Mid-Spring Up Date
April 27th 2005

      How exciting it is to see our top, older  dogs finish out their show careers with well-deserved AKC championship titles and then to have our youngsters take off where the older dog's journey ended. Experiencing Maya's and Dakota's recent back-to-back wins and titles was a thrill beyond words or descriptions, yet right at their heels we have the new wave of young dogs making a name for themselves.

     On March 13th, 2005 as the new champions, Dakota and Maya were being crowned, Chambrays Out Of The Ruff (Hogan) was serving notice that he had arrived. The day that Dakota earned his official lifetime-designated title of Am/Int Ch Chambrays Right On Target, Hogan was awarded the runner up ribbon of Reserve Winners Dog to Dakota's 4-point major Winners Dog. Witnessing the event was a tremendous joy for me, as the judge pulled out Dakota who had won the Open yellow Class and was  handled by my wife Johanna and then he pulled out Hogan, who had won the 6 to 9 Month Puppy Class handled by my 15-year old daughter Jessica.

     Compounding the dilemma was the fact that  I was handling the Open Black Class winner, Carmay's River of Dreams, however it soon became evident that the real competition for the points was between Dakota/Johanna against Hogan/Jessica. Wow, what a position to be put in as a breeder, husband and father! Which to you root for, the top dog or the up-and-coming youngster.

     The older dog represents the established program, now into its 6th generation that has been responsible for a Florida record-setting 19 owner/handled, bred-by Labrador Retrievers champions. While the youngsters represent the future direction of the Partners Program for the Betterment of the Breed.

     I should be so lucky to have such a dilemma more frequently, for how could I lose? No matter which dog wins, as a breeder I win. To have such a validation all in one day's worth of showing, Winners Dog with the old guard and Reserve Winners Dog with a member of the new wave of dogs, PRICELESS!

     To prove that Hogan's win was no fluke, he was to be awarded another Reserve Winners Dog to a 4-Point Major the following week also. Hogan, now 8 month's old is from the Am/Int Ch Carmay's Ruff Around The Edges to Danjacs Carissa breeding, which produced several outstanding show prospects.

     The first member of the new wave of youngsters to win points thus far has been 1-year old Carmay's Duststorm At Chambray (Dusty), with a 2-point Winners Dog and Best of Winners at the St. Pete's Dog Show on April 2nd.

     Coming close to pointing was 16-month old Gateways Talk Of The Town (Gabby) with a Reserve Winners Bitch to a major. Gabby has been moved up to the Am-Bred class to make way for Chambrays Princess Kaeti to compete in the 12 to 18 class.

     Competing at the top classes are 3 more youngsters, one is Danjac's Steppin Out At Carmay (Duchess) at 2 years of age, who has a 3-point major to her credit and shows out of the very tough Open Yellow Class. Carmay's No Alibi at 22 month's of age competes out of the Open Black Class and her littermate Carmay's River Of Dreams with 4 points competes out of the Open Black Male Class.

     The only veteran of the entire 2005 spring lineup is Hyspire's Gateway Major Chord (Cori) who is handled out of the Open Yellow Class. Cori who came into the Partners Program from Gateway Labradors is now 5 years old and currently has 9 points.

    Picklecreek's Slapshot (Duncan), who is owned by Alan Cohen (Panthers Hockey team owner) will debut at the SFLRC's 4th specialty in May and also at the Boca Raton Dog Shows the same weekend. Duncan will show from the 9 to 12 Class. Joining Duncan and Hogan from the 9 to 12 Class will be Chambrays Diamond In The Ruff (Beach Boy), Hogan's littermate. Hogan and Beach Boy's sister, Chambrays Summer Arrogance has been showing from the Bred By Exhibitor Class and will resume there in the summer when she matures a bit more to be able to compete against the older females in that class.

     Winquest-Chambray Donna Gia and her sister Winquest-Chambray Onyx van Dalen will be representing the 9 to 12 class until summer when they turn a year old and both will go into the 12 to 18 class. Both girls have done well from the puppy classes and we expect both to be competitive as they develop.

    The new wave of youngsters now showing will have new members join them in August, as Chambrays Excalibur's Rock (Am/Int Ch Chambrays Chisholm Sir Lancelot X Mar-Moyes All Dolled Up ), born in January and several outstanding show prospects from Geraldo's breeding from Am/Int Ch Surry's Obscured By Clouds bred to BISS Ch Lobuff''s Bobwhite at Chucklebrook, will make their debut at Tampa, at the only August show in Florida. Among these puppies will be WinQuest Chambray Some Like It Hot (Sammy), co-owned with Jessie Peeples, Winquest Great White Wizard (Gandalf), co-owned with Laura van Dalen and another bitch puppy co-owned with the breeder, Geraldo De Souza, all will make their debut at the Tampa August shows.

Watch for our next update, "End of Spring Update" at the end of May.

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