By Got this from Tina
Hi Mo,
Please thank all concerned for their
congratulations re Noodle and Merlin on your blog. Much appreciated. Simon
& Lorraine as newcomers to the breed are 'over the moon' with Noodle. As the
breeder of this litter I am so proud of them and all their owner
/handlers, and from my point of view I am so pleased that they are with folk who
would love them just the same even if they weren't winning! It's lovely to
see Paulyne handling Merlin herself to his res CC as she has always been very
shy of going into the show ring and Alan has handled their dogs most of the
time ..up until now! Think he might have lost his job!
I had a res CC at Windsor 1985 with a Gordon Setter
dog Celtaur Gaelic Star, bred in my very first litter. He was retired from
the show ring because he had a hip score of 90 [yes you did read that right!]
and never bred from.
It's taken another 23 years to equal his
achievement. Is this the longest 'apprenticeship' in history??
Having 'made up the numbers' for so many years
these successes are all the sweeter, I 've always had some good dogs at home and
that are very special to me, but I was never committed enough to trail
round all of the shows to campaign them, especially since moving to Scotland and
the daunting long distance driving of the Motorways. It takes
a real doggedness [no pun intended] to travel the distance that folk
constantly do from up here, and I applaud those who do so at ever increasing
expense and very often not even a piece of cardboard to bring
home.
I can't quite believe how it's suddenly come
together in both breeds, beginning with the first Junior Warrant for
Paulyne & Alan with Chevy Gordon Setter [Celtaur Bealtuinn] in
April this year. Suddenly we have another JW and 4 res CC'S spread across 3 of
the Celtaur 'A S' munster litter ...I'm a bit breathtaken with it
all.
I'm not sure if 13 months old is a JW record,
I'd only just realised that Celtaur had had every Best Puppy in breed at Champ
Shows between Crufts and Blackpool when they came out of the Puppy
Class.
Again, thanks for the congratulations, and to those
sporting exhibitors who have graciously accepted Noodle, Merlin and Flikkas wins
and made the enjoyment of the day all the more, especially for those who are new
to the breed.
Love you all
Tina
