O
U R B E G I N N I N G S
I entered the world of Doberman
Pinschers purely by accident. Although I had always admired them I had
some "preconceived" notions as to their stability! My start in the "Dog
Show World" came with German Shepherds. I stuck with the breed for several
years even though my dogs suffered from health problems but eventually
I decided to move on to another breed, one with beauty, intelligence, fewer
health issues and less hair!
A good friend of ours knew
of someone who had "show" Dobermans. I contacted this person and spoke
with her about the breed. I told her that I was interested in obtaining
a black show bitch. |
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She referred me to a woman that
had an older red show bitch for sale. It was with that contact that I ended
up with my first Doberman "Sophie." Sophie was represented to be "show
quality" but I didn't know enough about the breed to realize that she was
not. At the time Michelle Santana lived near me so I contacted her and
asked her to evaluate Sophie for me. While Michelle was very kind, she
made me realize that Sophie would probably not become a Champion. At first
I was devastated but decided to train her in obedience instead. When Sophie
was 16 months old, I entered her in her (and my) first obedience trial.
I was such a Novice that I didn't even realize I was being called back
into the ring for a run-off! I thought the judge didn't like my last performance,
and wanted me to do it again. After the run-off I started to pack up and
leave when someone ran up to me and told me that I needed to go back into
the ring for the awards. It was then that I discovered that we placed FIRST
out of 43 dogs with a score or 198 ½!! We finished our CD in three
straight shows and ended up with a Dog World Award.It was several years
later that I heard that we had qualified for the DPCA Obedience Top 20.
We didn't even know!
Needless to say, I was hooked
on the breed. Dobermans had beauty and brains! Since I was never able to
show Sophie in conformation I went on a mission to find a nice quality
'foundation' bitch. After watching the Westminster Kennel Club show in
1989, I fell in love with a gorgeous red bitch named 'Indy'! I knew that
she was my 'ideal' Doberman and I decided that I wanted HER to be in my
new puppy's pedigree. After doing much research I decided to purchase a
bitch from Maureen Byrne (Patriot Dobermans) in Boston. I bought this puppy
sight unseen upon the recommendation of Gwen DeMilta. This puppy's name
was Patriot's Drums N Fife. Lexi was sired by Indy's son, Ch. Platinum's
Back in Black, CDX and was out of Ch. Dabney's Don't U Dare Trump v Aria.
Lexi became the foundation bitch of Windsor Dobermans.
Lexi did fairly well in
the conformation ring. She was handled by Linda Hoff on the West Coast.
When Lexi was almost 3 years old I decided that I wanted to breed her.
I chose the famous stud dog, Ch. Brunswig's Cryptonite. I spoke with George
Murray and sent Lexi to him prior to her coming into season. In doing this
I would enable her to 'settle in' as well as allow George to show her.
George put 9 points, 2 BOB's and a Group 3rd on Lexi. Lexi was bred to
Kafka and on July 19, 1994 she produced 6 puppies. Of those 6 puppies,
3 went on to finish their Championships. |
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They were Ch. Windsor's Dare
the Devil, Ch. Windsor's Don't You Dare, CD and Ch. Windsor's Dare Me.
One other littermate is pointed. The puppy that I kept from this litter
was a red bitch named Scarlett (Ch. Windsor's Don't You Dare, CD) whose
start in life was not good.
She was bitten on the lip
by her mother at 2 days of age, requiring sutures. Her nickname became
Scar Lip, but because that didn't sound like a name for a lady, it was
later changed to Scarlett. Lexi unfortunately produced no milk for her
litter, requiring us to tube feed the puppies. At 4 days of age, while
tube feeding Scarlett, we accidentally aspirated formula into her lungs.
She came down with pneumonia and almost died. I refused to let her die,
and I told my husband that if and when she survived, I would keep her.
I didn't care if she was the 'pick' or not. I didn't even care if she was
'show quality'. I just wanted her to live. Well, she did survive and I
did keep her! As Scarlett and her littermates grew up, their quality became
obvious. The first to finish from this litter was Ch. Windsor's Dare The
Devil. He was shown by Michelle Santana and finished his Championship at
2 years, 1 month of age. The two red bitches from the litter, Ch. Windsor's
Don't You Dare, CD, and Ch. Windsor's Dare Me, took turns in the ring since
they were both being handled by Linda Hoff. They ended up finishing their
Championships one week apart. They were 2 years, 3 months of age.
After whelping this litter
Lexi never really came back to 'show condition' so we decided to retire
her from the conformation ring with 9 AKC points. She was bred a second
and final time to Ch. Legend's Extravaganza v Deco. I had seen Chaos' photo
at 8 months of age and thought he was a knock-out. On Lexi's next season
she was bred to Chaos and on November 9, 1995 she produced 5 puppies. Of
this litter 2 puppies finished their Championships … Ch. Windsor's Moment
of Truth and Ch. Windsor's Truth Serum. All 3 of the remaining puppies
are pointed. One bitch had 7 points at 15 months of age before her owners
decided to spay her. Needless to say, I was devastated as she was such
a beautiful puppy. From this litter we kept the only male. This was not
something I had planned on doing, but he was such a beautiful puppy, I
thought 'why not?'. I told my husband that if we could keep this dog, he
could name him. I quickly regretted saying this, as he named him 'Boone'!
