Louis Auslander had successful runs in construction and insurance adjusting before, as they say, going to the dogs.
Most of those dogs were top of the line show dogs, but it all started in the early 1970s with a pet male miniature schnauzer with bad teeth and a few other imperfections.
“That dog had every disqualification you could have, but we loved him,” he told the Tribune in 2004. He soon got involved with the International Kennel Club of Chicago.
“He was part of the show committee and in the 1980s he took it over as president and became owner (of the club), said Susan Olsen, who was show chair for the club from 1999 until retiring in 2016. Olsen said Auslander, who later led the American Kennel Club, was a strong proponent of benched shows, where dogs and breeders were on hand throughout the run of the show.
“He was instrumental in bringing (benched) dog shows to the people, so they could understand dog shows and see dogs and be able to make choices for their family when they were getting a pet,” Olsen said.
Auslander, 94, died of natural causes in a hospice facility in Jupiter, Fla., on May 6 following a recent fall in which he broke a hip, according to his daughter, Sindy Schneider. He began spending time in Florida decades ago, becoming a permanent resident of Palm Beach Gardens about 20 years ago.
He was born in Chicago in 1924 and graduated from Roosevelt High School. Family members said he went into the Army during World War II, serving with a cavalry unit.
He returned to Chicago at war’s end. His daughter said he worked in several businesses before joining with partners to open Alpine Construction Co., which operated from the 1950s into the 1980s. From there he joined a firm in public insurance adjusting and appraising, now run by his son.
His involvement with dogs included breeding and showing miniature schnauzers, whippets and fox terriers with his wife, Seme, who died in 2004.
“He was a great dog man,” Olsen said.
Educated in part by his experience as a breeder, Auslander became a respected judge, learning the standards for individual breeds. He regularly judged several breeds, including terriers and hounds. In addition to his own experience, he attended classes and seminars and had his skills tested by the New York-based American Kennel Club.
He judged the best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York in 1987.
Auslander was a member of the AKC board from 1983 to 1992. He was board chairman from 1987 to 1992 and served as interim president of the group from 1990 to 1991, the only person ever to hold both posts at the same time.
Auslander was always interested in involving families in the world of dogs.
“He made sure there was always something for kids to do,” Olsen said. That included events where kids could serve as junior judges, scoring dogs on the same standards of size, color and conformation the animals faced with adult judges.
That family involvement was the reason Auslander stayed with benched shows, even when the actual benches were no longer in use and dogs were in crates in floor areas off the show ring.
That was a better approach, he thought to what is sometimes called “show and go,” where handlers and breeders and dogs leave the show after their class or event is judged.
In a quote on the International Kennel Club of Chicago website, Auslander said, “It is a wonderful way for spectators to find breeds and talk to breeders. We view benching as a chance to educate the general public about our dogs.”
Other survivors include a son Carter; seven grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
He also was preceded in death by a daughter, Dori, who died in 2007.
Services were held.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.