Lloyd Alton 89 died at his home in Leesburg, VA, as a result of congestive heart failure on March 31st.
A long time fancier and breeder of Cocker Spaniels, Pugs and Miniature Wire-haired Dachshunds, Lloyd devoted the last forty plus years to the sport of pure bred dogs.

Dogs of his breeding made a deep impact in the show ring, in performance events and in the field as well. He bred all three varieties of Cocker Spaniels and the Parti color variety was deeply impacted by his two stud dogs CH Ging's Alydar and American and Mexican CH Tagalong's Macho Man. His Ging's Kennel was known in many countries of the world.
He also actively showed Pugs and in recent years turned his attention to miniature wire haired Dachshunds.

Lloyd was active in many kennel clubs his current memberships include: Life member of the American Spaniel Club, Morris and Essex Kennel Club, Capital City Cocker Club, Metropolitan Washington Dachshund Club and active delegate from Capital City Cocker Club and Met Washington Dachshund Club to the Virginia Dog Federation.

In the '70s he was President and Showchairman of the Ramapo Kennel Club and of the Conn Westchester Cocker Spaniel Club and was active in The Pug Dog Club of Greater New York and he was additionally involved with the New Jersey Dog Federation.
Concurrent to this, he and his partner, Billy Gorodner, wrote the Cocker Spaniel column in the Poplar Dogs Magazine. They collaborated on articles in the American Cocker Review Magazine.

Lloyd Alton was born and reared in Asbury Park and Bradley Beach, New Jersey. He graduated with a B.S. degree in English from New York University. During World War II he served in the Armed Forces in Brazil and Argentina.
During high school years and into his twenties, he was a professional magician.
He was an office manager for Quotron Systems in New York City and retired in 1982 and moved from Ridgewood, New Jersey to Leesburg, VA.

In Leesburg with his partner Billy, he founded the Ging's Boarding Kennel and continued with showing and breeding activities. They ran show handling classes for many years enabling many fanciers to win with their own dogs in the show ring.

In 1994, Lloyd and Billy were engaged by TFH Publications to write a Cocker Spaniel book. THE WORLD OF THE COCKER SPANIEL now out of print is considered to be one of classic books on the breed and is sought after by cocker fanciers the world over via ebay and other vendors.

Lloyd had the distinction of being the official announcer for the American Spaniel Club's annual show for an unbroken thirty-two years. He also was the announcer for Morris and Essex Kennel Club shows in 2000 and 2005 and was looking forward to being at the mic in 2010.
Lloyd's passion for dogs and their people was such that his greatest pleasure was starting out novice owners and bringing them along to being full fledged fanciers. He was as proud of the pet puppies he placed in homes as he was of the champions related to his dogs.

He is survived by his partner of forty-one years, Billy Gorodner and his nephew Paul Krosnick and his wife Susan and their daughter Shawn all of Edgewater, New Jersey.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, May 15, 2009
at Oatlands Plantation Carriage House, 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, Virginia 20175 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Memorial donations may be sent in his honor to The American Spaniel Club Health Foundation, P.O. Box 4194 Frankfort, N.Y. 40604-4194 or Take the Lead P.O. Box 635 Watertown, N.Y. 13601.

Both organizations are requesting when sending a check to please write Mr. Alton's name on the memo line of your check.