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Lois Meistrell dog trainer
| Lois Meistrell’s involvement with dogs pre-dates World War II. Both she and her husband Harland were, at the behest of Mrs. William (Dorothy) S. Long of the Westbury Kennel Association, involved with training dogs for the military prior to World War II at Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY. The work was quite advanced for that time in history. They were training dogs to cast as bird dogs, rather than tracking. The thought was that in the "new" age there would be greater use of planes and therefore a greater chance of parachutists winding up in trees. Realize that the US did not have War Dogs as such in World War I. Despite what you have read World War II was the first time that we used dogs. Yet, here was Lois Meistrell using techniques that were "new" to American dog training. She even had a dog trained to run communication wire off a reel on her back. It was a German Shepherd named Alana that had belonged to Roy Schwarz, noted handler and trainer. |
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During World War II Lois wanted to do her best for the war effort. Her husband was working with dogs in the US Coast Guard and the shortage of male workers gave her the opportunity for work not normally available. For years the Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ had a policy not to hire female trainers. "Autré mouers, autré temps". Different times and different morals. The Seeing Eye also only wanted "virginal" trainers. Trainers that had no previous training experience. Lois and another woman trainer joined three acolyte trainers at the Seeing Eye because of the shortage males. At the end of World War II the Meistrells went into professional handling and joined the PHA when Laddie Carswell was president. The PHA gave them a little bit of friction because of the training guarantee they gave on putting obedience titles on dogs. Not only did they do the training but they agreed to handle the dogs. If a dog did not get a title within 5 shows they would continue to handle the dog at no cost until the title was obtained. They were merely guaranteeing their performance.
Mrs. Meistrell was a stringer for a number of the New York papers having written for Newsday and the Newark News. She also did a number of regular columns for a few newspapers. Some of the worthy books Lois has written are The New Dachshund, Sports Illustrated Guide to Dog Training and three or four breed books for TFH. Lois is a Life Time member of the Dog Writers Association of America. She has been a membership goes back to 1939. Now that is longevity. Lois’ dog activity has taken the painless way. One of the neighbor’s dogs, a Coonhound-Beagle mix sleeps over. A number of the neighbor’s dogs visit on her porch when the owners are at work and she always has a biscuit for them. Lois Meistrell at 96 still keeps her hand in with the animals. She rounds up her neighbor’s horses when they get out of the paddock by banging on the feed bucket. A little animal sense goes a long way. | |
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| Last Updated: Sunday, July 19, 2009
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