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CONNECTING |
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Independent,
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Special Breeder Portrait - Craigowl Cavaliers, United Kingdom |
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We proudly present our Special "Breeder Portrait"
Once again we
packed our bags and umbrella |
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Norma & Gordon, Craigowl Cavaliers |
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Craigowl Chronicles Cavaliers king Charles Spaniels Like most people with Cavaliers our first was purchased purely as a pet and companion. Our choice of breed did not result, as in all books on how to choose a dog suggest, from research into what type of dog would suit our circumstances. Instead I seem to recall the first Cavaliers we saw were in a TV advertisement where a pair of them were sitting at the window of a large English country house waiting for the American (a Boston Terrier) to come to dinner. God knows what was being advertised, but this short introduction was enough to attract us to the aristocratic, but loveable nature of the Cavalier, and early in1972 just shortly after we were married we acquired Amber (Melbar Anthea) a Blenheim bitch from Miss Barr in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee in Scotland. Little did we know then that Amber's arrival was to shape our lives for the next three decades and that she would remain part of our ever growing family of dogs for the next 16 years. We joined the Scottish Cavalier Club shortly after and went to the Championship show at Stirling in April 1972 as spectators and thought how wonderful it was to see so many Cavaliers all in one place. There must have been nearly 100 there. The thought of showing ourselves, among all those "professionals" did not even occur to us. As both of us had, despite our pleadings as children, been denied the the opportunity of having a dog by our respective parents, we had a lot of time to make up for, enjoying every moment of having Amber, who went everywhere with us (by public transport) and regulated our lives into a finely tuned routine of getting up early enough to spend time with her before work, going home every lunchtime and including her in whatever we did in evenings and at weekends. Again like most people we fell into the trap of thinking that Cavaliers should be at least in pairs, so in October 1973 we went to Edinburgh and came home with a Ruby bitch puppy as a canine companion for Amber. We named her Honey (Pamojill Tabwentai). Her breeders Moira and Jill Stewart, who were keen exhibitors, pointed out that she was a daughter of the tricolour Ch Mr Softie of Pantisa and suggested that we might consider showing her when she was old enough. This was all taken with a pinch of salt as our prime purpose was a friend for Amber. As Robert Burns said "The best laid plans gang aft agley". How many of us have introduced a puppy to the established dog in residence and expected immediate companionship and been surprised by the result. Amber was no exception and went off in a huff for 2 weeks choosing to ignore completely the invader, but then resigned herself to sharing her home. As months passed and Honey developed, we recalled the showing suggestion. Therefore, as ill-equipped as you can imagine we trooped off to the Scottish Club's Members show in Spring 1974. Diana Schilizzi was judging and Honey despite the hindrance of me on the other end of the lead, managed to get a second in her class and from that moment we were hooked. We started showing regularly at Open shows in Central Scotland. At this time Rubies were a comparative rarity, especially in Scotland, and the shows usually scheduled only one class for Cavaliers (Open) and this was allocated to the all-round Best in Show judge. So we would be entered in the AV minor puppy, or puppy class and the Cavalier open. Despite such odds, Honey usually managed to get a card of some description, which refuelled our enthusiasm. It was really to get the opportunity to see Cavaliers in large numbers that we started entering Championship shows and were soon travelling up and down the country. Honey proved to be a good'un and generally held her own in the company of other Cavaliers and although she did not gain any major awards, she had sufficient class wins to make her eligible only for the Open class at Championship shows. Our showing companion in those days was Brian Arnott, who had shown us the way forward by going south to look at the top dogs and choose a stud dog for his bitch. He was at that time showing his CC winning tricolour, Prince Robert of the Grange (by Champion Homerbrent Minstrel). At first, the thought of travelling 1,000 miles to South Devon and back to mate a bitch appalled us, but when it came to the time to venture into the world of breeding it was with Brian's guidance that we drove through the night to Redditch to mate Honey to Heather Fereday's CC winning Black/Tan, Prince Ivan of Rhybank and then drove straight back home. We kept 2 dogs from the resultant litter, which we showed with moderate success as puppies. However,having chosen to pursue this hobby, decided that in order to progress in the show world, it was necessary to