The American Bully Kennel Club
The American Bully Kennel Club (ABKC) was established in 2008 and is an organization founded to maintain exceptional record keeping and to provide support and education to breeders, handlers and lovers of the American Bully breeds. They currently accept dog registries from the UKC, AKC & ADBA for American Bullies, BBC for Shorty Bulls, and AKC, FCI, NKC, ABRA and IOEBA for Bulldog breeds.
Prie Roldan’s Journey with the ABKC
Prie Roldan has always been a dog whisperer, but now she’s added a new title of ABKC Judge to her list of canine accomplishments! Prie was given her first dog at 9 years old, and quickly became obsessed with learning everything she could about dog health and care. As time went on, her curiosity led her to explore other breeds – diving into their history, movement, and structure.
In 2013, Prie’s boyfriend (now husband), Tone, took her to her first ABKC show where she fell in love with the American Bully and the ABKC community. On their second date, another ABKC show, as darkness fell on the competition, people pulled their cars around to light the ring with their headlights to ensure everyone had their opportunity to compete. It was then that Prie knew she had found her community.
Over the next few years, Prie became a sponge in the show environment, learning everything she could from watching and participating in shows. With the help of her husband, she went on to show, title and earn Top Dog with the registry’s first #1 APBT “Snoop” in 2015. Around that same time, she met her first French Bulldog. It was a Frenchie from Scotland who instantly stole her heart and although her husband talked her into waiting until she fully understood the breed before adding one to her home, they both knew it was inevitable.
In 2017, after Prie had spent several years learning everything she could about French Bulldogs, she found a breeder in Russia with a litter of well-bred puppies that she believed would be an exceptional addition to their program. She was sent a picture of a perfect puppy, Iggy, but wasn’t sure if it was in the cards to bring her home. Unexpectedly, on Mother’s Day that year Prie’s husband insisted they go to Miami. They hopped in the car and much to Prie’s surprise they arrived at the Miami airport where Iggy was brought out to her!
As soon as Iggy was of age she was at her first show. Prie’s intuition was correct and the young dog loved the limelight. She performed well, and continued to thrive in the show ring. In 2018, Iggy and Prie won the GRCH class at the ABKC Nationals and in 2019 Iggy was #1 Breed winner with over 64 BOB and over 40 Best in Show titles. Prie and Tone continued to grow the GRCH Bully productions and added more Frenchies to their lineup.
A Family Endeavor
Running alongside Prie’s dog show career, were all of the things that come with raising a family. Luckily, Prie’s daughter, Christine, showed an interest in dog showing that grew into a love of the sport. Christine was around 8 years old when Iggy joined their family, but by 2018 she and Iggy were in the show ring together at Christine’s first serious junior show where they placed first out of twelve. Prie and Tone fostered their daughter’s interest in showing by immersing her in their world. After school, they often would get the family together and set up practice shows in their backyard. Prie strongly believes that dog showing is a great way for kids to learn important life lessons about winning, showing up, and striving for improvement.
Becoming an ABKC Official Judge
In the fall of 2021, Prie recognized that the next step in her canine career would be pursuing accreditation as an ABKC judge. It was a long journey to accomplish this goal, with endless hours on the sidelines at shows learning the ins-and-outs of judging. Something Prie loves about the ABKC community is their welcoming nature and interest in continuing the education of anyone interested in pursuing knowledge. This came in handy as she was able to ask questions of competitors and judges to learn both sides of show judging expectations.
Almost a year later, Prie became an official judge in September 2022. She has had offers to judge around the world already, and is excited to share her knowledge and to see the quality dogs of her favorite breeds across the globe. Her long-term goal includes judging at Westminster, but for the moment she’s more than busy flying across the United States to ABKC competitions.
Something Prie learned during her time apprenticing under judges is that as a handler there is a difference in subtly correcting flaws by positioning a dog a certain way and overcorrecting the flaw that ultimately brings more attention to the issue. “Set it and forget it,” Prie wisely shared. Another thing she learned that is important for all handlers and judges to understand is that judging is based on who is in the ring on that single day. Some dogs have off days, some dogs just want it more – there is a lot that goes into judging that people don’t think about. Rather than grumbling over a loss, take the opportunity to learn why a dog placed where it did by politely inquiring with a judge after the competition. This can provide helpful tools for the future and make the experience a learning one.
Prie and the FindMyFrenchie App
Prie puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of educating breeders, handlers and pet owners in the nuances of the AKBC breeds’ standards and best practices for care and show conditioning. She shared that there can be a lot of difficulty around finding a nice stud and confirming that it has been health tested. Often, the time spent on forums selecting dogs and then tracking down information can be too time consuming and result in missing a heat cycle. This is why the FindMyFrenchie App could be a game changer for the industry. Having the key information already included in the database of breeding stock will allow better combinations to be made that produce healthier puppies.
