Kyrie Shelties
Back in the Day...
I started working for Bev and Vern Peterson of Merri Lon Shelties in 1979. I have had a VERY small program on and off since that time. In 2010 I took a 4 year break- showing is expensive and emotionally draining. When I decided to hop back into the fray- I started with a plain tri 'Sashi' Kell Moonspinner. She was sired by one of my favorite dogs Ch Anysworth No Moon Tonight- I had been the first one to use Tsuki when he was a young dog, he sired Ch Kyrie Moondance 'Juno' - who then went to Hawaii with Judy Miura and was the dam of 3 champions.
Kell Moonspinner "Sashi"
One of the reasons I took a break in the first place was I had lovely dogs, but some of them did not like to show. Great house dogs and pets, but didn't care for the show scene at all. When I started back up, I made a promise to myself that if they didn't like to show with reasonable training and exposure, then they wouldn't have to. Wouldn't you know it, Sashi did not care for the show ring. But that was ok, because her great, great granddaughter ended up WB at the ASSA National Specialty. I wanted to talk about what my thoughts were on getting there, why I made the decisions I did and kept the dogs I did.
Even though Sashi did not care for the conformation ring- the reason she was worth breeding and being a foundation for my rebuilt program was that she has exceptional structure. I compare her to an Olympic athlete- she not only had the balance of bone structure, she had the muscles and tendons and overall carriage and development to truly be a foundation. All of these things are inherited- and how many times have we seen a dog that looks great standing still fall apart when they take their first steps? Being able to keep in condition, being a great mother and an easy whelper are all things we tend to loose in the pursuit of the perfect head or front or rear.
Sashi ended up only carrying down for me thru one also very plain tri girl, but when the daughter keeps all the great things of the mother, in fact just a titch better, then you only need the one. Kyrie Pitch Perfect ptd - is also an athlete thru and thru. She was our fence climber, problem solver (maker) and all around cool dog. 'Rebel' tolerated shows, but didn't love them, so I didn't make her. She is in a retirement home with a lovely couple that lives in their motorhome and travel the country. She is in heaven and so are they. And none of us have to worry about her climbing fences. Rebel produced 2 exceptional girls for me. I was lucky enough when I did restart, that I knew what I was looking for through prior years of experience, but also had the friends in my village that were willing to let me have one of their best to get started with. Even though these two girls were not 'showy' they were smart, calm, trainable, sweet and loyal. All of the things that make a sheltie a sheltie- they had in spades.
Kyrie Pitch Perfect, AKC ptd "Rebel"
