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I was very interested in my Celtic ancestry, and since my breeds of choice ALSO had Anglo/European ancestry, I chose
"Aberlour" for a Kennel Prefix.
The fact that I found the name on a bottle of 10 year old Scotch Whisky had absolutely NO bearing on my choice !!
(BG)
Actually, the town of Aberlour is located near "Loch Ness" in Scotland,
The town (Aberlour) is famous for both it's Whiskey & Thoroughbred Horses.
The word "Aberlour" actually means the "confluence" (or merging) of two waters.
The City of Dunedin, NZ (where I was born & raised) was where the Leith Stream met the Ocean, so I felt the name
was apt !!
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| Killer tiger pounces on the unsuspecting Kelly |
I had tentatively started showing dogs in 1976 with "Kelly", a "Blenheim" Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
I then acquired another 4 Cavaliers .... "Penny" & "Ruby" (both Ruby coloured girls), as well as "Monty"
& "Bertie" (both Tri-colour boys).
We also wanted a bigger dog, but it still had to have a wonderful temperament,
so I purchased my first English Setter "Heidi".
In Heidi (aka: NZ CH Pakatoa M'Lady Guinevere"), we had hoped for both a "Show-dog" and an "all-purpose" working Gundog,
but she had other ideas ... she was a dedicated "couch-potato" !!
She HATED shows, HATED water, HATED Obedience, and blatantly REFUSED to retrieve, so the "working gundog" idea went right
out the window !! :((
Finally accepting the cold hard facts, I acknowledged defeat with Heidi, and purchased my first English Springer
Spaniel "Tammy" (aka: NZ CH Hot-Pepper of Blair Lodge, CD).
Thankfully .... Tammy was everything that Heidi wasn't !! :)))
She LOVED Shows, also Obedience and Field-trialling work, and competed in all exercises with vigorously wagging
tail ... typical of a Spaniel of any-sort !!
She would do ANYTHING in her desire to please, and was obsessed with both water AND retrieving !!
She would retrieve fur, feather, metal ... and ANYTHING else you could think of !!
On one occasion she competed in an Obedience Club "Novelty Retrieve" ... the item being a "Saveloy".
She won all her heats, and then had a run-off with a Whippet in the finals !
Fortunately for us, the Whippet decided to stop and "nibble" his saveloy, whereas Tammy's was returned unscathed ...
except for a few "tooth-marks", as she didn't really want to relinquish her snack !! (BG)
But rest assured ... she DID get to chomp on it after completion !! (LOL)
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| Aberlour "A" litter (Aodhan on far right) |
I bred my first litter in 1985 (Springers - ex Tammy).
From this, we kept "Aberlour Aodhan" ... my multi In-Group winning Black & White boy (far right).
My second litter in 1986 (Setters - ex Heidi) produced
"Aust Champion Aberlour Bradach - imp NZ" ...
multi In-Group & In-Show winner (NZ & Aust).
Bradach, in-turn, sired "Aust Champion Aberlour Ginger Ice" and "Aust Champion Aberlour Gingerbread Man" ... and
both became Multi In-Show winners.
My third litter was from Springers again (ex Sandy).
This produced TWO Show Champions - "NZ CH Aberlour Cailin" and "Aust CH Aberlour Casidhe - imp NZ" .... BOTH Multi In-Group
& In-Show winners.
This was a WONDERFUL litter, and it also produced "Aberlour Caitlin" (Obedience Trialling) .... as well as the
rest of the litter including "Aberlour Carleas", "Aberlour Caraid" and "Aberlour Caitrin" all being involved in
Field Work in NZ.
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My then partner bred his first litter in 1992 from my dogs, under the "Springset" prefix.
This produced the Multi In-Group winning Springer puppy "Duke" (Springset Midnite Xpres).
He was re-homed to a pet-home at about 8 months old, and lived to a ripe old age !!
(sire: Aberlour English Lord / dam: Sunford Omen)
In April 1997 my ex bred very first Cavalier litter, from "Tara" (Westbury Royal Harmony), including our stunning
puppy "Meg" (Springset Spice Girl).
At her very first show, Meg won Baby of Breed (7 babies).
The Judge was Cavalier Breed Specialist "Jenny Egan" - Melloway Cavaliers.
Tragically, Meg died at five months old from a snake bite.
He bred a 2nd litter from Tara in July '98, producing "Jive" (Springset Jive Talkn - Tri-colour).
Although being UNBEATEN at Class level, Jive hated being tabled, so was retired from the Show Ring at 10 months old
The "Springset" Prefix was cancelled in 1999, after noticing another Kennel Prefix of the same name in USA.
Tara had another litter in May 99.
This was the first ever "ABERLOUR" Cavalier litter !! This litter produced my STUNNING girls ...
Aust Champ Aberlour Ya Halos Slipd - aka "Hayley" (owned by myself), and
Aust Champ Aberlour Yor Hiland Rose - aka "Rosie" (owned by Merry Pronk, Adelaide).
We lost Hayley to a Stroke just after her 9th Birthday, and Rosie at 13 years old ! :))
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Over the years, I have bred and/or owned over 45 Champions, with many of their children and grand-children becoming Champions
as well .... either in Australia or New Zealand.
Most of my Show-Dogs have been All-Breeds and/or Specialty Multi In-Show winners, and/or Royal Show winners.
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| Lyn & "Duke" (5 months old) |
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| Amanda & "Meg" (3 months old) |
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