Janice Plessner was born in Toledo, Ohio on June 27th, 1935. Much of her early life was defined by growing up on a farm just after the Great Depression, and during World War II. She gained the ethics of hard work, and the value of education that stayed with her her entire life, and was passed on to others. She was a union member and steward working in manufacturing, until her marriage to Paul Plessner and becoming a homemaker. She moved her family to Alabama in 1975.
Janice's love of dogs began as a child with her first dog, the family's hunting Spaniel. Since then, she's been blessed with a love of dogs that's been returned to her many times over.
Janice began training dogs more than fifty years ago as a member of the Toledo Kennel Club. She was a founding member and president of the Greater Toledo Obedience Club.
After moving to Alabama in 1975, she opened Blue Ridge Kennel, a training and breeding kennel. She began holding classes for obedience and conformation training throughout central Alabama, including teaching at: Montgomery YMCA, Capitol Heights Community Center, Gunter and Maxwell Air Force Bases, Selma, Evergreen, and in Emerald Mountain. Janice continued to teach basic and advanced obedience at the Prattville Community Center and gave private lessons at her home and kennel.
For more than thirty years, Janice worked with a number of pet food companies to improve their products. During that time, she also studied canine behavior and evaluated and developed products such as toys, play-yard equipment, bowls, dog beds, training and agility equipment, whelping boxes, and whelping nests.
Janice has bred, whelped, raised, trained, handled, competed in and titled dogs in obedience, utility, herding, hunting, and confirmation trials with a variety of her own breeds including: Rottweilers, German Shepards, Poodles, Pointers, Great Danes, Shar Peis, Pembroke Welsh Corgis, and Cardigan Corgis. She also competed in international trials and had a number of International Breed Champions.
She trained the Great American Dog for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She has been awarded the Gaines Medal for Sportsmanship. She worked with the Alabama Department of Corrections with their Cell Dogs Program which trains inmates to train and socialize rescue dogs for adoption. She also worked in breed rescue.
She trained people and dogs for the Canine Good Citizen Certificate and served as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator for the AKC.
Janice served the Montgomery Kennel Club as a board member and as president. She organized the Sunday devotion at the Montgomery Kennel Club dog shows.
Janice is preceded in death by her husband Paul C. Plessner. She is survived by her daughter; Roberta Poppell (Jerry), her sons; Paul Plessner II (Katherine), and John Plessner (Kasey), her grandchildren; Sean and Greer, and her brother; George Bockelman.
She adored her family, and was active in her children's lives through school and extracurricular activities, scouting, and church. She loved to travel with her family. She was an active member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.
A Memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 3:00 pm at the Plessner Family Home, 2934 Rifle Range Rd., Wetumpka, AL., 36093. Visitation will be from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm. Fury friends are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Elmore County Humane Shelter or Baptist Hospice.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AlabamaHeritageFH.com for the Plessner family.
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