Rachel Elliott, 96, authority in breeding, movement of dogs
Fifty golden retrievers with tartan bandanas around their necks will join their owners outside First Parish in Concord at 2 p.m. today as part of the celebration of the life of Rachel Page (Webster) Elliott, a world authority on canine movement and a one-time retriever breeder.
"That is a tribute to a woman who has done so much for the breed," said Joy Viola of Wayland, a friend of 20 years. In the middle of the canine lineup will be Mrs. Elliott's 10-year-old golden retriever, Tammy. A bagpiper will play, marking the breed's Scottish origin.
Mrs. Elliott, who with her late husband raised more than 50 litters of golden retrievers over four decades, wrote books about them, and lectured widely, died March 20 at her River Road Farm in Carlisle after a 16-month battle with cancer. She was 96 and was known as Pagey.
In February, Mrs. Elliott was inducted into the Dog Writers Association of America Hall of Fame following the publication last year of her memoir, "From Hoofbeats to Dogsteps: A Life of Listening to and Learning From Animals."
Carmen Battaglia of Roswell, Ga., who met Mrs. Elliott on the lecture circuit and nominated her for the award, describes her on the cover of the memoir as "the most notable spokesperson for structure and gait [of dogs] for the past five decades."
In 1973, Mrs. Elliott wrote and illustrated "Dogsteps," about canine anatomy and movement. The following year, the book was recognized by the Dog Writers Association as Best Dog Book of the Year. In 1974, Gaines Pet Food named her Dog Woman of the Year.
The benefits of her research were not limited to the retriever and their breeders, Battaglia said. "It benefits all dogs, show dogs, guide dogs, military dogs, and hunting dogs. The information transcends all venues."
Pagey Elliott was a renaissance woman, friends said. There was nothing she set her mind to learning she couldn't accomplish.
A child of the Great Depression, she never forgot the wooden puzzles her father rented for 5 cents to entertain his family, said her son, Mark, Jr. of Bozeman, Mont. In 1988, she learned to cut jigsaw puzzles with her husband's saw and started creating her own designs, said her daughter, Ruth Holmes of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Sometimes, the picture would be a scene she would apply to the wood, often adding her handmade silhouettes.
She might even use a painting by her son-in-law, Maris Platais, an artist from Carlisle. Over the past 20 years, her daughter said, she cut "over 1,500 puzzles for friends and family."
She donated many to charitable and fund-raising events for the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue Association and WGBH public television. In 2005, her daughter said, the $27,000 winning bid for the jigsaw puzzle she donated to the Golden Retriever Foundation, which among other things funds research into canine diseases, is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the "highest price paid at a charitable auction for a hand-cut jigsaw puzzle."
Mrs. Elliott was born at home in Lexington to Hollis and Helen (Noyes) Webster, one of six children. "Mother grew up with horses and dogs and loved animals," her son said. She continued riding into old age.
She enrolled at Radcliffe College and in the 1930s, she and several other young women drove across country, highly unusual in those days. She graduated from Radcliffe in 1935 and met Dr. Mark Elliott, a Boston dentist, several years later. They married in 1939.
The couple bought River Road Farm, along the Concord River, in 1946. There, they raised their three children, the golden retrievers, and Connemara ponies. They also established Featherquest Kennel for their retrievers.
Her daughter said Mrs. Elliott's success in the show ring and in field trials inspired her curiosity about breed standards and proper canine structure and movement. That groundbreaking research into movement led to a 30-year career as a researcher, author, videographer, and lecturer.
After Dr. Elliott's death in 1995, Pagey Elliott soldiered on. She competed in canine-agility events well into her 90s.
She also remained active in community work and in 1998 received the Carlisle Outstanding Citizen Award for her work.
Viola recalled Mrs. Elliott's last public appearance at a retriever event, at the Golden Retriever National Speciality at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, R.I., in September. Mrs. Elliott was there signing copies of her memoirs. When she tired, Anne Shannon, former president of the Golden Retriever Club of America, put Mrs. Elliott in a golf cart and took her around the hall.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the emcee said, "Rachel Page Elliott is leaving the show grounds."
There was a standing ovation and a wave from Mrs. Elliott.
In addition to her son and daughter, Mrs. Elliott leaves another daughter, Elizabeth Platais of Carlisle; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and her devoted companion of many years, Alberta White of Carlisle. 