Bell Acres resident pens book about historic Sewickley dogs ...

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It started when Rick LeBeau spotted her in a crowd.&nbsp; LeBeau, of Bell Acres, said the moment happened at the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association all-breed dog show. He had just moved to the Pittsburgh area from Kentucky in 1987 and said he wanted a small dog because he lived in an apartment at the time. "I saw a woman in the crowd holding a dog, and I approached her and asked her, &lsquo;What is that?'"&nbsp; The dog was a ruby toy spaniel that eventually became his pet and his first show dog, Champion Brynmar's Red Rye, which won the toy group several times and was named "best of breed" at the Westminster Kennel Club Show in 1991, LeBeau said. Now, almost 25 years later, LeBeau's new book, "Count Noble: The Greatest Dog That Ever Lived," is dedicated to the woman who gave him the dog, Rachel Pehr of Apollo, and several others who LeBeau also considers his mentors. &nbsp; LeBeau will discuss his book and sign copies at a free talk, "The B.F. Wilson Family of Glen Osborne and Their Famous Dogs," at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Sewickley Valley Historical Society, 200 Broad St.&nbsp; Heather Semple, director of art programs at the Duquesne Club, Downtown, also will speak about a painting of Count Noble by Edward Osthaus, which is on exhibit in the Reading Room of the Duquesne Club.&nbsp; The painting is featured on the front of <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/kgo-002-p-17.html"><strong>what is in electronic cigarettes</strong></a> LeBeau's book, along with Mildmay Park Beauty, the first English toy spaniel registered by the American Kennel Club in 1886 and owned by Susannah Roberts Wilson, wife of Benjamin Franklin Wilson.&nbsp; LeBeau's new, softbound, 101-page <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/greentank-003-p-31.html"><strong>cigarette electronic</strong></a> book that was published in cooperation with Sewickley Valley Historical Society, will be available at the event for 15 and later will be sold at Penguin Bookshop, where he plans to schedule another book signing.&nbsp; Also displayed at the event will be an engraved Westley Richards double-barrel shotgun, offered as a trophy by Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and awarded to Count Noble as winner of a field-trial competition in 1881.&nbsp; The book has photos of the Wilson home, where the dogs lived, gathered from collections of Elizabeth Wilson Peer, great-granddaughter of B.F. Wilson, and from Susanne Wylie McPherson. McPherson's father, David, was secretary of Glen Osborne Borough throughout the 1960s. &nbsp; Since that first dog show, LeBeau, an avid historian, has written several articles on canine history that have been internationally published and has raised and exhibited several award-winning English toy spaniels.&nbsp; Late last year, as he was gathering information to write an article about the English toy spaniel celebrating 125 years of AKC recognition, he began researching Susannah Roberts Wilson's famous dog, Mildmay Park Beauty, &nbsp;and also came across information about Count Noble, a champion English setter.&nbsp; By the end of his research, he had enough information about both famous dogs, he decided to write a book.&nbsp; Count Noble, a field-trial and bench-show champion and sire to many sporting dogs, is considered the cornerstone of the breed in the United States, LeBeau said.&nbsp; The dog was imported from R.L. Purcell-Llew-ellin's kennel in England in 1880 when he was 6 months old by David Sanborn, a respected trainer &nbsp;in Dowling, Mich. Upon Sanborn's death, Count Noble was transferred to Capt. Benjamin Frederick Wilson, owner of the Little Redstone Coal Mine and a prominent Pittsburgh banker from Sewickley.&nbsp; Count Noble's obituary ran in The New York Times in 1879.&nbsp; Stuffed and mounted, Count Noble &mdash;pointing at a covey of bobwhite quail &mdash; has his own exhibit at the center of the National Bird Dog Museum in Tennessee.&nbsp; LeBeau said he hopes to have a ceremony before winter to place a marker commemorating the two historic dogs at a site along Beaver Road, where the Wilson house once stood &nbsp;and where the playing fields of Osborne Elementary School now are located.&nbsp; LeBeau, a substitute teacher, was a music major at Eastern Kentucky University but graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's <a href="http://www.ecigs-store.com/egot-002-p-10.html"><strong>e cig</strong></a> degree in German.&nbsp; He was a bass-baritone for the Pittsburgh Opera for 22 years, starting in 1988, and performed in more than 75 productions. He is a freelance harpist. An AKC judge in Great Britain and the United States, LeBeau said he inherited his love of dogs and of history from his parents, Dick LeBeau, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator and National Football League Hall of Famer, and the late Phyllis.&nbsp; His new book is a great project for him, he said, because is combines both of those passions.&nbsp;