Danielle Ray
STERLING – The dog days of summer arrived early for Gregg and Margaret von Sternberg when they were presented with the opportunity to show one of their beloved golden retrievers in the Westminster Kennel Club 146th Annual Dog Show in June. Westminster is one of the oldest, most prestigious dog shows in the world.
The town couple said they were “thrilled and honored show our 4-year old girl, American/Canadian CH Starhill Who’s That Girl, Annie,” who obtained her title last fall, qualifying her for this year’s Westminster show.
“It was especially special for us, as Annie is of our own breeding from our foundation and exclusively shown by us,” Gregg said. “There were a lot of excellent dogs at the show, and seeing Annie in the ring with those other elite golden retrievers was a thrill.”
The show, which was held this year at the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York, started in 1887 as a show for sporting dogs — retrievers, setters and spaniels — and grew to become one of the country’s largest annual all-breed dog events. For almost 100 years, the show was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City “as a benched show where all dogs were required to be kept on their allotted bench spot from the opening to close of show,” Gregg said, adding “it was not uncommon for the fire marshal to close the doors to additional spectators due to the excessive number of people.”
Margaret said that when showing their field spaniel Andy at Westminster in 2010, “The crowds were so thick it took Gregg an hour to carry Andy the 200 yards from his bench area to the show ring on the garden floor.” In 2021 the show moved from Manhattan to the grounds of Lyndhurst, an estate along the Hudson River in Westchester County.
“This show is unique in that all dogs shown have achieved their AKC (American Kennel Club) championship title, and it is largely invitational for the top winning dogs within their breeds,” Gregg said.
Although this was not the couple’s first time participating in the iconic show, it was their first time showing one of their golden retrievers.
“A lifetime dream was fulfilled by just being there and showing our girl,” they said. “It was a great pleasure to observe many of the country’s top dogs and top handlers.”
This year they showed to breeder judge Nancy Talbot from California with a field that included 47 males and 23 females.
“Many of the top golden retrievers from the U.S. and other countries where there competing for the coveted Best in Show title,” Margaret said. Although Annie did not place at Westminster, she did earn a Best of Breed and a Sporting Group1placement under golden retriever breeder-judge Gloria Kerr at the Pioneer Valley Kennel Club show in Greenfield on Aug. 6.
Gregg grew up in Marblehead, and Margaret was born in Switzerland and has family there.
Gregg said his love of dogs began at an early age, as he has “always had dogs,” primarily cocker spaniels as a child and then golden retrievers. After the couple retired in 2018, they moved to Sterling from North Andover, where they had lived for 20 years.
“This has been a hobby for us over the past 25 years,” Gregg said. “We both worked for IBM prior to retirement and found working with our dogs a wonderful relief from our corporate responsibilities. We participate in many dog shows throughout the year, and in many ways, Westminster is not that different. Just bigger, more prestigious and glamorous.”
He and his wife acquired their first golden retriever, Kimmie, in 1984.
“Kimmie was a wonderful golden retriever but truly was from a back-yard breeder and came with a number of health issues we were not aware of at the time,” he said. “But she was a wonderful companion to us, and when Kimmie passed, we felt we wanted to spend a bit more time in research to find a better-bred golden retriever.” After months of speaking to breeders across the country, they “finally found a woman in the area whom we felt comfortable with, and she had a litter planned.”
Soon Emmy joined their family. “The breeder asked us if we would consider showing her, and that was our introduction to the world of dog sports,” Margaret said. “Initially we paid professional handlers to groom and show our dogs in conformation, and then we took seminars and classes and picked it up ourselves.”
They currently have four golden retrievers ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years old, including Annie. Margaret grooms the dogs as well as trains them in obedience, rally, agility, and therapy dog work, and Gregg handles the dog shows in conformation.
“Our dogs all carry the AKC kennel name of ‘Starhill,’, the English translation of our last name,” Gregg said, adding that people can follow their pups at starhillgoldens.com.
They said all purebred dogs “tend to have a national club that provides a wealth of information about their breed, the breed’s standard, code of ethics and contact list of local clubs and their breeders.”
For them, it’s the Golden Retriever Club of America, and they “like to stress the importance for future Golden Retriever, or any purebred dog, owners to do research to find responsible breeders who obtain all the health clearances on their dogs and are open and honest in discussing their breeding.”
“There are a lot of online sites with cute puppy pictures, but any good dog breeder won’t sell their puppies without interviewing the potential pet owners and meeting them in person,” Gregg said. “It takes time and patience, but the rewards of a well-bred dog are worth the wait.”
They said good information on how to find a golden retriever breeder can be found on the Golden Retriever Club of America website, grca.org, and there is information on the site about a golden retriever’s history, the AKC breed standard health, and much more.
Since 1997 the couple has shown their dogs more than 2,000 times in approximately 800 dog shows in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and they have no plans to stop anytime soon.
