Kennel Club Health Survey Results!

The results of a recent health survery for the Welsh Terrier breed by The Kennel Club in the UK is now available.  I don't know how the UK Breed Clubs distributed the survey, when it was done, or how the questions were asked (yes, that is my background in Market Research of 17 years in banking coming out!!!  :-)  You see, I was a Vice President for a number of years for one of the largest banks in the world, in the Analytics and Market Research departments - so I know a bit about what I am talking about ;-)  So, while I know that there are factors that can play into numbers, even if you don't mean to do it (just in how you word the questions), all we have are the facts that are provided. 

With the 66 returned surveys in hand, it looks pretty good overall for the health of our breed!

Click here for the link with the results.

Remember - any dog, of any breed, can get any condition ... nothing is 100% in life when you are dealing with living things!

AKC ACE Award Nominee!

Charley has just been nominated for an AKC ACE award (read about it here) - WOW!

ACE recognizes extraordinary things demonstrating the strong human-canine bond.  Charley, and Jerry Nickell (of Oklahoma), definitely deserve this recognition!
I wrote about who she is on a blog post in June 2010 (click here).  Charley has been featured on radio, TV (click here for the TV link), newsapers and recognized with awards from a number of hospitals and libraries (click here for the organization H.A.L.O she is involved in).  She is officially - Am Ch. Sanherpinc Nora Charles, and is Paisa's litter sister (MBIS Am/Can Ch Sanherpinc Paisa).  Charley is also the dam of 5 wonderful puppies sired by my boy Parker - BISS/BIS Am/Can Ch Darwyn's Webslinger.  One boy was kept by the breeder, and he might try his hand at owner-handling at some point with him in the show ring (I wish I lived closer to help!), and one girl lives near me and is named Gracie. She will make her debut in the show ring, unfortunately, I am not sure if the 'top honours' will be awarded to her - you see, her tail was docked really short and it detracts from the over all look.

I co-own her with a really nice owner, and we'll see.  In a worst case scenario, she will continue to be the awesome pet that she has been so far!  The short tail isn't an issue for the owner, and hopefully some judges will be able to see past it and see the beautiful structure and very "welshie" look and temperament she has.

Jerry, Ann, Charley - I am SO proud of you!  Keep up the great work - you are awesome ambassadors for the Welsh Terrier breed, terriers and dogs in general!  Thank you!

I finally updated Joe's web page with his Canadian show wins!

I finally updated Joe's web page with some "fast facts" for Joe's career to date, his Canadian show wins, and a link to the 2 videos I did of him at dog shows - one in the US on Montgomery weekend and one in Canada (first weekend out with Milton and Tracy).  It was neat to re-live these 2 days.  I enjoyed it - if you watch them, I hope you do also.

Click here to go to Joe's updated web page.

Click here for the video of Joe and Woody on Montgomery 2010 weekend.

Click here for the video of Joe on the first weekend out with Milton Lopes and Tracy Tuff.

A few facts:

* 6 Group WINS in the US! (California and Montgomery weekend)

* 39 Group Placements in the US!
* Many BOB wins in the US with other top Welsh Terriers in competition
* 2 BIS (in top competition)!
* 27 times in the ring in Canada in '11 - 26 Group Placements
* 12 Group WINS in Canada

I still have more to update.  I haven't put in any (except one) of his US photos - and they are good!

Congratulations to Fred & Patty for 6 healthy puppies sired by Monty!

One of my specials boys, Monty (Ch Darwyn Bruhil's Flying Circus) sired a second, healthy litter.  Olivia, the dam, is owned by WTCA members Fred and Patty Adams in Florida.  The puppies are now 3 weeks old (boy does time fly!) and all doing well.  Congratulations and good luck!  We'll be following your progress closely!

Click here for the web page that I put together for this litter (which includes the details for Fred and Patty's litter).  Monty's own web page has not yet been done (but it will be - I promise!).

Victoria Area Welshie Walk photos (May 8, 2011)

On May 8, 2011, a number of Welsh Terrier owners (including some that I bred) gathered.  One of these owners came out from Alberta and took over 100 photos to remember the day by.  If you click here, then go to Travel and then click on Victoria Welshie Walk, you can see them.

Click here if you want to participate in future events.  Wendy (contact on that page), can add you to the contact list.

A little bit of lead training for a 9 week old puppy

I have started to get our 9 week old (Monty x Dora) puppies used to being on a lead.  So far they all seem fairly comfortable (I'm sure the cheese helps :-).  I am very happy with how freely they are moving - and happy they are!  Michael grabbed our flip yesterday and took a short video to share with a friend who might co-own her with me. This was so cute I thought that I would share it with you here!

