Abiqua Kennels is Tom and Chris Levy
Hi, I’m Chris, the Abiqua webmaster. I was born in Portland, Oregon and have lived there most of my life. I’m a graduate of Oregon State University in Zoology which has helped in my avocation of everything doggie, (not my vocation). I am a retired Project Manager specializing in case management systems for courts. I have had Miniature Schnauzers and German Shorthaired Pointers since 1972 soon after Tom and I married. I showed in obedience where I took 5 dogs to titles including a Utility dog and in conformation where I finished over 30 Miniature Schnauzers of my breeding. I’ve also owned and shown a few Cairn Terriers along the way. I belong to the American Miniature Schnauzer Club, and developed an educational CD for the breed. I belong to the Portland Miniature Schnauzer Club, the Terrier Association of Oregon, Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon, and Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon where I am secretary. I am an AKC judge and approved to judge the Sporting, Terrier and Non-Sporting Groups, Giant and Standard Schnauzers, Pumik and Mudik. I’m enjoying this aspect of my life in the dog world, along with giving seminars on terriers and Pumik.
Got our first Shiba Inu in 1989, and the highlight of our interest in Shibas was when we attended the Japan National (Nippo) show with in 1993 with an entry of 624 Shibas. (That’s us in Japan in the photo to right). We were able to visit with some Shiba breeders there and it really helped us to get a feel for good Shiba type.
Tom was born in California, but his mother’s family were Oregonians. He is a graduate of Oregon State University in Construction Engineering. He was the driving force behind Abiqua German Shorthaired Pointers, which we had for many years. Tom started his own construction business in 1994 with a fellow OSU graduate, but is now retired. Tom is the treasurer of the Hungarian Pumi Club of Americ and a past president of the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon.
In 1998 I went to the World Dog Show in Helsinki, Finland to watch the Miniature Schnauzers……and lost my heart to a breed a had never seen before, the Pumi! Since we had been looking for a herding dog for our 7 Hereford cows, we decided to take the plunge and get a male – so we wouldn’t be tempted to breed. About a year later we had our first dog from Hungary and to make a long story short, we now have only Pumik. I was president of the Hungarian Pumi Club of America for 13 years, since its inception in 2005, then Vice President, then Secretary for 3 years. Now I’m just webmaster and Pumifest Chair while Tom is Treasurer.
Since there were basically no Pumik in the USA, over the last 25 years we’ve imported 13 Pumik from Europe (mostly Hungary) to establish our breeding program. We’ve also used frozen semen from Hungary, Finland, and Sweden. We had our first litter in 2002 and continue to have one or two litters per year.