December 31, 2011

We close out the year with birthday greetings to the puppies from our very first litter, sired by Bart (Ch. Rysan's Just For Me) out of Mika (Ch. Daytime Destiny's Red Moon CGC).  Happy 7th birthday to Bucky, Dylan, Toby, Max, Emmy, and our own darling Charlie.  They will always be extra special.  It's hard to believe that, in dog show parlance, they are now veterans. 

The Lee family dogs celebrated with special treats.  Birthday cake will come with Mika's birthday at the end of January.

Here's a photo of Charlie taken during the summer, demonstrating that typical Welshie "Joie de Vivre."

December 22, 2011

Here's a recent photo of Archer with one of his girls.  Archer has lived with his new family for almost 5 months and is very attached to them  It's been a good match.

November 9, 2011

I received this beautiful picture of Bonnie, Destiny's Love Me Tender, taken after the freak nor-easter that brought down so many trees on October 29-30.  Bonnie is from our Elena x Bart litter.

August 7, 2011

Archer is settling in with his family.  As you can see from these photos, he's enjoying life with his new girls!  Thank you so much to the Schrameks for taking Archer into their home and their hearts.

 August 1, 2011

Archer left yesterday with his new family -  mom, dad, and two daughters.  It looks like he will receive lots of love and attention in his new home.  His stay with us was shorter than I had anticipated, but when I met them I knew they would give him a wonderful home.

Archer was as sweet and handsome as I expected, and he fit in well with our dogs.  His mom, Mika, especially liked him, but then she has always been fond of boy dogs!  Tony took lots of pictures of Archer and the other dogs playing outside yesterday, and we'll post a few as soon as we can.

July 18, 2011

Below are two additional recent photos of Archer.  He has a beautiful face and such loving eyes.  Archer will come to us on July 29.  We hope to find a new family for Archer soon, so that he can have a smooth transition to his new life.

 July 18, 2001

Meegan's owners sent news and photos.  Meegan is Destiny's Dream Today, from the Mika-Morgan litter (hence her name).  Lisa reports that they were canoeing with Meegan on a New Hampshire lake, and a woman exclaimed "That is the most beautiful dog I've ever seen."  She then turned to her friend and said, "I don't know why I said that, because I don't even like dogs!"  Meegan has her own castle, built by Darryel to play on in her yard.  Thank you Darryel and Lisa for giving Meegan such a wonderful home.

 
July 15, 2011

A big thank you to Peggy for the new photo of Emmy, Destiny's Moon Garden, below.  Emmy is from our first litter, sired by Ch. Rysan's Just For Me (Bart) out of Ch. Daytime Destiny's Red Moon CGC (Mika), and a full sister to our Charlie.  She is pictured below swimming in a lake - usually she gets to swim in the ocean near Gloucester, MA.  Peggy reports that someone recently stopped her on a walk with Emmy to say that Emmy looked regal and should be a show dog.

 June 21, 2011

We celebrated Elena's 10th birthday on June 12 - naturally, we had cake, which Elena thoroughly enjoyed.  She knew she was special that night.

Finally, I have photos from the National Specialty show in April, of Elena competing in the Veteran Sweepstakes class for 9-11 year-old bitches.  She had a great time, especially when, while we waited our turn, I asked her to perform her favorite trick - "Spring!"  (She is, after all, a Welsh SPRINGER!)  These photos are courtesy of Susan Willingham.

Looking up at the judge

Gaiting back to the judge

Photos above Susan Willingham 

Smiling for the camera

June 10, 2011

We had a great visit today with my friend Julie and her Welshies, Ch. Statesman's Crafty Admiral RN CD (Skipper) and 5-month-old Statesman's Awesome Hero (Chauncey).  Skipper came for grooming, while Chauncey got to "practice" being groomed.  Chauncey is so cute that I just want to scoop him up and smother him with kisses.  We didn't want to overwhelm them with all of my dogs, so we introduced Mika and Holly.  The boys and girls hit it off immediately, Mika and Skipper playing and teasing each other, while Holly buddied up with Chauncey.  I'm looking forward to seeing Chauncey in the show ring next month.

May 30, 2011

Pictures have arrived of Remy, Destiny's I Have A Dream, from our second litter, by Morgan x Mika.  Remy has quite the talent for climbing trees (a skill he shares with his half-sister Harper, Destiny's Lemon Drop).  Like most Welsh Springers, he also enjoys swimming.  Thank you to Ryan and Moira for giving Remy such a wonderful home and the opportunities to do the things that dogs love best!

April 24, 2011

The Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America's annual national specialty show weekend has come and gone, complete with friends, food, fun, and flooding!  I entered Elena and Holly, and we traveled to Harrisburg, PA.  A friend from Virginia who is a long-time Welshie owner joined us, and we had a wonderful time.

We arrived on Thursday, April 14, in time to observe the spaniel hunt test.  It was exciting to see the dogs work and do what they were bred to do.  Elena, Holly, and Lily had to settle for watching.  You could see it in their faces that they really wanted to flush those birds too!

Friday offered a supported entry with an entry of some 90 Welsh Springers.  Holly was 4th in a large and competitive bred-by-exhibitor class, even though she made it clear to the judge that she wasn't happy about him examining her.  When he gave me her ribbon, Judge Kenneth Clemons said that he really liked her and just to keep working with her.  Although I wasn't pleased with Holly's adolescent antics (I thought she'd outgrown those), I was very happy to hear his comments.

Elena and I competed in the Rally Novice A class, in hopes of gaining the third leg for her title.  It would have been nice to get the title on the day of the specialty show, which was Saturday, but our trainer extraordinaire, Tibby Chase, was the judge, so we could not compete under her.  Elena won the class with a score of 96 and is now Ch. Daytime Destiny's Elena RN CGC.  I'm very proud of her and her willingness to work with me and desire to please.

