"RedBitch Rose" came to me in October of 2004, from the Cuchulann
working kennels of Dessi Mackin in Ireland. I had hunted with
one of Dessi's dogs in 2003, and told him at that time I just had to have a
nice red bitch. So when he came to U.S. Nationals in 2004, with him came
this gorgeous red bitch pup whose sire
Teddy is one of the top winning Lakelands in
Europe. This bitch pup was everything I had hoped she'd be, and more.
She certainly made quite the impression on everyone who saw her at Nationals
that weekend! Naturally the burning question was "what to name her", and
as we were standing around looking at her during the day on Sunday,
discussing names, my son Mike chirped up, "Well, if I had a
red bitch, I'd name her Rose." After I finished choking on whatever it was
I had in my mouth, I said, "That's what we'll name her! RedBitch Rose!!"
And what makes it even funnier is that it was Mike's wife Rose who actually
came up with her registered name, Cuchulann's Wild Irish Rose.
Fortunately, Rose has had a good sense of humor about this whole name thing!
Rose is an incredibly strong bitch;
her bone and substance are unbelieveable. Her movement is breathtaking;
she can cover ground like you can't believe, and her head is about the
strongest I've ever felt or seen! Her coat is absolutely to die for;
harsh, wiry and unbelieveably easy to maintain. This coat is what's
referred to by the English terriermen as "a proper jacket". Rose has lovely
angles, that gorgeous clean Lakeland front, and probably the best feet I've
ever seen on a terrier. Her temperament is outstanding; she gets along
with everyone, and is an incredibly sweet girl, accepting anything that's
thrown at her.
The fact that Rose is out of a
Russell bitch really gives me a lot of flexibility for breeding her. I'm
sure at some point the temptation to breed her to a white-bodied terrier is
going to be too great to resist. But there are some cracking colored dogs
about these days, and I'm excited about the prospect of a colored litter!
For the foreseeable future though,
the plan is to get Rose out in the field this season to see what her hunting
abilities are going to be like. She's very keen on the squirrels and rats
she's been worked on; in typical Lakeland fashion, she's fairly quiet and
very methodical, having but one thing in mind: eliminate the quarry
ASAP! She's made pretty short work of the quarry she'd had a go at
so far! I'm hoping that she'll make as good a draw dog for me as Bear has
over the years. He's getting up there now, and it's time for me to start
looking for another big, hard terrier to replace him. My next one just
might be red!
Working Fells and
Lakelands