keep only as good as, if not better, than the parent. We therefore found good pet homes for the puppies and went back to showing only Honey. Amber stayed at home, as we had realised her limitations, and she was quite content to do so for the whole of her long life. For Honey's next mating we did that 1,000 mile round trip to South Devon (not I might add in one day!) Ch Homaranne Andy Capp was our choice, whom we understood to be a dominant tricolour, ie. he only sired tricolour puppies. However this is a slight misnomer, for it is in fact his black genes which are dominant. Therefore mated to our Ruby bitch, with a tricolour sire, we had 3 black/tans and 1 tricolour. We kept 2 dog puppies, a b/t and a tri. We let the tri go whilst in puppyhood and retained the b/t whom we called Humphrey. His unsinkable personality guaranteed his presence in our house for the next 11 years and he was shown successfully under the name Craigowl Gabriel Gosling. This was the first litter registered under the Craigowl affix, and like many we experienced the tortuous process of finding an affix acceptable to the Kennel Club. I have yet to meet anyone whose first choice was accepted, apart from the tongue twisting anagrams or words made up from peoples' and dogs' names. Although I can appreciate the sentiments and the imagination needed to come up with these names we preferred an affix related to a place. Craigowl is the name of a hill near Norma's home town of Forfar, and although it was our 5th and 6th choice, when we consider what else we had picked I am glad that the KC was so dismissive of our earlier selections. Having chosen the path our lives were to lead ( in other words, we caught the bug) we decided to look to improve our prospects in the show world. Although Honey had been a wonderful introduction to the showing side of our breed, after 2 litters we had been disappointed to find that she did not breed on to the quality of herself. Perhaps we chose the wrong dogs , but being a total outcross, the chances of self reproduction become more limited. As the whole concept of dog breeding is to improve your stock, you must be ever watchful that you are not going backwards. Also with Humphrey proving to be infertile, although a delightful personality to have around and a keen showman, our prospects were limited. We were in fact at a dead end. We therefore looked around for another bitch and having admired the Homerbrent line, approached Molly Coaker. After pestering her remorselessly we eventually obtained Homerbrent Sun Fleur. As her pet name was also Amber, she changed to Rowan when she came home with us. She was 7 months old when we got her having decided against buying a baby puppy with show prospects, preferring to get a more finished article. A daughter of Ch Homerbrent Samson, she was to set us on our way by winning 2 Reserve CCs. For her 1st litter she was mated with the tricolour Homerbrent Flash Harry. My ambition to have a tricolour outweighed Norma's choice of the then young blenheim Homaranne Caption. The heavy markings of both Rowan and Caption was another factor which discouraged us from the mating, but with the benefit of hindsight who knows what might have been. As it turned out, the best puppy in the resultant litter by Flash was a blenheim dog whom we called Craigowl Patrick Popcorn and showed with some success. Shortly after this in 1979, my job brought us to the south of England where the show scene was much different from what we were used to. If you chose, you could attend 2 open shows every weekend with upwards of 4 classes and a breed specialist judge. Furthermore many more championship shows were readily accessible and we had the opportunity to view a far broader cross section of the breed. Once settled we looked around to expand our kennel of bitches with a view to breeding our own lines. Having decided in what areas our tastes lay we again approached (pestered) Molly Coaker about Homerbrent Honesty whom we had seen at the Cavalier club show as a puppy in March 1980. She was not at that time for sale but our persistence paid off and in September that year she came home with us at the age of 13 months. We felt that this was fate as we had only recently lost our Ruby, Honey, at the age of 7 and Honesty's pet name was also Honey. The other line which attracted out attention was Kindrum having admired Kindrum Roulette and his offspring. As Honesty's grandsire was Ch Rose Mullion of Ottermouth and he was Roulette's sire we felt that not only the type seemed compatible but also the lines. We therefore approached Pam Thornhill and acquired Kindrum Clover whose ancestry included not only Rose Mullion, via Roulette's litter sister, but she was also a grand daughter of Homaranne Caption. With the 3 blenheim bitches, Sun Fleur, Honesty and Clover we were all set to make or break it as breeders. At the same time, due to our sentimental attachment to rubies, we looked for a replcement for our old Honey in the hope that we might have more success in that direction and acquired from the Bartrams a ruby bitch, a daughter of Ch Wertune Black Bramble whom we called Scarlett. And so it came to pass that in 1981, after our move south from Scotland, we set about developing our own lines. Rowan (Sun Fleur) was mated to the dog Molly Coaker had