To give a little background, back in Venezuela, I used to show Shar Pei dogs (The wrinkled ones). I finished the first-ever Shar Pei champion in that country, but shortly after because of my father’s passing, I couldn’t continue to be active in the dog fancy. No more shows, no more breeding. I had to finish vet school. I had no time for any of that show stuff. 5 years passed, and with the deteriorating country conditions, I decided to move to where almost all my family was, Miami, Florida.

A couple of years after, I got Estela a two year old yellow Lab female. She came from somebody that could not keep her any more. Since 1989, all I wanted to have were Shar Pei. I wasn’t sure about this Lab girl. However, I said yes, and there she was, always wagging her tail, happy, barking, and digging holes! What a difference she was to my very well-behaved Shar Pei, but there was that something in her eyes, her expression, and her happiness that opened up my heart. The rest is history, and because I can’t have just one or two dogs, some time passed, and I had 5 females, and I was looking for a stud to sire my future litters.

In my research for a good show breeder, I got a name and a phone number from a local Labrador breeder, Andy. Andy used to talk about this other Labrador breeder as being a very knowledgeable person that would always be willing to help him. I called this breeder one afternoon, his name, Sandy Herzon. After a few moments of conversation, I was impressed enough to look into what he had to offer.

I went to Sandy’s Thursday night classes, with my Shar Pei Sophia. My memories about the shows took over my mind. I felt I was in the right spot. I wanted to go back to the shows. I wanted to go back to breed my own litters, and like most breeders, go after that perfect dog that has never and will never exist.

Some time passed and Sandy sent out an e-mail offering 4 males for placement from his “development program”. There was “Ace“, a two year-old yellow Lab male. I saw the pedigree and a couple of pictures from his parents. Trying to pick up my jaw from the floor, I called him and told him that I wanted him. With such a pedigree, I was going to get him, no matter how he would look or act. A few hours latter, I had my beautiful gentleman “Ace”, Chambray Criteria Continuator in my kennel. I became an addict of the Thursday night show training classes. I would take Ace and Miracle, another of my Shar Pei. I started sending both of them out to the shows with the Herzon team handling, and shortly after, Ace was INT CH Chambray Criteria Continuator and Miracle had 10 AKC points towards her AKC championship and her INT Championship too. Yes, Ace also sired my litters, and from those litters I kept 4 girls, Chancy, Molly, Abby, and Rolly. I knew at that point that I was very, very far away from getting my first show litter, so I had to either, continue on and on improving my existing lines for many, many generations or purchase some show quality females, and start all over again on the right foot. Well, I decided that I was going to do both, and at the end maybe all the puzzle pieces will come together as a nice picture.

I talked to Sandy about getting a show quality female. I got Onyx, a beautiful black puppy from Ch Ghoststones Louie Downtown bred to Int Ch Blade N Bays Spice girl Affair, a breeding from the Partners Program and today that puppy is INT CH Winquest-Chambray Onyx van Dalen.

After getting Onyx I knew about another excellent champion to champion breeding that Sandy was participating in with another of his partners, Am/Int Ch Surry’s Obscured By Clouds (Bella) bred to BISS Ch Lobuff’s Bobwhite At Chucklebrook. Well….from there came Gandalf, the most impressive yellow male puppy around. Until the moment that I picked him up at the farm, I was trying not to get too happy about this Bobwhite-Bella purple collar puppy. I couldn’t believe I was actually being given the opportunity to take this puppy! At that time, I did not understood why Sandy was letting this puppy go. Why is he letting go the potentially best male he has ever had on his hands? Well, I think he really believes in his partners program and placing only the best puppies with his partners and with others that want to improve. Gandalf is developing into an impressive adult male, as impressive as he was as a puppy.

In the mean time, I bred Ace’s daughters to two studs from Sandy’s partners program. From these breedings I kept two puppies, “Go-Dah” from the “Chancy“ to Int Ch Carmays Duststorm At Chambray breeding (Dusty) and “Sushi” from “Molly“ to Int Ch Carmays River Of Dreams (Rivers). Two awesome girls, I’m not afraid to say now, two show quality Labrador puppies. My first-ever bred show quality puppies. Ha!……..Yes, I know, They are more Chambray than van Dalen, and hopefully they’ll produce puppies for the Chambray partners program, as well as Onyx and Gandalf.

I know I have a way to go, but when I look at my dogs I like what I see, and believe me, I’ve done that in record time, what for most breeders would take many years to accomplish. I have no other to thank than Sandy Herzon and his family for all I have accomplished so far, and I hope, despite the distance, we can still work together for his so called “betterment of the breed”.

Thank you Sandy, Johanna, Jessie and Ryan.

Laura