Click here to watch Jessie!  Darwyn ..... to be announced soon.  If you want to watch the longer version (hope you are an Abba fan!), then click here to watch Jessie and then at the end with her sister on our deck.

Today Jessie and her brother went to my local friends home for a few days to play with kids, cats, dogs and, well, each other.  I clippered one and left one with puppy coat for the kids.  What child can resist cute, playful and happy puppies!  FUN!

Best in Show! Joe! WOW!

Joe - BISS/MBIS Darwyn's I'm Not Arguing That
Handled by: Milton Lopes; Tracy Tuff
Judge: Mr. Walter Pinsker
Show: Regina Kenn Club, May 20 2011 (Best in Show!) - click here for results

When I looked at my iPhone as Michael and I were out doing errands today, I was not expecting to see a text message, let alone a message telling us that JOE went BEST IN SHOW today!

A number of people who were at the show told me that Joe was looking really great (perhaps the best that he has looked since he has been with Milton and Tracy ... while that is hard to believe!). 
Tracy also told me last night that he was in excellent spirits, focused, eating well (as always) and happy!  He should be - he got the chance to breed a really beautiful Welsh Terrier bitch (MBIS bitch!) over the last 3 days!  ;-)

This weekends show was relatively small in numbers, but a LOT of the top dogs from across Canada are all there and very competitive!  As you'll see from the link below, in the Best in Show line-up, Joe competed with other Group Winners that are multi Best in Show dogs, the #1 dog all breeds, the #2 dog all breeds and another one that is in the top 10 dog all breeds.  Click here for the results.

I am very honoured that the judge, Mr. Walter Pinsker, chose Joe for his Best in Show!  Walter and his wife Monika have been in "dogs" for many decades, are known all over the world for not only judging, their very prestigious and well run dog shows, but their absolutely wonderful (and respected world-wide) Mephisto Boxers.  From what I have learned, they have been involved since 1968, bred well over 100 champions, 150 best in shows and produced the dog that was the #1 dog (all-breeds) in 1975.  They have also been terrier breeders.

I am so darn proud that Mr. Pinsker found the quality in my boy Joe to give him the top honours at this show, in such strong competition.  Thank you.

Parker's OFA HIP X-RAY came back great!

For those that know me, know that I like to keep up on the health of my dogs, dogs that I breed, and tests where applicable (or appropriate).  The hip score (by x-ray) for some breeds is one of the recommended tests by breed clubs.  It's not with our breed, and therefore most Welsh Terriers breeders don't do it.

I'm on the fence about this one.  Some long time breeders tell me it is not an issue, while others are adamant that it is (or was).  The issue comes up occasionally on pet focused email lists.  In the last 36 years, 101 Welsh Terriers that had hip x-rays submitted to OFFA - 6% were "excellent" and 18% were "dysplastic" (click here for the link).  This clearly isn't representative for the breed - but it does say that hip dysplaysia can be seen in the breed.

I've decided to take the approach to test dogs that are living with me, over 2 years of age (min for the test), active part of my breeding program, and time permits. (note, it is much more difficult to arrange to do this if they are at dog shows every other weekend with a handler).  Given that this is not mandated by my breed club, I won't try to get 100% coverage, and I won't require bitches that want to breed to my dogs do this.  But, for my own interest, I will now have this test done on my important dogs in my breeding program.

A couple of years ago, Haley (Parker and Athena's dam) was one of my first ones to be done.  Her hips came back as Good (apparently, Excellent, Good and Fair are all just fine!).  Today I received the results in the mail that her son, Parker, BISS/BIS Am/Can Ch Darwyn's Webslinger also has "Good" Hip Scores!  Parker, of course, is my boy that won Best of Breed at the Welsh Terrier Club of America National Specialty, on Montgomery day in 2009 - and went on to be the #8 overall Terrier in Canada last year!  This year he is just hanging out with us at home, watching over some of his beautiful offspring that he sired with Paisa - MBIS Am/Can Ch Sanherpinc Paisa, and enjoying the AWESOME success of his 1/2 brother Joe - BISS/MBIS GCh Am & Can Ch Darwyn's I'm Not Arguing That, in the Canadian show ring this year (and US last year!).

Given the importance of this test for some breeds, OFFA has a public record for dogs that have been tested.  Click here for the OFFA link to Parker's OFA results.

My vet has the nifty x-ray machine that provides a digital output -- here are Parker's beautiful hips! (click on it to see a larger view)  :-)

So ... do we all need to go out and x-ray our dogs?  Not necessarily, however, it is something that as a breed, we should keep our eye on and watch out that we aren't going downhill and bringing those dysplastic ones into our breeding programs -- clearly they are in the breed ... somewhere!