recently acquired from Ireland. Ronnoc Rhum of Sancem- a grandson of RoseMullion. Honey was mated to Ch Homaranne Caption - a great-grandson of RoseMullion. Clover was mated to Kindrum Roulette - a son of RoseMullion. This would provide an opportunity for line breeding the resultant offspring, if they turned out to be good enough. Although in mating three bitches at the same time you run the risk of wall to wall puppies and one litter can be enough work, each of the bitches had three puppies each.So nine was a managable number to contend with. Our selection from the three litters were as follows. From Rowan/Rhum - a dog - Rumour; from Honey/Caption - a bitch - Storm, and from Clover/Roulette - 2 bitches - Fantasy and Illusion. So proud were we of the results that we featured all four in the 1981 Yearbook advert and in 1982 came the acid test. Success in the ring was not immediately apparent. Storm was slow to start, although she did gain her Junior warrant with a week to spare. Rumour did reasonably well, but was a slow maturer. We were persuaded to send him to New Zealand at the age of 13 months. In some ways we regret not keeping him, for we did not breed as good a puppy from Rowan in later litters. However, despite living in the shadow of the all-conquering NZ Ch Homerbrent Cardinham, he gained his New Zealand title (which requires 8 CCs). His going to New Zealand reulted in us visiting that country in 1983 and developing lasting friendships in that part of the world. We eventually kept one of Clover's pupies, Fantasy, who was shown with moderate success. However, it was through her that we were to link the family lines. Having been more than satisfied with Storm, we decided to mate Fantasy to Caption, which gave us Cashmere, who, despite being more than a year younger than Storm, became our first champion in December 1984, a month after her second birthday. Storm, who had gained 2 CCs in early 1984, was approaching 3 year of age and we decided we could wait no longer to mate her, despite the advice of many who said that she would not come back to the showring after a lItter. We mated Storm to her half-brother, Ch Homaranne Carson, hoping that such a close mating would produce consistency of type. Storm did come back to the ring and was winning her class before her puppies were 6 months old and she went on to gain her title in the summer of 1985. The puppy we kept was Breeze who was one of the leading bitch puppies of the year and she eventually went off to be a winner in the USA. In the meantime, taking the chance of lighting striking twice, we mated Honey again to Caption and got 2 dogs, Hoodwink and Hopscotch. Hopscotch went off to Molly Coaker at 8 weeks of age, but was to return to us at three years. Both brothers turned out to be "lasters" and gained their titles as middle-aged gentlemen. Having read this far, it will be apparent that a dominant figure in our breeding programme was one particular dog, Ch Homaranne Caption. So it will be no surprise that we should try another close line breeding in mating Hoodwink to his half-sister Cashmere. And it was from this that Replica came. He is probably our greatest achievement as breeders, a champion fron 2 champion parents that we bred. You can only go so far with line breeding and thus we had to outcross. We selected Ch Salador Crismark for Replica's litter sister, Chiffon, which gave us Chad, being sufficiently outcrossed to be matable to our closely bred bitches. For example, to Silk ( a daughter of Cashmere by Ch Homerbrent Carnival- another closely line bred dog) came our star, Silkience who was Craigowl champion number six, whose wins include Crufts in 1992. My story so far has concentrated on the successes, however it does not work every time and what looks like the perfect mating can end up in reality an unmitigated disaster. Craigowl is no exception. We too have had our share of failures and disappointments. Like the third mating of Honesty to Caption, which produced only one pup, who did not compare to the earlier litters. The loss of the best looking puppy from Honesty and Replica's textbook grandson to grandmother mating, at the age of two weeks, when he became entangled in her ear feathering overnight and strangled - a warning to ensure that nursing mothers are groomed daily or shorn close. A final litter of Honesty's had to be delivered by the vet with foreceps, with the loss of half of a puppy's tail. This puppy, Prudence, went off to the Ravenrush boys in the USA and was to prove so very influential in their breeding programme. Sun Fleur's breeding life was cut short by pyometra resulting in her being spayed. And the disappointment that we never got the right mate for Storm to produce as good as herself. When Silkience was born in January 1990, there were two other blenheim bitches in the litter who went to Pia Kloverback in Sweden. Pia had previously had Craigowl Woodchip, who brought her success, becoming a Swedish champion. The two sisters, Chantilly and Sunsilk, also became Swedish champions, as did her subsequent acquisition, Craigowl Gordon, a son of the then all-conquering Ch Spring Tide of Alansmere. Pia also had a ruby dog from us, Craigowl Cadbury, who narrowly missed being a champion, but who features in the pedigrees of some of the winners in