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Deb Lewis ~ Upper Sandusky, OH ~ (419) 294-2729
~~~
In 2007 I was asked to
submit a biography for the Winter 2007/2008 Labrador Quarterly, a
well respected journal for Labrador Enthusiasts.
I will
share the article here as it summarizes the history behind Shalane
Labradors and lends insight to my philosophy and breeding practices.
~~~
SHOW & TELL
By Deborah Lewis
SHALANE Labradors
I grew up on a farm with a barn
full of Arabian horses, they were my father's passion. We
studied the Arabian Horse Journal in the same manner I now
study Labradors. In an effort to try to include me in this
horse game, it was my job to study pedigrees and choose the
stud for the upcoming year. We would then go "stud horse"
shopping, traveling from one farm to the other looking at
horses. This began my obsession with pedigrees. I loved their
grace , their movement and their proud nature. My sister was
passionate about them, I just wanted a dog . As a child , we
had a number of purebred dogs, everything from a Dalmation to
a St. Bernard, although I liked them I was not in love with
them.
In 1972 I married my High School sweetheart
fresh out of school , the first thing I wanted was an Irish
Setter , of course I knew nothing and bought one from a litter
at a farm house with a sign in the front yard. I loved that
dog . I mean I really loved that dog , he was eager to learn ,
and I taught him constantly, his vocabulary was huge , I found
myself spelling things to my husband if I didn't want this dog
to control the household, he was that intelligent. I started
obedience classes with him as a hobby, and we did sign up
every time they were offered. I did not compete with him, but
he was a member of our family and treated as a child, that was
enough for me at the time. Then the children came along. In
1975, Dan and I became parents to a daughter and in 1979, we
had a son. The Irish Setter lived to the ripe old age of 13
and when we lost him I was devastated. Actually I was a train
wreck, and could not pull myself out of this slump over the
death of that dog. I promised myself I would never love a dog
like that again. A promise not kept.
In 1985,
my husband, Dan, contacted Carol Heidl, who graciously sold me
a lovely black puppy girl who much later became my foundation
bitch, CH Tabatha's Sweet Delilah (CH Martin of Ballyduff x CH
Tabatha's Corker O'Valleywood, WC) . This pedigree made me
drool. I poured over the then very small Quarterly, and could
receit these old dog's pedigrees from memory . Please don't
ask me to do that now ! She was purchased as a pet, but that
was back in the day , when Limited Registration was unheard
of. As luck would have it , I ran into a dog show couple that
tolerated my novice attitudes and allowed me to travel with
them , [thank you Damon and Sue ], I must have drove them
insane ! I helped them as much as I could , they had Weims,
but I must admit , I was much more bother than I was worth.
I was raising children , Dan was very involved in his
career doing a great deal of traveling, getting away to attend
dog shows was extremely difficult, so I had a handler show
Delilah to her championship. This sweet black girl took the
spot my Setter once had , and was shamelessly spoiled and
pampered, dressed in doll clothes and slept in my daughter's
white canopy bed ! Keeping her fit and her coat in shape was
not at the top of my list of things to do, so finishing her
took some time.
Her first breeding at 4 years of age
was to CH Borador's Lord Travis, which produced a typey black
puppy bitch named Shalane Sweet Jezebel [Jezzy]. When I chose
this stud dog , I knew nothing about Labradors really, I only
knew what type I liked , and knew I liked black. But I was
anything, but ready to do a breeding.
I attended Miami
Valley LRC specialty the next year, with Jezzy entered in a
class of over 40, 6-9 month puppy bitches. She placed second
to Carol Heidl , of course I was an instant success and
thought this was a breeze , what was all of the fuss about !
It's amazing, in hind sight how one can know so little , and
be so oblivious to the dog show world , all the goings on in
the ring , not to mention all of the "stuff" that goes on
outside of the ring and still participate. Ignorance truly is
bliss!
Delilah's second breeding was to CH Huntsdown
Buddha Beechcroft which produced my most favorite bitch ever,
Shalane Marilyn Monroe. Maryl was not a show dog, but a
fabulous producer. She always produced better than herself,
and always had ten puppies and raised everyone of them. She
was still feeding the "keepers" from the litter at 4 months of
age . Her maternal skills were so very impressive , she was a
fabulous brood . I loved the type I was getting , this was a
beautiful old Ballyduff pedigree.
We always said, all
she needed was semen. She lived in the house , and was a very
special dog to me , a true Labrador brood bitch, that would
step in and mother every bitch's litter , and make sure they
were kept clean to her standards. I bred Maryl to Ch.
