Francis T. Nicholls High School
New Orleans, Louisiana
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Donald J. Abney
With a military service stint as a U.S. Navy Beachjumper spanning 1961-1966 was completed, classmate Don Abney was ready to start another life. Some thirty years later he retired from Southern Bell, but that was only one of his jobs during that 1966-1996 time period. He also owned and operated Snow White Enterprises—a construction, lawn and garden, and janitorial service—and operated crew boats on the Mississippi River. It was in 1980 that Don officially turned his lifelong love of dogs into yet another career and became a professional dog trainer and breeder of Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dogs. He helped establish the Louisiana Search and Rescue Dog Team in 1988 and worked for them as a trainer/handler until 1996. By then he had written his first book on the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog. During this time period, Don worked with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office from 1989 until he retired as a lieutenant in 2001. From 2001 to 2009 he served as a conformation judge and junior showmanship judge for the United Kennel Club. Don currently has three books in print: The Complete Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog; The Abney Method to Owning a Dog; and Canine Tracking Guide. Don bred, owned, and trained the first Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog to become a Search and Rescue dog that was commissioned as a deputy by law enforcement and adopted as a Girl Scout. More about Don’s work with Catahoulas can be found on two websites he maintains: http://www.abneycatahoulas.com and http://www.abcantra.com Don is married to Kathleen Bradley Abney. They each have children, but none between them. Compiled from bio sheet, February 2012
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Don Abney |