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Masquerade is the newest addition to the bitch lineup
here at Sow's Ear. While she "looks" like the
classic Sow's Ear type, oddly enough, she's pretty much a total
outcross to most of my bitch line. And with a
breeding program such as this that utilizes close linebreeding
pretty consistently, outcross blood in bitch form is invaluable
indeed! Especially since this little bitch is exactly the
type that I strive to produce. And because she
herself is linebred, being the product of a
half-brother/half-sister mating, the hope is that she will be
able to reproduce her own type. But the best
part is that she can easily be bred to just about any stud dog I
have, including Bear.
Masquerade has far exceeded my expectations thus far,
not only in the show ring, but far more importantly, in the hunt
field. She has incredible drive and focus, and I
can't remember anything being this good and this hard, this
young since Tick! Her very first time out in
the field at 9 months she managed to more than impress two
veteran English terriermen, and that's not an easy thing to do!
And she continues to just get better. To watch her
at barely 11 months old work, draw and dispatch a fairly good
sized teenaged groundhog despite taking several good bites was
a thrill indeed. Hard, yes.....but smart about it as
well. Which is exactly how I like them!
Needless to say, she earned her working certificate in fine
style, working a chuck about half again as big as she is, with
an attitude that matched his size! She took a couple of pretty
good bites, but never quit. Even Bear had his work
cut out for him when he finally managed to draw the chuck out.
Her performances in the show ring to date have been
every bit as impressive. At barely 4 months of age,
and much smaller than anything else in the classes, she managed
to go Reserve Best 4-6 Month Puppy under Sandra Ferber in
December of 2003. She has continued her winning ways
all throughout 2004, usually managing to go pretty much all the
way to either Puppy Champion, Reserve, or at the very least,
Best Bitch Pup or Reserve. And at times, when she
does get beat out for the highest honors, it's usually
Phoenix in front of her!! And in her very first
outing as an adult, she managed to go Reserve Open Bitch from
the incredibly tough under rough bitch class.
Thankfully that class is now but a dim memory.....she's moved
on to the working class, where she placed second in a tough
under rough/broken class at 2004 Nationals at just a bit over a
year of age. And she has started 2005 off on the right foot
with a Working Terrier Champion win at Long Island, and back to
back Best Working Bitch and a Reserve Working Terrier win in
Connecticut.
This little bitch is about as balanced a dog as I have
ever seen since Riot; probably because she is so reminiscent of
Riot. Her head is as strong as they come on a bitch
and the resemblance she bears to her grandmother
North
Country Bailey
is incredible. She has an elegant swan-like neck
that flows beautifully into a perfectly angled shoulder.
Her topline is flawless, and she has that strong, well angulated
rear end that's so essential if a dog is going to be able to
cover ground. Her movement is nothing short of
absolute perfection, coming and going. Credit for that
flawless movement has to go to her sire,
Sow's Ear Captain Morgan
of
Jackat's She has
plenty of bone, and the icing on the cake is her harsh broken
coat that is almost nothing to keep up. In my
perfect world every coat would be exactly like hers!
Masquerade has blossomed
into every bit as lovely an adult as she was a puppy. I
couldn't be happier with her in the field; she is sensible,
steady and very, very focused. An absolute joy to hunt with.
I'm also just as happy with her as a producer. She whelped her
first litter by Phoenix on Christmas day of 2004, and all 3
puppies look to be very promising indeed. So far, this little
bitch has certainly exceeded my expectations in every
department, and I wish I had two or three more just like her!
Some of Masquerade's offspring
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