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At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Chesapeake Club, President Linda Harger presented The AKC Outstanding Sportsmanship Award to Angie Cox of Tennessee. The AKC describes the Outstanding Sportsmanship Award as follows: “This award honors those individuals who deserve special recognition that have made a difference in the sport of purebred dogs, embodied the AKC Code of Sportsmanship, and have been an active and valued member of an AKC member club.”
I’ve had the good fortune to call Angie a friend and I have long admired her breeding program, her knowledge of the breed, her willingness to share her knowledge in the service of the breed, and her kindness to all she competes against or works with. Angie and I became close when we worked together on the Show Committee. We all know that Chesapeake people are strong-willed and outspoken and sometimes, when serving on an ACC committee, we get an up-close view of people’s “passionate” expressions of opinion. Muddling through differences of opinion can be challenging for any of us, but Angie always handles it with grace and respectfulness for all. Angie is also a deep thinker and problem-solver and fairness is always her guide.
I once had a memorable conversation with Angie about the importance of attending our National Specialty Shows. Angie said that we don’t go to a NSS because we think we can win. We go to take stock of our breed. We go for the things you can learn over a cup of coffee or a drink around the pool. We go to both share and absorb information. We go for the relationships that we form and those that we strengthen. And Angie shows up for our NSS’s no matter how near or how far. Year after year.
The American Chesapeake Club is lucky to have Angie Cox among our membership for the skills she brings to bear for our breed and for our club, but also for what she shows us about what it means to be a venerable dog woman and a class act.
Submitted by Gina Downin (MD)