Sweden. Silkience gained her champion title in July 1993 and was immediately mated to a young dog we had acquired, Marelza What a Cracker for Craigowl, a descendant of Hopscotch. so we were trying to link with some of our older breeding. For although the Hoodwink/Cashmere mating had worked so well, we did not subsequently breed anything as good by Hoodwink. Although he proved useful to others, siring a number of champions, CC and reserve CC winners. It was a similar situation with Hopscotch. Hoodwink died at a relatively young age of eight due to an auto immune condition, while Hopscotch remained with us to well beyond his 15 birthday. As did their mother Honesty. During the 1990s we became specialists in exhibiting veterans, winning many of the classes at club shows and Crufts, firstly with Storm and Cashmere, then Hopscotch and Replica and more recently Silkience. All of them lived well into their mid-teens. Hopscotch, in particular, was notable, winning the veteran class at the Club Show at the age of 14 and gaining the award for being the oldest dog tested heart-clear on the day at the show, including all those dogs who were there only for the heart-testing. We did not keep anything from Silkience's first litter, but one of the dogs, Crackerjack, was shown successfully in Germany by Dieter Heymann, before coming to Peter Gustafsson in Sweden, where he proved an asset as a show and stud dog for Peter and Per. Both Jacko and his brother, Crackpot, who was shown in the UK, were long livers. Indeed, Potter is still with Karen Sandlan. In her next litter, Silkience (Nellie) had 2 dogs who were to prove influential. Mated to Ch Lymrey Royal Reflection of Ricksbury, who took the UK CC record from Spring Tide, she produced Dixon and Neilson. We kept Dixon and showed him successfully to win 1CC and a RCC. Neilson went to Jan Tornblom and Joakim Ohlssen in Sweden, where he was top cavalier for a number of years and concurrently and subsequently top stud dog. Sweden has certainly suited Craigowl cavaliers. indeed for a number of years we featured high in the Top Breeders list, thanks to the efforts of firstly Pia, then Peter and Per and Jan and Joakim. During the mid to late 1990s our successes were moderate in comparison to the preceding decade. It underlined how difficult it is to consistently breed top winning dogs. We mated Dixon to a Chad daughter to produce Vanilla Ice, a blenheim bitch who was subsequently mated to Ch Trirayne Alexius the Great, a son of the influential Ch Toraylac Joshua. A dog from this litter became our 7th champion, Haagen Dazs of Craigowl, who was made up in June 2000. So the new Century started successfully in the showring. On the breeding front, we had experienced problems with some difficult whelpings and looked to introduce some new blood. As a result of our friendship with Shealagh Waters and Bill Moffat, we were able to acquire Maibee Vienna, a tricolour bitch, who was to win 2 RCCs and become a significant part of the Craigowls of the 21st century. We also swapped a stud service with Shealagh. We used her tricolour, Maibee McLaren on Craigowl Pretzel, another daughter of Alexius the Great, and Shealagh used our Craigowl Dixon. We both gained substantially from this arrangement. Shealagh had the blenheim dog, Maibee Montrose from her bitch, while we had a tricolour bitch, Craigowl Jennifer from Pretzel. Although neither Montrose nor Jennifer were to be showring successes, they were very influential in the continuing success of both Craigowl and Maibee, underlining that dog breeding is a long term project. Montrose continues to be one of the most successful current stud dogs, while Jennifer turned out to be our "golden goose". From her first litter to a son of Vienna, Maibee Hamilton, came Jarrow, Jesmond and Clara Vale, all tricolours. After successful puppy careers in UK, Jarrow and Jesmond went to the USA. Both became champions, with Jarrow in the top 3 or 4 nationwide. Clara remained and continues to be a useful brood. Jennifer's second litter, to Miletreee Nijinsky (now a champion) gave us Billy Elliot, our eighth champion, but our first tricolour and the most successful showdog to date. His Best in Show win at the 2005 Club Show beating over 500 others was our proudest moment since Nellie's Crufts win in 1992. Billy ended 2005 as 2nd top cavalier in the UK and a young tricolour bitch Vivienne was 2nd top puppy bitch. At present our show team is predominantly tricolours, underlining the influence of our change of direction in 2000 with the addition of Jennifer and Vienna to the backroom team. 2000 also saw a change in location for the Craigowls when we moved back North to the Newcastle area. Although not all the way back to Scotland, it is near enough and while it means longer journeys to the majority of the shows it is a wonderful place to live as can be confirmed by the many Cavalier enthusiasts from all over the world who have visited us in the last 4 years. This is quite a lengthy profile but in 30 odd years a lot has gone on! Would we change it?.........not one bit! Gordon and Norma Inglis |
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1. What is the most important