#1 - #2 - #3 Welsh Terrier AND #8 TERRIER in Canada! WOW!

I received official news today that Darwyn Welsh Terriers owns (and BRED) the top 3 Welsh Terriers in Canada in 2010! 
Even more exciting is that the #8 Terrier (#1 WT) was my boy Parker!  BISS / BIS Am.Can.Ch Darwyn's Webslinger!  I don't know the exact numbers, but there were over 1000 individual terriers shown across the country (many of them several times during the year :-) - and Parker was the #8 one out of all of them!  WOW!  Parker officially defeated about 1000 dogs during his 6 months of showing to get to this award (pure coincedence with the numbers).  Over the last 12 years, this is the highest award in Canada that I have recieved.  I am so honoured, and grateful to the many judges that found the quality in Parker, and grateful to Aaron Andriash that presented Parker so beautifully during 2010 - Aaron and Parker made for a beautiful team in the ring.

Parker wasn't the only one!  Monty (Ch Darwyn Bruhil's Flying Circus) was shown on 2 weekends and in that time period defeated about 200 dogs which put him to #2 Welsh Terrier in Canada!  And, Athena (now Addie) came back to Canada after her successes in the US (WB at Montgomery!) and became #3 Welsh Terrier in Canada -- then promptly went to do her motherly duties (and did them very well!  :-)

Parker's not active in the show ring this year, he's watching his 1/2 brother Joe (BISS/BIS AmGCh & Can Ch Darwyn's I'm Not Arguing That) do VERY well with Milton and Tracy ... JOE has already surpassed Parker's record in just 5 weekends!,  and Monty also got to play in the ring a few times with me (Larisa) ... very successfully I might add (many Group 1st wins!) ... and YES, I know, I still need to DO Monty's page on my website and update Joe's page!  I am SO bad!  Facebook is a very bad influence on me ;-)

Parker might be back in the show ring - or he might just sit back and watch his beautiful puppies that he sired and watch how the NEXT GENERATION comes along.  ;-) 

Here is one of the "Parker puppies" at 5 months of age ... looking at this photo, I (as the breeder of both Parker AND TJ), am hard pressed to tell the difference between them - this 5 month old puppy looks very similar to what Parker did at this age in head, expression (a bit bigger ears than Parker, but that's it), bone, body, coat, texture, color, front..... a beautiful dog has sired some really beautiful "very welshie" puppies!  I am so proud.

A great day for a get-together!

On Sunday, a few Darwyn Welsh Terrier owners got together for a walk and a nice meal.  I had hoped to join this Vancouver Island get-together, but with 6.5 week old puppies, and construction starting first thing Monday morning, I had to pass.
I didn't organize this, but was so happy that one of the participants did - it was an awesome day by all accounts!  There was a 12 year old dog of mine there (Becky went to her retirement home 6 years ago), Parker's dam who went to her retirement home when she was 5, a year and a half ago, Tessa who was from my very first litter (and went to her retirement home 6 years ago), an 8 year old girl that went to her new home when she was 6 months old (one of those welsh that I 'grew up' to be a possible show dog, but then decided to place in a great pet home), a 10 month old girl that went to her new home a couple of months ago, and a puppy dog that was born last September!  There was also one that had attended that got a rescue Welsh Terrier from someone else (that I helped to place for the US breeder), since I didn't have any older ones to place at this time .... and he was welcomed into the group just as if his boy came from me!
What an awesome day -- and experience!  Thank you Kate for organizing this day!
As a breeder, we clearly have an ability to help bring joy into peoples lives by providing happy, healthy, well-adjusted and confident dogs (and clearly, older, retired dogs of mine adjust easily and have become wonderful additions to families).  But, we can also provide the framework for new friendships, some that become close and long lasting. However, we need a way for introducing people that have one of our dogs, to others that have one.  This has worked well for me over the years and there are some close friendships that have developed -including with me!  These puppies that we produce are more than just puppies, but a way to also develop friendships. 
I'm glad that I have been able to help.  This also happens with show dogs (albeit there is that competitive aspect that sometimes gets in the way!) ;-)  Hey - they are all wonderful dogs - and great parts of our lives.  Enjoy your time with them!

Exploring our property with Monty & Dora's 6 week old puppies!

We took some time out yesterday to explore some of our back property with our 6.5 week old puppies (Monty's first litter that he sired ... I'll do his page soon!).  The cool thing is that we remembered to bring (and use!) our video camera (I love my little flip!).  Above is a snapshot from the video and click here for a link to the video.
We'll go back out again today (already have actually :-) ... just won't bother with a video camera this time.
Enjoy!