Guidelines Century Condensed , and kept a real nice yellow
bitch , Shalane Sophia , she did well in the ring,one of her
most notable wins was Best Bred By at Winnebago LRC in a very
competitive class .. She eventually became my husbands
pheasant hunting companion , and is by far the birdiest
Labrador I have ever owned. She is amazing in the field , her
nose leaves me wondering if she uses her brain at all, she is
driven ! Her annual pheasant hunting trip to Iowa with the men
was truly what she lived for . She was devoted to my husband,
and has been affectionately titled the "blonde mistress".
Delilah's final breeding was to CH Autumns Thunder
Vision, which did not give me what I was looking for and I
placed the pick bitch puppy with a puppy back agreement. That
puppy back was Shalane Hit The Road (Jack). He would
eventually be Best Bred By at Miami Valley LRC under Kendall
Herr , Best in Sweeps at Huron River, RWD at Winnebago LRC ,
Best Bred By at Winnebago LRC , all before 12 months of age, I
was thrilled , the only thing I would have changed on him was
his yellow coat. I have this thing in my head that a Labrador
should be black. Imagine my dissapoitment on that Monday
morning after Winnebago , when his prelims came back
dysplastic. I had such high hopes for that boy, the first in a
long line of highs and lows in this sport.
Everything
I currently own goes back to CH Tabatha's Sweet Delilah. I
miss her still.
Even after two generations, I still
did not feel I could take credit for the dogs I was producing.
I felt that the influence from the Tabatha bitch line, was so
intense. I am grateful for that stumble into Carol Heidl's
path. Her bitches are astounding to me, and typically just
short of perfection. Just this weekend I saw Carol's beautiful
black girl , Pester , oh my , she does take my breathe away !
I kept at it, putting one foot in front of the other
on some days, endured my years of nightmare whelpings, and
singleton births. Those long nights in my basement whelping
room either waiting for my girls to get started or get
finished ! I wish I had a nichel for everytime I wondered ,
"why do I do this" ! I continued looking at dogs , and
attending Specialties searching for that black dog to breed to
my girls . It's this search that is the most intriging to me ,
showing is a necessary evil, breeding is where my heart is.
Reading everything I could get my hands on, MRW ,
Reaching for the Stars is a favorite , keeps me sane, in the
number of dogs I keep. It bears re-reading yearly, and a good
kennel cleaning after. Words of wisdom, do not keep dogs that
you cannot use in that master plan. I allow myself one
pampered house dog, every dog that lives here has a plan
attached to it , or they will soon live elsewhere!
Jezzy really started my dogs as they are today. She was bred
to Rochby Straw Boater which produced Shalane Kissin Cousin
Kate, WC, CGC, TDI , [ who is now that one singular pampered
house dog , soon to be 15 years of age]. Oh Kate, what will I
do when you are gone !
At that point in my breeding
program and as my family life allowed (teaching 4-H obedience
classes, being a soccer mom and teaching puppy classes for
those pet people wanting to train their dogs), I mostly
competed in obedience and was active in my local obedience
club. However, through all of these years, I continued to
study pedigrees and longed to produce that black bitch that
was in my head , but not in my kennel.
Kate was bred
to Canadian CH Suprebe Cosaque DesSavannas which produced
Shalane Cinderella, CGC, TDI. At that time, I then purchased a
black male Tabatha's Impulse At Shalane, "Gus" (CH Muskelunge
Top Gun X CH Springharbor Sass O'Tabatha) from Carol Heidl.
Gus wasn't the greatest mover, and his topline hurt my eyes to
look at, but the breed type was stunning. I took a chance on
this big black dog, he had things I wanted, so I added him to
the growing population. He was useful to me, he was pointed in
the ring, he taught me many things about this breed, he now
lives in a lovely pet home and is, I'm sure , much happier .
He loved the person that fed him. So why did I cry when he
left?
Cinderella was bred to Gus which produced one
singleton black bitch. This bitch became CH Shalane Come Fly
With Me, CGC, "Raven". Raven has a very outgoing dominant
temperament, she is in control of all the dogs in the kennel ,
with a blink of her eye , they all part and let her walk threw
the gate first. Watching pack behavior is one of my favorite
things to do, I love to see how each dog has his place , the
inner workings of a good sized pack of dogs is an amazing
thing to see. Raven began the type of Labrador I had been
looking for (beautiful breed type with lovely side movement).
This bitch was great fun in the ring, a super confident bitch
who knows no fear , and would follow me into a burning
building. I remember once at a large inside show , we had to
walk through a sea of Rotties to get to our ring, and Raven
was in standing season, I was a bit hesitant to take that
first step when I saw those males put their noses in the air.
I'm sure they all sensed that , so she gathered herself up ,[
I think she made her self at least two inches taller than she
really was], and we walked right through that mass of male
Rotties, her head was high and she never looked at any of them
! They were beneath her , and she let them know it ! When I
turned around to glance at the group after we walked through
them , there was nothing short of utter chaos going on, and my
feet just kept moving ! I laughed all day over that !