At the time, I hated the name. Boone took the conformation ring by storm,
and got his first points at 7 months of age. He finished his Championship
on his 2nd birthday. Owning Boone has been a wonderful experience. He is
a perfect gentleman, has never marked in the house, is great with other
dogs, kids and cats. His only vice is that he is a bed hog! Since Boone
weighs 95lbs., you KNOW he's there. Boone has been bred very sparingly,
and he has one Champion son. Owning a stud dog is such an awesome responsibility
and I want to make sure that the resulting puppies have the best start
in life. I don't want my breeding decisions to come back to haunt me in
the future, and I certainly don't want my bloodlines to appear in some
White Doberman's pedigree!
Our next breeding was between
Scarlett and Ch. Legend's Much Too Much v Deco. We were disappointed when
she whelped a singleton red male. On her next season we repeated the breeding,
this time via A.I. She 'missed' on this second breeding to him. She was
then bred to Ch. Cambria's Cactus Cash and missed. At this point I was
quite concerned about her possible 'fertility' problems so I decided to
breed her to Boone.
This time, she produced
4 puppies. One of these pups finished his Championship at 2 years of age.
His name is Ch. Windsor's Moment's Notice. |
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Since I now knew that Scarlett
could produce a litter I went on the hunt for a nice stud dog. I spotted
Ch. Marienburg's Repo Man at the Boston Nationals in 1999. I saw Mary Rogers
in the elevator, and briefly spoke with her about possibly breeding to
him. When I returned home from the Nationals I discovered that Scarlett
was already in season and my pet sitter had no idea when she started showing
color! After watching her for a day or so I came to the conclusion that
she was ready to be bred NOW! I called Mary and made arrangements to meet
her at her home the following evening. The timing must have been right,
as Scarlett presented us with 8 puppies on December 19, 1999. Three of
these puppies finished their Championships… they are: Ch. Windsor's High
Expectations, Ch. Windsor's High Five and Ch. Windsor's High on Life, CD.
to finish. We tried to breed Scarlett one last time to Ch. Cambria's Highly
Regarded, but she unfortunately ended up with life-threatening pyometra,
requiring her to be spayed.
We used this breeding to
Rayden for one of our other bitches, Ch. Windsor's Truth Serum. Lexus produced
5 puppies. One puppy is now almost 2 years old, and is close to finishing
her Championship. Sabrina won Best Puppy In Show when she was 10 months
of age… such an accomplishment! We hope that she will become our 10th Champion
soon.
Our latest litter is about
to debut at the 2003 Doberman Nationals in Colorado Springs. They are sired
by Ch. Perfex Cat O Nine Tails, CD and out of Ch. Windsor's High on Life,
CD. From this litter of four, three of the puppies look to be show prospects.
We hope the judges agree! We kept the only bitch, named Jordan. My co-breeder,
Sandy Svendsen, kept the pick male. We're anxious to see how they do in
the ring.
While we are not 'big time'
breeders, we feel that we offer quality dogs with superb temperaments.
Our puppies are raised in our home with our family. The pups are handled
from Day 1 by many different people, as I want them to become accustomed
to being handled by everyone. I am fortunate that I have a young son with
young friends! Our puppies have always been the best socialized puppies
around. Present at the birth of our last litter were seven of the neighborhood
children. They wanted to watch puppies being born. I am lucky that our
canine 'moms' allow this! By the time our puppies go to their new homes
they are 'bomb-proof'. Since they are exposed to the sights and sounds
of many children they are afraid of nothing! I also expose them to the
'everyday' sights and sounds of a normal household… vacuum cleaner, blender,
disposal, doorbell, etc. In addition to being raised with kids, they are
also raised with cats and a bird. They learn not to chase cats, and interact
very well together.
I am very fortunate to have
found wonderful owners for my puppies. I am very picky on where they go.
Unlike some breeders, I believe in helping 'novice' owners. In fact, my
best puppy owners have been novices. It seems that to novice people the
dog is a pet first and a show dog second. If for some reason the puppy
doesn't turn out I know that I don't have to worry about the dog being
returned several months later because he 'wasn't pretty enough'. Believe
it or not, that has happened to me! Of course, I took the dog back, no
questions asked. Although I placed him as a pet, I saw him 6 months after
he was returned to me and I think he could have easily finished his Championship.
I am so lucky to have remained friends with my puppy owners and I am in
contact with most of them. I am thrilled beyond words to have found such
a wonderful breed and such wonderful people! |