New York, NY -- The American Kennel Club announced today the winners of the 2004 AKC Lifetime Achievement Awards. The awards, engraved Tiffany and Co. sterling silver bowls, will be presented to the winners at a reception held in conjunction with the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship on December 1, 2003. A larger-sized version of the award, engraved with the names of all recipients past and present, is on permanent display at the American Kennel Club Library in New York.

The American Kennel Club Lifetime Achievement Awards were created to honor those individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of purebred dogs on a national level. The recipients were selected by votes cast by AKC member clubs for one of three nominees in each of the following categories: Conformation, Companion Events and Performance.

· The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in Conformation, Dorothy M. Macdonald, has been involved in dogs since her childhood. She imported her mother's first Yorkshire Terrier in 1955, helping her breed and show Yorkies for the next 25 years. Miss Macdonald got her first Brittany Spaniel in 1957 and bred and competed them to titles in Field, Show and Obedience. She has been an officer and board member for the American Brittany Club and was on their standards and breed video committee.

Miss Macdonald was instrumental in helping the then Director of AKC Field Events, Ham Rowan, develop the Hunt Test programs for pointing breeds. In addition, Miss Macdonald has been on the faculty of the AKC Judging Institutes, helped develop the AKC Advanced Judging Institutes, and has been a consultant for many of the AKC Breed videos. In addition to all these duties, she continues to write the breed column for the AKC GAZETTE.

Miss Macdonald has been president of the Dog Judges Association of America for the past ten years and is approved to judge all Toy, Sporting, Hound and Terrier breeds. She has also judged all pointing breed field trials for the last thirty years. Miss Macdonald has judged all over the world and had the honor of judging Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 2001.

· The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in Companion Events, Ms. Shirlee Jacobson, has been an obedience judge since 1975, and a member of the Des Moines Obedience Training Club since 1968, serving as its trial secretary, newsletter editor, training director, and secretary. She currently serves on the trial committee as an instructor.

As a founding member of the Des Moines Shetland Sheepdog Club, Ms. Jacobson serves on the show committee and as its corresponding secretary. She is also a lifetime member of the Des Moines Kennel Club, and serves on its board. She is a member of the American Shetland Sheepdog Club and the American Belgian Tervuren Club.

Ms. Jacobson obtained OTCH titles on four Shelties, UDs on three other Shelties, a Keeshond and Belgian Tervuren and has also earned agility titles and breed championships. She is currently showing two Shelties in obedience and agility. For the past twenty years she has been superintendent for the dog show at the Iowa State Fair.

Ms. Jacobson says that judging across the country has given her a great opportunity to meet many wonderful people. She is honored to have been nominated for this prestigious award.

· The Lifetime Achievement Award winner in Performance, Dorothy A. Metcalf, has been involved with Labrador Retrievers and field trials since the late 1950s. Through the years she has owned and run six Field and Amateur Field Champions and two Amateur Champions.

Mrs. Metcalf served as secretary of the Shrewsbury River Retriever Club in New Jersey, and the Talbot Retriever Club and Women's Field Trial Club in Maryland. From 1985-1990 she was the secretary-treasurer of the National Amateur Retriever Club, and in 1993 she was a judge at the National Amateur Championship Stakes in Hugo, Minnesota.

Mrs. Metcalf has been instrumental in funding the Richard G. and Dorothy A. Metcalf Veterinary Sports Medicine Program at Auburn University and the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Endowed Professorship in Veterinary Medical Informatics at Virginia Tech. She is a Millennium Founder of AKC Canine Health Foundation and a member of the board of directors of the Bird Dog Foundation. In September, Mrs. Metcalf was inducted into the Retriever Hall of Fame. She is still competing in Field Trials with her Labradors.