach,
Ch. Selena of Tuftdach,
Ch. Mill-Dachs Romberg,
Ch. Mill-Dachs Bonny,
Ch. Mill-Dachs Praline,
Ch. Jollydach Bach von Kotthaus,
Ch. Jollydach Falcon’s Futura,
Ch. Jollydach Markus,
Ch. Falcon of Heying Teckel,
Ch. Mabb’s Marmion,
Ch. Mabb’s Lindon,
Ch. Hialeah’s Bling Bling
Smooth Miniature Dachshunds:
Ch. Groff Nix Tiny Tim,
Ch. Mabb’s Chico,
Clarinda’s Wee Sir Reginald,
Ch. Wilheer’s Mr. Stubbs.
I did not have the heart to alter Jeanine’s interview one bit! I left it as is, an original, perhaps a “Falcon painting” Piece, captivating and inviting, just like the subject of this piece. I loved her telling her own story, with pride, dignity and an inner luminous sparkle that few can project in life.
She has passed on her passion to daughter Mechelle and it will be wonderful to continue seeing Legacy, quality and charm in the rings, for many years to come. Even the American Kennel Club stands stoic and proud when it comes to this mother and daughter team. They were crowned AKC’s 2014 Hound Group’s breeders of the year. As they stood in front on hundreds of people and in the middle of the Florida Eukanuba KC show and waved to all, one could clearly see the pride and passion of a 67-year-old journey.
You see, Jeanine, took interest in the breed in, when she first moved to Chicago. Luck would have it that in 1952 of the very first Chicago Sports Peer dog show, Jeanine fell in love and purchased her very first smooth standard Dachshund.
In 1956 she bred that first Dachshund of hers and that started a trek of 65 years of love of the pure bred Standard Smooth Dachshund. It was not until 1963, the very year of my birth, that Taurine finished her first champion in this glorious breed. In 1983, Jeanine had one of her beautiful dogs sponsored. Six Best In Show awards were earned in six months. Three hundred AKC champions later, bring us and this daughter-mother dynamic duo, to the present day.
Not only am I deeply honored to have been a part of this interview with this remarkable lady, a true legend in the breed of Dachshunds, but I am proud to call her a friend and a most loyal at that. The dog fancy and the Dachshund breed proudly salute you; Jeanine Sudinski and Mechelle Sudinski-Stoll and we wish you many more champions and honors to come. For the moment, the honor is all ours.
I wanted to know what it felt like to be nominated and honored with such a prestigious award, as our time together was nearing the “so longs.”
“Being chosen as AKC 2014 Hound Breeders of the Year came as quite a shock to me. Michael Canalizo, AKC events director called me on the phone and gave me the big surprise. I asked him how it all came about? He said AKC runs a data base on all the Hound Breeders and my name comes up the most. So, in Dec. Mechelle and I flew to Orlando Florida to attend the Eukanuba Kennel Club Show to receive our ‘Olympian Gold Medals’ adorned with the red white and blue ribbon it hung from. One by one the announcer called the winner of each Group Breeder. When I heard our names, it sounded so strange. I cannot explain in words how I felt. It just seemed my life experience in breeding, showing and judging rooted through my mind. With each achievement that came to me above and beyond expectations, I kept saying: ‘I have nothing more to achieve!’ And, each time I was wrong, because my dogs would take me another step higher on the ladder of success. It has been 67 years, since 1948, my first dog show, 1956 my first litter by a son of Ch. Favorite Von Marienlust. And, my first champion in 1963."
"My first Best in Show, owner/handler at a Specialty in 1975. AKC judge in 1972. And, DCA, BIS 1992 three days in a row, Bred by Exhibitor all coats, same shows, same bitch garnered 14 points, a dog we co-owned was BOS to BIS at the same three shows, then 2000 DCA, BOY smooth, And 2004 DCA BIS, and 2005 DCA BOS to BIS, and 2005 BOV Westminster. And, still our latest back-to-back BISS in 2016. And through all this the AKC was keeping data of all the champions Lucene dachshunds produced. All of a sudden, I just felt very tired. Uhm. Again, I say, there isn’t anything else I can achieve in dogs, is there?”
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