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Patricia
Zengel,
Director
- San Diego, CA.
Patricia was born in Bergen County, New Jersey. She
majored in economics at Hamline University in St.
Paul, Minnesota, before graduating from the
University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis.
She joined the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps
in 1979 and enjoyed an adventurous twenty-four year
career that included tours in Washington, D.C., the
Republic of the Philippines and Guam, as well as a
year at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode
Island, before retiring from the Navy last year:
"I
was no longer going to be on active duty, and was no
longer faced with the possibility of a transfer
overseas or to a remote location where a dog
couldn't follow, so the time was finally right for
the pet I'd always wanted. The assorted fish,
turtles, frogs, mice, bantam chicks, white rats and
parakeets my parents let me have while growing
up were never quite enough. I needed a dog - one
that was spirited, smart, adaptive, and definitely
one with an element of attitude. The northern
breeds were attractive but mostly too large for
suburban life. Then I found a two paragraph
description of the Alaskan Klee Kai in the final,
'Rare Breed' section at the end of an old,
coffee-stained, dog breed encyclopedia from the
local library. I was intrigued - they were a tiny
version of the dogs that ran the Iditirod. It said
there were all of about 500 of them in existence - I
really didn't think I'd find anyone who actually
bred them. But after a few evenings on line, some
phone calls, a couple of kennel visits, I knew I'd
found what I was looking for. Aside form the
amazing force of personality shown by each one of
these little guys, what impressed me most was the
unwavering focus of everyone I talked to on the
welfare of the dogs, and on the creation and
maintenance of a healthy breed. It wasn't long
before I had two dogs - and also realized I'd
been adopted as a member of an extended AKK family.
The dogs are truly unique and the human community is
dedicated to them, and that promises a great
deal for our future."
Patricia currently lives in San Diego, California,
with her two AKK, Kiska and Ninja-Kai. With their
reluctant permission, and to cover the dog food tab,
she now works as a civilian attorney for the Navy's
Office of General Counsel.
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