{"id":15700,"date":"2025-11-13T00:29:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T07:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-mancos-breeder-trains-a-westminster-contender\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:50:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:50:36","slug":"a-mancos-breeder-trains-a-westminster-contender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-mancos-breeder-trains-a-westminster-contender\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mancos breeder trains a Westminster contender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Professional
Professional handler Betty Jo Pyle and Adonis. (Courtesy Photo\/Kriston Hamilton)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

On a typical morning, as light filters over Mancos, Kriston Hamilton begins a long day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get up in the morning, we take care of the dogs before we take care of ourselves,\u201d the dog breeder said. \u201cI have made my life around my dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton, of Beehive Great Danes, and her Great Dane, Adonis, will compete at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 and 3. The invitation, she said, reflects years of work and dedication.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very big deal for us. This actually started many, many years ago. This starts in the whelping box when we are evaluating puppies for their future,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

The pups are evaluated for health from birth, but the process begins even earlier with the careful selection of parents based on their records.<\/p>\n

Once a litter arrives, Hamilton evaluates each puppy, spending about two years raising the one she believes has the best potential. During that time, she conducts additional health tests and takes the dog on the show circuit, traveling across the country to compete.<\/p>\n

She says the work is expensive and time-consuming, but it\u2019s how she ensures the dogs she breeds \u201ccan actually live healthy, long-lived lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described herself as \u201ca reputable, responsible preservation breeder,\u201d adding that, \u201cI am not somebody who is breeding for profit. I don\u2019t just breed to sell puppies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Hamilton said she makes little to no money from breeding and works a regular 9-to-5 job to pay dog bills.<\/p>\n

Her goal, instead, is \u201cbreeding dogs for their future,\u201d with careful attention to health, structure and temperament. The Westminster invitation came because Adonis is among the top five Great Danes in the country.<\/p>\n

\"Kriston
Kriston Hamilton and her Great Dane Adonis. (Courtesy Photo\/Kriston Hamilton)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Adonis goes by two names. He has his everyday name, but his registered name is \u201cMBISS GCHS Beehive N Liberty\u2019s Le Quattro Stagioni AOM,\u201d Hamilton said. Parts of the name reflect his wins. She noted \u201cAOM\u201d stands for Award of Merit and means he has earned more than 500 points by going Best of Breed.<\/p>\n

Preparing for Westminster requires its own regimen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese dogs are athletes,\u201d she said. \u201cJust like human athletes, they actually have a regimen just like a human athlete would.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dogs follow special diets, receive regular checkups, and attend acupuncture and chiropractic appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very spoiled,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cWe do daily exercises. We have a running exercise, we have toning exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton described Westminster as a benched show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have to be on site all day. We do not get to leave the show site for this show until we are completed showing for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Westminster, she and Adonis will be joined by professional handler Betty Jo Pyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want him to be looked at in the best light possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her background with animals spans decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole life has been animals,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve shown horses all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an adult, she transitioned to dogs.<\/p>\n

Hamilton wasn\u2019t born or raised in Mancos but is from Elko, Nevada. She moved to Southwest Colorado with her family to \u201cfind some acreage again,\u201d establish roots and build what she described as the best program for the dogs.<\/p>\n

Beehive Great Danes includes a reproductive program, and Hamilton is currently in school to become a veterinarian. She also breeds several coat patterns, including harlequin, mantle, merle and fawn. Color, however, is just \u201cthe icing on the cake,\u201d she says, meaning structure always comes before appearance.<\/p>\n

Adonis is a harlequin, which she called \u201ca hard coat pattern to create\u201d and \u201cone of the most highly sought after colors in the breed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called Great Danes an exotic breed because of their size but added that the dogs are easier to manage than many expect.<\/p>\n

Hamilton emphasized the importance of working with reputable veterinarians and rescues and said she hopes to help others who want to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals, in general, it\u2019s a hard climate for animals in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important for us all to work together for the future of animals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beehive Great Danes earns Westminster invite after years of work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19795,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15700\/revisions\/19795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15700"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}