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In 1979 we decided that we would like a dog, what
breed we didn't know. Like many before us, no doubt, we debated
various breeds without reaching a conclusion. Then out of the blue
came the suggestion of a Great Dane, largely because we knew a
former neighbour had two fawns.
So it was off to see this lady for a chat and she lent her
collection of Dane books to us to read. Having got to know her and
her dogs well, we were hooked and decided that we would like a
puppy. That lady was Margaret Sheen, who had bred and shown under
the Maclishe Affix, who offered her help to find a puppy. Indeed it
was Margaret who found a litter and took us to see the puppies. We
had set our heart on a dog, however, it was a bitch that caught
Margaret's eye and she advised that this was the one for us. Deposit
paid, we returned 2 weeks later to collect Tobevan of Deverill
(Jody), who was to prove to be the founder of our kennel. Margaret
became a very good friend and mentor. We spent hours walking the
dogs together in the woods on the Longleat estate, 4 Danes of ours
at that time and Margaret with her 2.They all got on wonderfully
well, running free for much of the time in the hundreds of acres of
woodland.
We did not have any intention of showing but, having been encouraged
to, we entered our first Open show. Jody won
a class and we were hooked. Jody went on to win our first CC and
2RCCs before an injury cut her show career short.
We bred our first litter from Jody and kept two bitch puppies, of
which Janriche Variable Blonde won 2 RCCs and produced our first
Champion Janriche He's Daring and his multiple RCC winning sister
Janriche She's Megan. He's Daring was Dane of The Year 1990
and 1991, the only male to have won "back to back" DOTY's
to date and one of only two Danes that have achieved that feat.
Our daughter, Marie, became involved right from
the start and started by handling Jody in Junior Handling classes.
She duly took over the handling and has handled all of our Danes,
campaigning 4 to their titles and winning many other top
awards.
Granddaughter Charley Fry has joined us as
joint owners of our Affix and is the 3rd "generation" on the Affix .
She co-owns Abby and Taylor with us. We hope that after attending
her first show at about two weeks old, that
she will have a lifetime of owning Great Danes. Charley is following
in the footsteps of her mum, Marie, who since around the age of 12
has handled all of our Danes to their many successes.
In 1987 we moved from England across to Wales with 13 Danes, which
included a litter of 8 puppies at 3 weeks old ! Moving enabled us to
purchase our current home which gave us ideal facilities where we
could build and expand the size of our kennel. We generally have 7
or 8 adult Danes and currently have 6 ranging in age from 2 up to
8+ years.
JUDGING
Rick has awarded CCs in the breed since 1990 and has also been
privileged to judge Dane of the Year. Rick also judges a number of
other breeds in the Working Group at Open show level.
A Committee member of the Great Dane Club of South Wales since 1988 where he is Show Manger. He also serves on the Breed Council
where he is Vice Chairman.
Marie also awards CC's and was extremely honoured to be invited to carry
out her first Championship appointment for The Great Dane Club,the
breeds parent club. She has since awarded CC's for the Working and
Pastoral Breeds of Scotland. She too judges other Working Group
breeds at Open Show level.
It is hoped that Marie's daughter Charley, will follow in our
footsteps and she presently shows great interest and can't wait to
show our dogs. Indeed she attended her first show at 10 days of age,
so it could be said she has a head start on many!
TO ENLARGE
THUMB NAIL PHOTO'S CLICK ON THEM
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