Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 2, 1993 TAG: 9309010086
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BY CLAUDIA COATES ASSOCIATED PRESS LENGTH: Medium
Lonely hearts with pooches can place just such a personal ad in a newsletter just for them.
"Quiet animal lover seeks down-to-earth pet lover who knows who's the boss - `The Dog,' " writes a 42-year-old New Jersey woman with two hounds at home. The Single Doglovers Association newsletter is run by Susie Arndorfer, a pet lover's pet lover.
"I really believe in this," said Arndorfer, although she admits her own personal hasn't attracted a man willing to put up with her three borzois, an Afghan, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, two mongrels, two German shepherds, three cats, 11 geese and some goats.
The newsletter is an unsophisticated, desktop-published job. Membership costs $20 for six months, $30 for a full year. Personals number about 150. All mention dogs by breed.
The farthest-flung subscriber is a woman (mixed breed) in Odessa, Ukraine. A GWM, or gay white male (Wheaton terrier), is a new subscriber.
Some ask for pen pals. Others put their hearts on the line.
The newsletter paid off for Anne Marie Buzas and Patrick Kershaw, who got together after his April 1992 ad and are now married.
"It wouldn't matter if he looked like Mr. Millionaire or Mr. Schlub On The Street. I wanted somebody to understand that I had to go to 42 dog shows that year," Anne Marie Kershaw said.
Kershaw (three Saint Bernards) of Danbury, Conn., received many replies. After all, there are seven women for every male subscriber. But the letters from his future bride (German shepherd) from Columbia, Md., were a cut above.
She sent dog greeting cards. They exchanged photos of themselves with their dogs. Telephone calls dealt with their favorite topic.
"The main thing we talked about, mostly, was our dogs - our love of dogs, what we were doing with our dogs," Kershaw said.
Like "The Brady Bunch," they knew it was much more than a hunch, and now they all live on a ranch in Virginia, where the Kershaws breed Saint Bernards.
Single Doglovers Association: Susie Arndorfer, 179 Corry Rd., Slippery Rock, Pa. 16057.
by CNB