A Brief History of the Buckeye Keeshond Club (BKC)

When the Keeshond fanciers sought to reactivate the Lake Shore Club in 1967, AKC suggested forming a new club instead of just changing its name. Thus the new club was named the Buckeye Keeshond Club. Buckeye was proud to say that Frank Vinion, Anne Vinion, & Eloise Geiger, charter members, remained active throughout the remainder of their lives.

BKC hosted their 1st National Specialty outdoors at the Trumbull Co. Fairgrounds in 1971 under the leadership of Frank Vinion.

In the years that followed, Buckeye members learned and grew together, supporting entries at local shows, organizing puppy matches, supporting a Breeders’ Code of Ethics, issued awards to members’ dogs earning new titles, sold Keesie Cookie cutters as a fund raiser, etc. In 1976, Buckeye’s bi-monthly newsletter KEEZETTE became available to the Keeshond community & later became KEEZETTE International, a popular Keeshond magazine that was circulated world-wide under the leadership of Carol & Ron Cash & Debbie Dorony-Lynch.

In 1979, Buckeye hosted their second National Specialty with Ron Cash as Show Chair and Carol Cash as Show Secretary. The 1979 National broke all previous records with 322 Keeshonden comprising 446 entries.

Prior to 1983, BKC had occasionally discussed seeking AKC licensing, but preferred to retain their informal small club status. In 1983, the Officers and Board of Directors decided to seek AKC recognition. At that point a task force was formed to organize, investigate the process and gather information to do so. Also, the BKC Constitution was completely revamped to meet AKC requirements.

At that same time the club was preparing to host another National Specialty, the 50th Anniversary of the Keeshond Club of America. The Specialty was co-hosted with the Southeast Michigan Keeshond Club, and led by show chairman John Sawicki and Show Secretary Carol Cash. Buckeye planned to hold its 2nd Plan A-OA match in conjunction with this show, thereby taking its final step in meeting AKC requirements. Memorial Day weekend 1985 brought two record breaking events: BKC’s A-OA Match with an entry of 171 and the National Specialty with an unbelievable entry of 646.

In 1985, AKC recognized BKC as the 10th Officially Licensed Regional Keeshond Specialty Club.

BKC Held their first Specialty and double sweepstakes in Cleveland, OH on December 13th & 14th 1986.

After AKC recognition, BKC continued to be active, holding its annual specialty and Sweepstakes with the Crown Classic Cluster in Cleveland, OH. BKC continued to support Keeshond entries at many Ohio shows over the years, along with holding sanctioned matches, picnics, educational programs and awards dinners.

In 1994, BKC hosted the National Specialty in Columbus, OH with the “Discover Columbus” theme, which proved to be another successful BKC event.

Several BKC Sweepstakes were held with supported entries during the August Canfield Clusters in Northeast OH. An additional BKC specialty with sweepstakes was held there in 2004. Due to the very unpredictable weather in Ohio, this outdoor specialty was held for only one year.

In Columbus, at the BKC hosted National in May 2005, an additional day was added to the specialty week for educational seminars. The very first Top Keeshond Event was held – a competition to honor and spotlight the top winning conformation Kees from the previous year. The Keeshond Club of America adopted this BKC organized event and it continues to be held with the National Specialty each year.

Over the many years BKC has hosted 6 National specialties in Ohio.

The last National hosted by BKC was held at the Kings Island Resort & Conference Center near Cincinnati, OH in 2011. The BKC Agility trial in conjunction with the National that year was held at Queen City Dog Training Club just 20 minutes from Kings Island in conjunction with the Weimaraner Club.

BKC has held many designated specialties in Cleveland, Canfield & Columbus Ohio. In April 2006, Buckeye started holding a second set of independent specialties each year with the specialty cluster at the Ohio Exposition Center in Columbus. December 2012 was the last year to hold BKC specialties in Cleveland. These specialties were moved to Columbus in November 2013.

Over the years Buckeye has supported many entries at several kennel clubs throughout Ohio. We have also held many Kees Puppy Matches, some herding instinct tests, had many carry in meals at meetings, had barn hunt demos & practice, scent work demos & practice, and had a very popular booth at AKC meet the breeds in Columbus.

BKC continues to hold 2 designated Specialties with Sweepstakes / Veteran Sweepstakes and 2 supported entries with the 4 day November Cluster in Columbus, Ohio. The same is held most years in April.

BKC was incorporated in the state of Ohio in April 2016.

In March of 2019, BKC started holding 3 days of agility trials in Westlake, OH at the newly opened Pinnacle Dog Sports facility. BKC continues to hold these 3 agility trials each March which provide income for the club.