Chambray Labradors proudly presents a Masterpiece In The Making

A Masterpiece Emerges

 (Originally published to the website in 2009)

How often have we heard that “a picture is worth a thousand words”?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a “masterpiece” worth; is that like worth a million words?

Well, we have our very own masterpiece picture in the making, even if the picture is not yet completed we get
a glimpse of something really special in our midst as new brushstrokes are added as time/effort graciously allows.

The title of our yet unfinished masterpiece is
BIS AKC Ch/BIS Int. Ch Chambrays Out Of The Ruff CGC TDI NJP (Hogan).

A thousand words are not enough to accurately describe this wonderful dog and his contributions to the betterment
of the breed. Volumes of words and multiple prefixes and suffix abbreviations do not adequately portray his accomplishments and his contributions to our Labrador Retriever Owners, Breeders and Exhibitors Community
and to all those outside our network that have realized his value to the breed and have used those tremendous assets
in their own breeding programs.

What more can you say about a dog that has done it all in a relatively short period of time, in less than five years?

What accurate accolades are befitting of this most loving household companion that is also the first-ever
AKC Best In Show winner for Chambray Labradors, an accomplishment that only a few other Florida-bred
Labradors can lay claim to.

A Best In Show for a Labrador comes along once in a rare blue moon at the all-breed dog shows, so much so
that I have only ever personally witnessed one since 1986 and that was in December of 2008 at the
Greater Miami Dog Show and my daughter Jessica Herzon was at the end of the leash teaming up with
Hogan to make history for Chambray and for all Labradors as well.

Regarding that last statement, keep in mind that Chambray Labradors has been showing dogs since 1986,
becoming the winningest Labrador Retriever breeder in Florida with a state record 22 bred-by champions
and dozens of nationally top-ranked Labradors in that two-decade plus span of time and yet had never won a
Best In Show before that fateful day. Of course, keeping everything in the right perspective there weren’t
many other Florida-bred Labrador Retrievers that had won a Best In Show in that same time span. So the accomplishment of a Best In Show for a Labrador Retriever is indeed rare to say the least.

Hogan’s latest adventure in Agility in May of 2009 with his owner Rosie Feeley earned him his first agility
title of Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP), and to top it all off he did it by taking a first place in the undertaking!!!

While such an accomplishment assuredly does not compare to a Best In Show win, it does present us with another masterful brushstroke to the prettiest picture ever to materialize from our kennel.

Our breeding program is solidly built on producing the absolute best in conformation for show competition,
yet the first and foremost consideration for a candidate to be considered as either a stud dog or a producing
dam is temperament!

Temperament is one of the hallmarks of the breed as taken verboten from the written standard.
It is the first thing I consider when selecting our next generation of wonderful Labrador Retrievers.

The following was “lifted” directly from the AKC website under Dog Breeds.

True Labrador Retriever temperament is as much a hallmark of the breed as the "otter" tail.
The ideal disposition is one of a kindly, outgoing, tractable nature; eager to please and non-aggressive
towards man or animal. The Labrador has much that appeals to people; his gentle ways, intelligence and
adaptability make him an ideal dog. Aggressiveness towards humans or other animals, or any evidence of
shyness in an adult should be severely penalized.

This passage describes Hogan to a T. His gentle ways, intelligence and his adaptability make him an ideal dog!

“Priceless” as the now famous commercial states, yes indeed “Very priceless!”

Let’s take a look at that emerging picture still in progress and see the versatility of this dog that comes
together with all the desirable attributes that have the makings of a great foundation dog.

First and foremost, keeping true to our working credo, his temperament as a family dog emerges as the
poster boy for the breed. Lovingly raised with total freedom in the Feeley household, he has been the
perfect gentleman for his family. He has shared his domain with several other dogs that have come for
extended visits including his littermate sister, Summer that enjoyed a 3 month layover with the Feeley family.

For the last year he has been sharing his home and family with his daughter, Hanna that has become the newest permanent addition to the household and with both Summer before and Hanna now he has been the ideal host.

In addition Hogan’s owner Rosie Feeley has been taking on our partner’s dogs for conditioning,
socializing and show training, most recently Little Bella (WinQuest Silver Lining) one of Hogan’s
daughters owned by Geraldo DeSouza.

His daily outings, now going on 7 years to the community dog park amidst an assortment of other breeds
is a testament to his temperament as the standards calls for non-aggression towards other animals.
Keep in mind that the other dog owners all allow their dogs to run loose on these premises, so imagine
a pack of friendly full-grown dogs romping at will and nary is a growl heard. Priceless indeed!

For nearly 2 decades the AKC has been the front runner in all matters concerning dogs and the part
they play in society. They initiated the Canine Good Citizen Test (CGC) to identify those dogs that have
the social graces, obedience training and desired temperament to be considered a good citizen when in public.
At an early age, Hogan earned his CGC passing all 10 items before an AKC qualified evaluator; further
evidence of his trainability, adaptability and great temperament, all those qualities described by the
standard for the breed.

To solidify his purpose as a well-socialized dog, Rosie Feeley went further and trained him for therapy work
and eventually Hogan was evaluated by a certified Therapy Dog Int. evaluator and he passed the tests that
are designed to prove that he can contribute to that sector of society.