For my sixth generation, I chose to go back into
Tabatha and bred Raven to CH Tabatha's Sport, WC. I was
looking for that black bitch . I decided on two , and intended
to keep them both. They had lovely style , and correct coats ,
with so much breed type , they gave me goose bumps. I finally
settled on the one I was going to keep , the other eventually
went to a pet home. The one I kept happened to be the smallest
puppy in the litter , only 7 ounces at birth. I hand fed her
frozen BilJac on the table as soon as she could get herself up
on those little legs. She would spend hours on the Happy Legs
in her puppy training time, she loved it . I never saw a puppy
stack themselves up so beautiful at such a young age. I know I
never did her justice with my handling skills, she still was a
sight to see . She has this gaze , that she loves to do to a
judge if she likes them, and it always makes me giggle, I know
instantly what kind of person the judge is and if she didn't
give them that look , she was not going to give it her all on
the go 'round. Her name is MBISS Ch. Shalane Cora Belle. Her
show career has been a whirlwind she rarely went in the ring
that she was not noticed . Her notable wins include, Best in
Sweeps at Potomac in 2005 ,[thank you Kim Black for taking her
, and to Brittany Dumas for showing her , I was at home with a
very sick puppy], back to back BISS Miami Valley LRC 2006 ,
JAMS at several Specialties that same year. She is a joy to
live with , quiet and confident , an elegant black bitch.
Cora Belle's first breeding was to a black dog that
took my breathe away everytime I saw him in the ring. A proud
, jubilant Labrador that had the silohuette I was looking for.
He complimented her in every way , so different and still the
same , his name Ch. Big Sky Stone Kutter. Cora Belle blessed
us with a singleton , after much drama , truly an
understatement . That little ball of fire , Shalane Rolling
Stone, just this past weekend at Central Ohio LRC 2007,[ a
Club of which I am a longtime member], was Best of Opp /Sweeps
his first time in the ring from the 6 to 9 class, and for
those that had the painful experience of watching him, he was
leash trained prior to that , I know it did not show . But
aren't those kind of bratty puppies the one's we find so much
fun ? I told myself that on the drive home, even though my
thumb was black and blue !
I am working on Cora
Belle's next breeding now as I type , [ to Laura Witt's
Ch.Windfall New England Patriot ] I can only hope that this
beautiful bitch can produce a bitch as nice as herself. Do we
ever stop hoping ? This will be my first Transcervical AI ,
keeping my fingers crossed this breeding takes.
Raven's final breeding was to a dog that I bred to ,
strictly on pedigree, I never saw this dog in person. His
name, Ch. Tabatha Knight JH. And this litter has been my all
time favorite litter as a whole. He put angles on puppies ,
beautifull breed type, and lovely sound movement, , a very
consistant linebred litter . I kept three from it . Two girls
for future broods , and a nice black dog. It was not my
intention to keep a male, but he was such a stand out , I
could not let him go, his name is Shalane Fly By Knight, [Hawk
or affectionately called The Hawkster]. He has 13 points at
this time, 3 majors all under breeder judges ,WD at Northern
Ohio LRC from the puppy classes, WD/Best of Winners at Greater
Pittsburgh LRC 2007, several RWD to 4 and 5 point majors from
Specialties with stiff competition, and then there is that
lovely win at Potomac /Open Black 2007. Thank you Kim Black
for taking him , as I was at home doing a C-section w/Cora
Belle and her singleton. I think there is a pattern here, I
stay home with puppy duties , and my dogs get to travel to the
Big Show , and make a good day of it as well !
Speaking of RWD to 4 or 5 point majors, shouldn't
there be points involved for that reserve win ? I guess I
think maybe so. Think of the number of dogs involved !
His littermate , Shalane Evening Star, was bred
recently to BISS Ch. Windfall Banner Major Attraction, she
produced 6 puppies this past week ,[whelping four in one
hour's time], five of them are girls, no less , what a good
girl she is ! This makes her a "keeper" ! They really should
be very promising , I love the pedigree !
I generally
keep around ten dogs here, and I don't count puppies under 6
months. We live in a very rural area, no neighbors within ear
shot , and lots of farm ground surrounding us. I have 8 kennel
runs , that are 16 foot long, indoor /outdoor facility with a
very large livestock fan that runs nonstop during these hot
summer days in Ohio, and a loud radio that is never silent. I
find I use the concrete kennel runs less every year , instead
opting for the large fenced play yards with groups of dogs
lounging under their shade trees . They are happier , and it's
alot less daily maintainance , this works for me !
Thank you for
allowing me to tell my story , I only hope when I leave the
breed that I can say , I've done no harm .
Shalane Sister Act and Shalane Cora
Belle with my grandson Logan ~~~
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