The saying goes.....Pretty
is as Pretty does.......and "Pretty" does very well. As
appropriate as they are for this bitch, those words were borrowed from
my "other life" with dogs, and from a very dear friend and mentor who
taught me so very much of what I know about showing dogs. Way back
when I was breeding Toy Poodles, one of the top specials bitches of the
day belonged to Carolyn Brown of Velvet Poodles;
her name was Ch. Syntifny's Velvet Vamp, or "Pretty" as she was so
fondly referred to. And while I never intended to name this last
daughter of Revlon after a top-winning toy poodle, she came by her call
name exactly as her poodle namesake did. Every time I'd look at her as
a puppy, all I could say was "she's pretty". After weeks and weeks of
repeating that, I finally gave up and named her Pretty. Just as
Carolyn had done a lifetime before.
I had never intended to breed
Revlon this last time...........she was well up there in age and
certainly owed me nothing. But after repeated false pregnancies, I
just couldn't risk her health, and knew she had to be put on the table
one last time to be spayed. So, faced with that, I decided that it
wouldn't be all that more complicated to take puppies out at the same
time, along with her uterus. For her "swan song", I bred her not to a
Jack Russell, but to a stunning red Lakeland dog bred by Dessi Mackin,
Cuchulann's Mick.
I was smitten with Mick when I hunted with him in Nebraska just two
short days after he came to this country from Ireland; Mick worked a coyotein exceptional fashion........I was amazed at how well this big red
dog worked a strange quarry in a strange land, in temperatures that
almost did all of us in! He had proven himself to me beyond
question. Mick was also the type I favor; he was basically just a red
version of Bear not only in looks but in hunting style. So, I took
the plunge and on July 21, 2004, Revlon gave me two beautiful Russell
bitch pups. Nothing like ending a breeding career on a high note!
While crossing Russells to the
Fell and Lakeland types might seem to some to be a "departure from the
norm", it's really anything but. Terriers have been bred for hundreds
of years for working ability...........putting good worker to good
worker, regardless of color or breed. Tag and Sailor, the cornerstone
sires of my lines today, were both predominately white Lakeland dogs,
not Jack Russells. When I made the decision to put Revlon to Mick, it
was with a very distinct purpose, not just to "go against the grain",
because I had nothing better to do in my life! In my opinion, there
never has, nor will there ever be, another bitch of Revlon's caliber.
My goal is to try and preserve her line and her type; the most efficient
way to accomplish that goal is to linebreed. But every breeder who
utilizes linebreeding knows, that every once in a while, you have to go
out in order to come back in again. By putting Revlon to a red dog,
in Pretty I now have the outcross blood I need to come right back in to
these linebred Revlon grandsons, Phoenix, Sparky and Grumpy George.
Crossing Pretty to any of these males will give me a pedigree that is
21% Revlon! And for me, that is the point of the drill! Sparky has
already been bred to Pretty's littermate Moth, and with the very
predictable results I expected to get. Puppies that look very, very
much like Revlon, and one in particular that is the
second comingof Revlon's dam, old Jazzie!
There's a reason why we say "look to the grandparents"!!!
Pretty was very much her
mother's daughter from the get-go.......just in a rough version.
She literally would take my breath away each time I looked at her.
I was pinching myself for weeks after these two bitch pups were born,
not quite believing I could have been that lucky!
Like her mother, Pretty never really had an "ugly" day..........unlike
most puppies who have the usual growing pains, this bitch just shone no
matter what day it was or what age she was. Just as her
mother did. She has done just about as well in the
conformation ring thus far as her mother did; she has numerous puppy and
adult championships and reserves to her credit. And
quite a few puppy racing championships as well! Pretty is
also showing good promise in the field...........having incredible drive
coupled with her mother's excellent nose. She earned
her NHC to groundhog in October of 2006, which opened the door for her
to walk away with the title of 2006 JRTCA National Working Terrier
Champion!!! Nothing like ending the season on a high note! She
has Revlon's elegance, while also taking the best from her
sire..........that incredible harsh Lakeland coat, that breathtaking
clean front, and movement that makes your heart skip a
beat.........maybe two.
I couldn't be happier with what
I got from this "final" breeding decision on Revlon. Pretty is
everything I had hoped for in a bitch and more. Her littermate
Moth is almost as nice, but
favors the Lakeland more than the Russell type. Moth initially went
to live with Jose Rico, but has recently "come back home" to Iris at
Lost Acres, which is probably where she always
belonged. Pretty has proven her mettle in the field and in the
conformation ring, and it would seem as though she's also following in
her mother's footsteps as a producer. Her daughter Sow's Ear Smudge,
by Bear, captured the title of JRTCA National Puppy Champion at the 2008
Nationals just a few hours before her mom went on to her second
National Working Terrier Championship! More
proof that an outstanding brood bitch is the cornerstone to any
successful breeding program. And Pretty seems to be providing a
rock-solid foundation so far, thanks to her mom!
2006 & 2008 JRTCA
National Working Terrier Champion
