Mustang Sally rides away with win at Westminster

As a child, Elizabeth Alvarez Johnson had a natural love to care for the stray dogs that would come up to her at the local park.

“I was a Girl Scout a long, long time ago. When we would go to the park, we would have our mess kits and the dogs would always come up to me,” Johnson reflected on feeding stray dogs as a child.

Caring for her childhood black poodle, Blackie, that came up to her as a stray, could be seen as a quiet foreshadowing of Johnson’s unexpected journey to becoming a professional dog groomer and show dog competitor. Originally, Johnson grew up learning the printing industry since her father ran Alvarez Printing in San Antonio.