When Bob Peters and his wife Pat bought their first Irish terrier in the mid-1960s, they had no idea how much the little puppy would impact their lives.

The brown-eyed, floppy-eared, rusty-colored pup named Rory was an energetic playmate for the Peterses’ children. He wasn’t yappy and he wouldn’t jump on the furniture or beg for food at the dinner table. He also didn’t bother any of the Peterses’ other animals, including horses, goats and chickens.

Rory not only became a favorite family pet, but led Bob and Pat to pursue their own business.

“He turned out to be such a nice dog that we’ve been (breeding them) ever since,” Pat said.

The Peterses began breeding Irish terriers in 1968 at their former home in Virginia. The dogs are amongst the rarest breeds, said the Peterses’ veterinarian Dr. Grady Hester from Rolesville.

During the next few years, they began attending and participating in various dog shows. Some of the their dogs have even become championship winners. The Peterses also joined the Irish Terrier Club of America, of which Bob was president from 1984-87.

But after Bob retired from his job at the Corning company, breeding and showing wasn’t enough.

“I needed something else to do,” he said. “I’m a workaholic.”

By then, the Peterses and their terriers were well-known in American Kennel Club circles. And they were experienced competitors.

The Peterses not only enjoyed showing their dogs, they also found a great niche on the dog show circuit.

“You make a lot of friends, all over the country,” Bob said. “I probably have more friends around the country than I do locally.”

 

Show time

Establishing a business  promoting, managing and supervising dog shows was a natural fit for Bob and Pat. They opened a dog show superintendent operation in 1988, licensed by the American Kennel Club (AKC). Bob Peters Dog Shows opened in Virginia, and moved to Youngsville in 1989.

There are only 11 such businesses in the United States, two of which are located in North Carolina. The Peterses’ nearest competitor is in Greensboro.

The Peterses help run shows mostly along the East Coast, but sometimes venture as far away as Missouri.

Bob said the business is very competitive, even though there are so few superintendents, because they place bids to hold shows.

In an effort to connect all the superintendents and increase their teamwork, Bob helped found the Dog Show Superintendents Association three years ago. He’s served as president ever since.

The association helps monitor dog shows and ensures that AKC rules are followed; it also collects feedback about shows to determine how they could be run more effectively.

Bob said most superintendents are regional, although the two largest work all over the country.

“We’re one of the smaller ones,” he said.

Despite the company’s size, they still run plenty of shows.

Last year, the Peterses held two of the largest specialty-breed shows in the world. A show in Maryland attracted more than 1,000 Labrador retrievers, while another show in Pennsylvania attracted more than 1,400 golden retrievers.

For those and every show, the Peterses and their employees recruit entrants, process applications, schedule showing times and send schedules to each participant. They also ensure that everything runs smoothly during the shows.

Bob Peters Dog Shows handles about 40 dog shows a year; while some only last a day, others last up to a week.

Running shows requires a great deal of traveling and working on weekends.

“Christmas is about the only time you don’t have shows,” Bob said.

He said, though, it doesn’t feel like he’s doing work since he’s always around relatives and friends.

Bob enjoys having his son Pete across the hall at work. And their part-time employees are like family, too.

While Pete has taken over most of the day-to-day duties, Bob, 76, still oversees and attends most of their shows, often with his wife.

“I do the fun stuff,” Bob said. “If it wasn’t enjoyable, I wouldn’t do it.”

Sarah Bridges, treasurer of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Greater Raleigh, has worked with the Peterses to hold two specialty shows for her club. She, too, enjoys the camaraderie of the Peterses’ office.

“They’re hometown people,” she said. “They’re always so congenial and friendly.”

 

No puppy mill

Getting away from it all is the biggest challenge, Pat said. Taking vacations is difficult when the office is open year-round and someone always has to be home to take care of the dogs.

But the Peterses have become so close to their pets that the dogs sometimes travel with them to various shows.

Bob and Pat have always liked animals and enjoy raising the dogs so much that the positives outweigh the negatives, even when a dog dies.

“It’s like losing a member of your family,” Bob said. He remembers sitting up all night with dogs before they died.

“It’s never easy,” Pat agreed.

Although, she still believes she has a great job taking care of the dogs and puppies.

The Peterses currently have four 3-month-old puppies.

They’re fed three times a day. Pat also switches them from their kennel and the house to the backyard so they each get some time outside. She also grooms all the dogs.

“Every night we bring every one of the puppies in here and play with them,” Pat said.

Interacting with the pups makes them more sociable and comfortable with people. The puppies also receive some house training.

The Peterses usually have no more than two litters of puppies a year — to ensure enough time to socialize the dogs and place them in appropriate homes.

“I just like the dogs,” Pat said. “You keep trying to produce something better each time.”

“The dog breeding is not a business. It’s not a moneymaking deal,” Bob said. “We do it for the love of the breed.”

He explained that feeding and vaccinating costs often leave little room for profit.

“It’s not like a puppy mill,” he said.

The Peterses only name puppies that they intend to keep. All the rest are carefully placed in homes. But the Peterses don’t sell their beloved dogs to just anyone.

Potential owners are asked to visit with the puppies at least twice before taking one home; they’re also interviewed by Bob and Pat.

Bob said it’s important to make sure that the dogs go to a good home. They won’t place a dog with anyone who doesn’t have a fenced-in yard or who seems the slightest bit unsure about owning an Irish terrier.

“The terrier breed is not for everybody,” Bob said.

So they also try to match future owners with puppies, depending on the attitude of each.

“Puppies are like kids … every one of them has a different personality,” Bob said.

The Peterses pay a great deal of attention to how their puppies act to determine which ones are most energetic, which are more subdued and which ones are more independent.

During the more than 40 years that the Peterses have been breeding terriers, only once have they had problems with a placement. Bob said they sold a puppy to a man who already had several beagles. The Peterses told the man that he shouldn’t feed the beagles and the Irish terrier together.

A month later, the man returned the terrier because he had been feeding it with the beagles, and the puppy ate not only its food but the beagles’ food, too.

“People have to listen to the breeders,” Bob said. “We know what the dogs will do and won’t do.”