On Saturday I showed Elena in the veteran sweepstakes class for 9-11 year old bitches.  She placed third and showed as well as she ever has, if not better.  She thoroughly enjoyed the applause that everyone gave to the veterans. Holly's bred-by class had even more entries and she didn't place, but she behaved better.

At the end of the day, as we prepared to leave the building, we were met with the announcement that we had 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot before it flooded.  There was already a lot of water to drive through, and we drove the 10 miles to the host hotel in a driving rain.  The power at the hotel went out during the club's annual meeting and banquet, and the staff held flashlights over the buffet table so that we could make out what we were going to eat.  The meeting was interrupted with word of a loose Welshie on the grounds (he had managed to open the door of his hotel room and let himself out, but fortunately his owner's other dog has done tracking and was able to track him in the rain); then by news that RVs at the show building were in 4-5 feet of water and the drains were causing flooding inside.  Next came the announcement that the Sunday and Monday shows were canceled.  We were fortunate to find our crates and supplies safe and dry on Sunday morning and had beautiful weather for the drive home.  We were disappointed to have the weekend cut short and missed seeing and saying goodbye to several friends, but thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

March 20, 2011

Holly took Winners Bitch today at the New England Sporting Group Association show in Fitchburg, MA, for a 3-point major win.  She now has 13 points and both majors needed for her AKC championship.  Just 2 points to go!  Her win photo can be found on Holly's page.

February 8, 2011

Destiny's Beautiful Symphony, "Beedle," has a new sister, Bryn, who was bred by Susan Healy of Gingerwood Welsh Springers.  Cathy reports that Beedle likes her, but she cries when he steals her toys.  I guess Beedle thinks he's still the boss.  Beedle is from our Morgan-Mika litter and lives in Alabama with his other Welshie sister, Bet.

January 25, 2011

We celebrated Mika's 9th birthday with birthday cake for both humans and dogs, albeit just a bite for the dogs.  (Can you tell we are family that likes an excuse for cake?)

I took pictures of all 4 dogs seated at the table.  When I lined up the chairs, Mika immediately jumped up and took her seat, as if she knew exactly what we were doing (and this was before I put the cake on the table).  I'll post photos as soon as I have a chance to load them.

Mika is in great shape for a senior dog, with very little gray on her face; her son Charlie at 6 has more gray than she does.  She has a great appetite and shows no signs of arthritis.  She still does her leaps when she's excited - I call it her rearing-pony imitation - and still wants her belly and ear rubs.  We think Mika is a happy dog: frequently throughout the day, when she's lying around the family room with us, her tail begins to thump.  If I say "Wag, Mika, wag!" she thumps even faster.  When she's excited she makes cooing noises, like a dove.

Below is a photo I came across recently of Mika's sire, Prince Hamlet Ruby of Rwyn.  We see a strong resemblance between father and daughter.

 Hamlet

January 21, 2011

Another round of belated birthday greetings go to Beedle, Archer, Meegan, Blue, Remy, Tess, and Gwyn, born on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 16, 2006.  They are sired by Can. Am. Ch. Alzahna's Morgan Silverstone out of Ch. Daytime Destiny's Red Moon, CGC, our beautiful Mika. 

Photos of Max have been added to the Photo Gallery 2011.  Thanks to Kathy for sending them.

Elena's photograph from the American Spaniel Club has arrived.  In the ring, she wasn't nearly as serious and I wasn't nearly as relaxed as we appear here! 

January 19, 2011

We are very proud of our daughter Caroline, who was awarded the William Pferd III, Jr. Scholarship by the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America for her activities in the breed!  Caroline has devoted many hours to training Holly for conformation and agility.  She has also helped steward in the obedience ring at the American Spaniel Club and the Pioneer Valley Kennel Club shows.   Caroline put four championship points on Holly, including a major win.  They will resume agility classes as soon as Caroline's band activities allow

In show news, Holly took Winners Bitch and another point at the second Lowell Kennel Club show in Fitchburg on January 15.  Her next shows will be the New England Sporting Group shows in March.  She has ten points toward her championship and needs five more, with one major win, to finish.

A belated happy birthday to Charlie and his littermates Bucky, Dylan, Toby, Max, and Emmy, who were 6 years old on December 31, 2010.  For Charlie and our other dogs, the preferred party activity involved chewing fresh beef marrow bones.  The humans decided to pass on a birthday cake, given the amount of holiday eating we had done!

January 14, 2011

I'm long overdue in updating the website, but the dogs have kept me busy, not to mention the holidays.  Today I showed Holly at the Lowell Kennel Club show in Fitchburg, MA, where she took Winners Bitch for one point.  Judge Patricia Mowbray-Morgan complimented her movement.  Holly has really begun to move out in the ring, and I have to be fast to keep up with her.

Last weekend we went to King of Prussia, PA, to the American Spaniel Club show.  This show is usually the highlight of our dog showing year.  We get to visit with old friends and new and see some of the best Welsh Springers in the country.  Elena competed in Rally Obedience and won her Novice A class with a score of 98.  This is her second leg toward the title.  Just one more!   Holly was 4th in a large bred-by-exhibitor class, which pleased me because of the depth of quality in the class.  I also attended a Welsh Springer breed seminar, which was ably given by Meghen Bassel of Statesman Welsh Springer Spaniels.  This is my fourth or fifth seminar and there is always something new to be learned.

New photos of Emmy, "Destiny's Moon Garden," have been added to the Photo Gallery.  These were taken during the warm weather last year.  They make me long for this cold winter to be over.