He’s Park Slope’s top dog!
An award-winning Slope dog breeder is putting down the leash and picking up the gavel at this year’s Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, where he’ll return to oversee the contest as a first-time judge after competing in it as a top contender for years.
“I’m excited and I’m honored to be judging,” said Milan Lint. “It’s a very different perspective.”
Lint rose to become one of the nation’s top breeders over his 30-year career, and his Portuguese water dog, Matisse, is the top-winning male show dog in United States history, with 238 all-breed best-in-show wins.
The record-setting pooch is also well-connected — President Obama’s Portuguese water dog, Sunny, is his cousin.
And the local animal lover’s affenpinscher, Fiona, boasts her own impressive achievement of being the most successful female in the toy breed’s history.
But after Westminster honchos tapped Lint to judge Newfoundland and Portuguese water dog breeds in their annual New York City super-show this February, he made the tough call to pull Fiona from the competition so he could perform on the other side of the fur-filled pageant.
Lint first moved to Park Slope 25 years ago, but quickly decamped to the distant isle of Manhattan, and only returned to Brooklyn 18 months ago when he settled in a Prospect Park West home near Montgomery Street, where he lives with his partner and affenpinschers Frieda, Berta, and Greta. Fiona, on the other hand, lives with a pro-handler who can accommodate the requirements of her demanding career — a common arrangement for thoroughbreds of a certain level. And Matisse resides with Lint’s business partner, he said.
The top-notch breeder returned to Park Slope in large part to bring his pack closer to Prospect Park, and to a nabe known for its preeminent dog-raising credentials.
“It is absolutely a dog friendly neighborhood, and the park is a big part of that,” Lint said.