Lately he has been contributing his services as a “reading dog” to dozens of children through a special program sponsored by the Boynton Beach Library System. These are special remedial reading programs where
children interact with dogs by reading to them, where in most cases these same children would not read
out loud to their teacher or to other children. The program is aptly names "Read To Hogan".

The gem in this temperament scene is the fact that he has been chosen by the New Horizons Service Dog
Organization to procreate for their breeding program and as our part in the contributions to the breed and
to society; his services have been provided free of charge to this organization.

Temperament: Mission accomplished!

Our major consideration when selecting any dog for breeding is conformation as this is the main criteria
used in our field of competition at the dog shows. Conformation determines how well the dog compares to
the written standard for looks. If a dog is supposed to be a Labrador Retriever, he must look like one and
not remind us of another breed. There are identifiable characteristics for each breed that identify that dog
as being of that particular breed. There are dozens of attributes that are outlined in the standard that dictate
how the dog must look.

At the dog shows, knowledgeable AKC-licensed individuals are hired by the host dog club to act as judges
for each breed. It is these individuals that determine the best examples of the breed and award them placements
and points that eventually lead to champion’s titles. Hogan’s accomplishments at the dog shows, be it AKC or International shows, proves beyond all expectations his worthiness as being top conformation.

He holds the Chambray record for most Best Of Breeds, which is the top award from each breed competition.
He also holds the record for the most Group 1 wins, which means that he has won more Sporting Group
competitions than any other Chambray dog before him.

His greatest accolade came on December 2008 when he became the very first Chambray dog to win an
AKC Best In Show. A Best In Show is every Labrador breeder’s dream come true, a dream that the
majority of those breeders will never realize, so difficult is it for a Labrador Retriever to win over all the
spectacular breeds that compete at the an AKC all-breed dog show. For a Labrador breeder a Best In Show
would be the ultimate “feather in the cap” to a long, successful, winning breeding program if the event should
ever happen, with Hogan that feather in the cap has been realized.

To make that dream even greater, it was a Labrador breeder judge that gave him Best Of Breed and a
Group 1 that would send him in for the final judgment of the day, the Best In Show competition.

Conformation: Mission accomplished!

Our third very critical consideration when breeding dogs is to make sure that their health and soundness
are the very best that it can be so that they may pass on to their progeny the best chances of them being
healthy and sound. Hogan’s health/soundness credentials are as extensive as his accolades in the show ring.
His webpage at www.chambraylabradors.com/Hogan.htm lights up like a Christmas tree with all of the
clearances, tests and evaluations that have been performed to determine his soundness.

Soundness and Health: Mission accomplished!

There is a 4^th very intangible criterion that remains to be discussed and this is not covered by the breed standard,
in fact it is such an elusive quality that very few breeders ever have the opportunity to deal with it. It is the
proverbial icing on the cake to all of the aforementioned qualities of temperament, conformation and soundness,
it is something called prepotency!

Prepotency as described by Merriam-Webster Main Entry:

 Main Entry:

pre·po·ten·cy

Pronunciation:

pre\-ˈpōt-^ən-sē\

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural pre·po·ten·cies

:Unusual ability of an individual or strain to transmit its characters to offspring at a higher degree
because of homozygosity for numerous dominant genes.

The reason most breeders never have to deal with this most awesome and greatly desirable characteristic
is that the majority of dogs that have great temperaments, great conformation, pass the battery of health
and soundness clearances invariably lack the ability to pass on those great attributes on to their offspring.

Thus they lack prepotency and eventually become all show and no tell, their genes fizzle out and their contributions
to the breed end as soon as they retire or are too old to show because they do not possess the prepotency to pass those great qualities on to their progeny.

This certainly is not the case with Hogan as his offspring have taken off in every area of desirable traits imaginable.
He has passed on his ideal temperament to all of his progeny with each new Hogan sired puppy owner singing the
praises and providing glowing testimonials about their puppy’s perfect example of the breed temperament.

At the conformation venues his offspring have dominated the wins in Florida since the first of them emerged as
puppies at matches and then on to the show circuit at multiple registries and show event organ.

Updated to 11/25/2011

• 4 AKC Grand Champions

• 6 AKC Champions

• 4 Triple Registry Champions, AKC, UKC and IABCA

• 17 AKC champion-pointed kids.

• 2 champion-pointed granddaughter & grandson & both Best Of Breed winners

• 7 AKC Best Of Breed winning offspring

• 17 IABCA Best In Shows winners

• 24 IABCA International champions.

• 5 UKC Best In Show winners

• 10 UKC Champions

• 3 Field Trial JH

Prepotency: The rarest and most elusive of all missions, accomplished with more to come!

Each and every one of these offspring that burst forward with successful ventures in different areas of competition
add yet another masterful brushstroke to the emerging picture that we call BIS AKC Ch/BIS  Int. Ch Chambrays
Out Of The Ruff CGC TDI NJP.

What does the future hold for our boy Hogan?

We now sit back and enjoy his offspring in the ring as they dominate the wins in Florida at the AKC, UKC and International IABCA shows. Yes, now we sit and watch as the masterpiece takes on new nuances with each dab
of paint added to the ever growing canvass as we all are treated to a much bigger picture in the making!

In the mean time he is enjoying his primary role of the ideal home companion with his owners Rosie and
Bill Feeley and of course to his constant canine companion, Hanna his daughter.
What more can you ask of a dog?

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AKC BIS Ch/Int Ch Chambrays Out Of The Ruff CGC

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