issue/aspect in your breeding program? We want to breed Cavaliers that fit the Standard and we won't veer from that philosphy even though fashionable and "in vogue" looks appear from time to time. We aim for small, well made dogs with typical features and personalities that make our breed so endearing. Luckily our dogs have not been plagued with serious health issues and we do not subscribe to the view that Cavalier are problematic. 2. According to question 1, have you achieved this in your breeding program? Yes, we think so! 3. What do you look for when picking a puppy in a litter? Firstly a pretty expression with big dark eyes and a balanced outline with good posture both standing and on the move. Hopefully the promising ones will also have good teeth, testicles (if a male) nice front and rear, good tail and satisfying markings. It isn't easy to get all the points you want and sometimes you have to make do with a majority of them. 4. In your opinion, which cavalier (present & past) has been the most significant for; a) UK (all breeders) Homaranne Caption b) for your own breeding Homerbrent Honesty of Craigowl 5. Which cavalier has been the most significant/important that you; a) owned Homerbrent Honesty of Craigowl b) from your own breeding program Ch Craigowl Cashmere 6. List down below, the best dogs and bitches in each colour? a) Blenheim dog Ch Hilarny The Gigolo b) Blenheim bitch Ch Aldachell Victoria Rose c) Tricolor dog Ch Craigowl Billy Elliot d) Tricolor bitch Ch Homerbrent Captivation e) Black/tan dog Ch Knight Magic at Harana f) Black/tan bitch There have been several really nice ones but we really cannot recall any Black/tan bitch that stood out. The fact that the record number of CCs (6) won in the UK is still held by Amanda Loo of Ttiweh born in 1946 speaks volumes. Lucy and Di Koster of Harana have probably had the best ones. g) Ruby dog Ch Sorata Fissical h) Ruby bitch CH Chamanic Lucasta 7. From the above mentioned Cavaliers – who is the best? Ch Hilarny The Gigolo 8. Which moment/memory is your biggest regarding shows/dogs? There are 2. Ch Craigowl Silkience winning the Bitch CC at Crufts 1992 under Joyce Green and Ch Craigowl Billy Elliot winning BIS at the 2005 CKCSC show under Ellis Hulme beating over 500 other Cavaliers. Both are moments that we treasure. 9. Which moment/memory is your worst regarding shows/dogs? Every time we have to say goodbye to our old ones who have shared so many good times with us. We miss them all as they give so much yet ask for so little in return and can make you feel quite humble. A part of you goes with them but consolation is to be had in the memories and legacies they have left behind. 10. What kind of a judge do you prefer showing for? That is easy! A knowledgable one with integrity! 11. Is there anything that could be changed within the show/dog world? Politics should play no part in the dog game but sadly they do. We need fearless judges who know what a good dog looks like and have no agenda other than finding the best dogs on the day. Get rid of judges who put up inferior dogs or have to resort to who owns the dog or what payback can be acheived by awarding a dog top honours. . 12. Describe the best puppy-buyer? One who can give the puppy the love and nurturing it deserves. Tons of money and a big house don't always guarantee a good home. The ideal ones are those who come back for another puppy having been more than satisfied with their original. 13. Any advise to new breeders in Cavaliers? To quote a famous Pekingese breeder of yesteryear "Put the breed first and self interest second" 14. Any advice to new exhibitors? Look and learn and don't walk before you can run. Be prepared to accept the disappointments that will surely accompany any success. There is a lot more to be enjoyed than just winning a prize. Great pleasure can be gained in meeting many people interested in the breed and you can learn a lot by watching experienced exhibitors and their top notch dogs. Learn your craft, work hard and you will reap the benefits. Always try to make it fun for you and the dog. If you lose, the sun will still come up tomorrow. 15. Any other interest except for Cavaliers? Not really. Cavaliers are our life. Looking after them 24/7 and spending our free time showing, breeding and judging etc leaves little room for anything else! Most of our friends are involved in the breed and our fun times are times shared, usually over a good meal and a bottle of wine, with them discussing......you guessed it! Cavaliers. 16. What makes you happy in the show/dog world? Seeing a good dog win. I like to think no matter who is on the end of the lead that a dog of quality will emerge triumphant. 17. What makes you pissed off (sorry for the language) and mad? I think most exhibitors will agree on these two. Bad judges and bad losers. Too often we see dogs win for reasons other than their virtues. Ignorant judges who know little about the breed standard is bad enough, but even worse are dishonest ones. No one likes a bad sport. The answer is to win modestly and lose with dignity. 18. Why did you choose the breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniels? In our opinion they are the prettiest, most loving, happy go lucky personalities ever created. They brighten your day and are true "comforters" when needed. Having had a Cavalier why would you want anything else? |
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