About Us

I got my first dog, a Boxer named Prince, at the age of 14. It was the beginning of a lifelong relationship with dogs and cats that has now spanned more than seven decades.

Over the years I owned and bred Dobermans, German Shepherds, Skye Terriers, Scottish Terriers, Airedale Terriers, Black Russian Terriers, Rottweilers, and English Bulldogs — several of them the first representatives of their breed in Ukraine, and a number of them Champions in both conformation shows and agility. The Black Russian Terrier has always been closest to my heart; I've owned the breed several times across my life, and I later became one of the major initiators behind the AKC's recognition of the breed in the United States.

For many years I also served as a dog show judge.

After decades as a devoted purebred enthusiast, I came to love mixed-breed dogs just as deeply — I realized they deserved exactly the same care and attention as any pedigreed champion. Today, because of my age, I no longer take in new dogs or cats: my own life expectancy is now shorter than theirs, and I don't want to leave an animal without the home they deserve.

My history with cats runs just as deep, beginning with Murka — a mixed-breed shorthair who stayed with me for 16 years. We took her in shortly after World War II, when the city was overrun with rats and cats were scarce; she and her many offspring kept our home safe from rodents for years afterward. Later I bred Siberian Longhairs, Siberian cats, Siamese, and Sphynx cats, including the first female representatives of these breeds in Ukraine.

I spent several years as Chief Editor of magazines devoted to dogs and cats, and from 1993 to 1997 I founded and served as Dean of the Canine & Feline Department at Odessa State University. In 1995, I published Doping for Dogs, a book on methods for stimulating and developing specific canine traits and abilities. It sold 100,000 copies across the former USSR during difficult economic times, and it's still referenced online today.

From 1991 to 2001, I served as Scientific Supervisor of the All-Ukrainian Kennel Club.

After immigrating to the United States, I supervised a Kennel Club for Russian émigrés in Brooklyn, and in 1999 I founded one of the first combined pet service centers in the area — offering veterinary care (including emergency services), grooming, pet boarding, and a pet store under one roof. I ran that institution personally for 25 years, working alongside veterinarians, groomers, and trainers, and speaking daily with pet owners across every level of experience.

That quarter-century taught me, more than anything else, what people actually need to know about their animals — and where they tend to look for answers. I've advised grandparents who suddenly find themselves caring for a dog or cat their grandchildren no longer want, people living alone who are looking for companionship for the first time, longtime owners facing a problem they've never seen before, first-time adopters trying to choose the right companion, and experienced breeders and judges stumped by an unusual case. It's this range — from a first-time pet owner's simplest question to a veteran breeder's hardest problem — that shapes how I think about animal health and behavior today, and what I bring to PetAiVet.