Pequest Pekingese On Top Of The World
David Fitzpatrick and his fancy Pequest Pekingese had an incredibly good year in 2021. Humbled for the wins that stacked up beyond expectation, this genteel breeder-owner-handler is in awe. Pride and satisfaction slip in as he describes his Pekes.
These wins made international headline news, and dog fancy publications clamored to cover them. Westminster. Morris & Essex. AKC National Championship. AKC Breeder of the Year. Pequest Pekingese are on top of the world.
Fitzpatrick has devoted a lifetime to the ancient Chinese toy breed. His rendition of correct breed type, the lovely rectangular Peke head and proper pear body shape with a heavy front and light backend, is captured in “Wasabi” and “Fortune Cookie” — 2021’s winners — as well as the many generations before them. A perfectionist, Fitzpatrick’s presentation of his Pekes from grooming to gaiting could not be more exquisite.
Wasabi (MBIS/MBISS GCHG Pequest Wasabi), the Best in Show winner at the 2021 Westminster and Morris & Essex kennel club shows, is a natural-born show dog. His glowing confidence reminds Fitzpatrick of his first Westminster Best in Show winner in 2012, “Malachy” (MBIS/MBISS GCHS Palacegarden Malachy), who is Wasabi’s paternal grandsire and maternal great-grandsire.
Wasabi and Malachy share an uncanny similarity. “When I put a lead on them for the first time, they just took off. From the beginning, they both had ‘it’ — charisma, boldness and showmanship,” he says.
Coming off 2020 as the No. 1 all-breed dog in the country, Wasabi was refreshed for showing at Westminster in June 2021. His unhurried, dignified stroll around show rings, a rolling gait, smooth and effortless, is the epitome of proper Peke movement. Wasabi is Fitzpatrick’s first trifecta winner of Westminster, Morris & Essex, and the AKC National Championship. When Wasabi won the AKC National Championship in 2019, he became the show’s youngest Best in Show winner at 20 months of age.
After Westminster, Fitzpatrick did not decide until the last minute to show Wasabi at Morris & Essex. Pequest has a history of winning the famous show that was revived in 2010 to honor founder Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge and is held every five years. Malachy won in 2010. GCH Pequest General Tso, the sire of Wasabi’s dam, won in 2015. The 2020 show was canceled due to COVID-19 and thus was held in 2021 drawing an entry of nearly 4,500 dogs when Wasabi won.
At the year-end AKC National Championship, Fitzpatrick’s new Special, MBIS GCH Pequest Fortune Cookie, won Toy Group First at 18 months of age. Fortune Cookie’s dam, CH Pequest Rachel, is Wasabi’s little sister from a repeat breeding of the sire and dam. Particularly endearing to Fitzpatrick, Fortune Cookie also won Best Bred-By Exhibitor in Show, an honor that Wasabi received at the 2020 show.
Capping the successful year, Fitzpatrick was named the AKC Breeder of the Year honoring a lifetime of accomplishments. Pequest has produced over 100 homebred champions, 17 of which were Best in Show winners. At Westminster, besides twice winning Best in Show, Pequest has won Best of Breed 24 times and Toy Group First eight times. At the Pekingese Club of America National Specialty, Pequest has won more than 20 Bests of Breed.
It is his role as a breeder that Fitzpatrick enjoys most. He is undeniably gifted with a vision that enables him to put together incredible linebreedings. He has blended the Coral Gables bloodline he started with to the great producers of the Yakee dogs of Scotland and the old-fashioned, solid Pekes from the Palacegarden line of the U.K. Ultimately, Fitzpatrick has created a powerful line of Pequest Pekingese — toy dogs that make a statement in show rings.
Pequest feeds Purina Pro Plan (Adult & Puppy) Complete Essentials Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice.