Co-host
Leading the Pack: The SHOW-SAFE podcast
Leading the Pack: The SHOW-SAFE Podcast explores the people and values shaping a safer, more ethical future in the sport of dogs. Through conversations with different members of our community, we promote Integrity, Respect, Safety, Advocacy, and Collaboration—ensuring fairness and protection for all participants.
Subscribe and tune in each month! Join the conversation @show_safe
Contributors
Co-host
Octavia Stensen
Co-host
Sandy Weaver
Sandy Weaver is an AKC conformation judge, award-winning author, speaker, and major market radio personality. During her radio career, she earned top ratings because she understood the fine art of connecting with her audience. The same presentation skills that served her well on radio now serve her as a seminar presenter and podcast host.
Sandy is a self-proclaimed nerd who’s studied adult learning theory and neuroplasticity and uses that knowledge to make learning easy, entertaining, and fun. And as someone with a lifelong love of Siberian Huskies, she’s not scared of a little dog hair!
Guests
Guest
Angela Lloyd
Angela Lloyd, a licensed Junior Showmanship Judge who has also served as the AKC RHP Regional Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Region for over a decade and was named Best International Junior Handler at CRUFTS in 1998
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Guest
Anna Gracie
Anna Gracie currently serves as the Manager of Sponsorships for the Westminster Kennel Club. She was raised at dog shows and spent middle school and high school years competing in Junior Showmanship. In college she worked part-time with Professional Dog Show Handlers. Her lifelong commitment has been building and uplifting the dog show community that she loves so much.
Guest
Jason M. Hoke
Jason Hoke is a second-generation dog enthusiast whose family bred German Shepherds, later becoming successful Great Dane and Dachshund breeders under the Jamara prefix. He competed in Junior Showmanship and became a top all-breed professional handler. After his handling career, he earned two culinary degrees and worked at prestigious restaurants, including the three Michelin-starred Inn at Little Washington.
Now based in Madison, WI, he volunteers for Take the Lead, GSAFE, and OUTREACH, supporting LGBTQ+ youth and community initiatives. As a judge, he has officiated in 32 countries, including 12 National Specialties and Westminster, Crufts, and the World Dog Show. He served as President of the Great Dane Club of America, sits on multiple boards, and is a Westminster commentator on Fox Sports.
Jason is excited to join Show Safe, reinforcing his commitment to youth and safety in the sport of purebred dogs.
Guest
Mari-Beth O’Neill
Mari-Beth O’Neill is a former teacher, on the Board of Take the Lead and the AKC Purebred Preservation Bank, and is the current VP of Sports Services for AKC. Her parents were also AKC employees, so she’s a second-generation leader at the American Kennel Club.
She’s been a successful breeder, a successful judge, and has worn more than a few hats at AKC before becoming VP of Sport Services in 2021.
She’s a champion for improving the experience of Juniors in dog sports and conformation, was inducted into the Anne Rogers Clark Hall of Fame in 2020, won the Canine Health Foundation President’s award in 2022, and she’s been a consistent friend of SHOW-SAFE since its inception.