~ About Ailea's Place ~
The name, Ailea (eye-lay-uh), is an original name derived from the Celt-Gaelic word "aila," which means 'little light bringer.' The original meaning of this word expresses my Life ideals to a great extent, and the modification I made by adding the 'e,' and intending the 'e' to be an additional syllable, the word sort of makes a nice melody sliding off the tongue, don't you agree?
The first time I did a "Google" search on my kennel name "Ailea" I brought up links to my own pages, of course, but I was also shocked to see other items came up as well - references to an Hawaiian name of "Ailea" as well as oil paintings by an artist depicting mermaids in the deep, one of which was named "Ailea". The domain name of simply "ailea" (as in ailea.com) was not available to me, nor is a vanity license plate with simply "ailea" available in my state of North Carolina, both of which I found to be very interesting, indeed! If I have offended any in using what I believed was my own created word, I apologize. Mine was truly what I thought a unique variation of a lovely word I stumbled upon in a very old dialect of the inhabitants of north-western Europe.
Nestled in the heart of the Carolina pines in Chatham County, North Carolina, Ailea's Place, a 5-acre tract in the midst of hundreds of acres of pine forest, began as a very small dream that slowly began to take shape. Borne of a love and affinity with dogs in general and shelties in particular, Ailea's Place has grown in my heart and encompasses nearly everything I am. While I do enjoy a passion for daylilies (please take a walk through my Daylily Garden!), the dogs are my life. Though my numbers are few, the shelties have such a special place and purpose. . .
In the beginning...
The
shelties started coming to me in 1993, initially in the form of
Buddy,
a little tri dog belonging to a new friend of mine. She asked me to help her
work
with him first in puppy obedience, and then breed handling class, and the spark began. Shortly after meeting Buddy, it came
to pass I met
Noella, an unassuming bi-black girl
who stole my heart and which I was able to acquire from a sheltie breeder with promises
of great breeding potential.
Pictured at left is that unassuming bi-black girl, Noella, shortly after arriving at my place at the age of 6 months. She was one of the sweetest, gentlest souls I have had privilege to know, but was not for breeding, I soon found. She was never shown or bred, and was spayed and placed as a much-loved companion in a young home by the time she was 18 months old. It is there she lived and loved the remainder of her days, passing over to the Rainbow Bridge due to multiple organ failure at the young age of five and a half years, a very sad day for the many who knew and loved her.
Noella was never shown and was never bred, true, but she contributed very much to my early introduction into shelties, as I soon grew to realize there was much I needed to learn. I read. I trained and showed Buddy, and began to study pedigrees. I pored over pedigrees - mountains and mountains of them! and started buying up ASSA Handbooks, old Pacesetter and International magazines, reading, studying, and learning. I was HOOKED and immediately knew I wanted to breed and promote these wonderful creatures - the *right* way.
Shortly after Noella's arrival I acquired two more sheltie girls (Miss Kitty and Rookie), and Ailea Shelties was born. Miss Kitty was bred to Ch Crystalove Camouflage, a "Peerless" son, producing for me a litter of very flashy blues, out of which I retained - and bred - a lovely, vivacious blue bitch, Dawn. Dawn, in turn, was bred to a Far Out Frisco son (thanks to Gillian Kent of Ontario's Ishmael, her co-owner at the time, and Jo Anne Pavey, Whitegates, in Ontario!), and gave me Willie, who is pictured at right at about 18 months of age. Happening about mid-way between the very beginning, and the present day, Willie shows marked improvement over Noella and was one of those extra-special boys everyone lives to be loved by.
When Willie was 18 months old he was entered in a specialty match sponsored by the Charlotte sheltie club. Match judge was Susan Wolf, Cub Hill Shelties. When Willie's turn came she studied his outline on the table and proceeded to his head, which she examined and went over and examined again, for a full three or four minutes alone! We came off the table and did the go-round, taking first in the class. We then waited anxiously for the judging to conclude. When all was said and done, Ms. Wolf pronounced a blue bitch, "Katherine" (now well-known as BISS CH Sunway Chartin Unforgettable, CC) with the winners' ribbons, and my Willie with Best of Opposite Sex. What an honor, and I continue to thank Susan for such an awesome recognition of my beautiful boy.
Willie did not go on to pursue his ring career (it was just not meant to be), and I was forced to forego my interest in the Banchory pedigrees - for whatever many different reasons, they simply did not turn out as I wished and expected they should - and so my eyes turned a different direction.
Miss
Rookie, a lovely bi-blue hailing from such roots as CH Macdega Proof
Positive, ROM and CH Banchory Deep Purple, ROM, was acquired shortly after Miss Kitty came to live with
us
and was bred to
Ch Cub Hill Banker's Hours, a wonderful dog out of a combination of CH Macdega
Proof Positive, ROM and CH
Sunnybrook's Heritage Spirit, ROM. This litter
produced a blue bitch that was then bred to Ch Bare
Cove Keep On Tri'N, UD, a CH Alfenloch Whirlwind, ROM son, producing a blue bitch that was then bred to Can Ch
Bonnyville Fairfax Nighthawk ROM ROMC, another CH Alfenloch Whirlwind, ROM son, producing what is now my tri-color girl,
Onyx,
who is pictured immediately above left, as she appeared in the early
spring of 2003 at just under three years of age. Rookie has become the
foundation of everything that is Ailea today, and Onyx, Rookie's
great-granddaughter, is what is now left to carry on in whatever capacity
she may readily - and perfectly - fill.
Though Onyx exhibits a definitely different type of sheltie from Willie, she is a gorgeous, plush bitch and has proven herself very well in the whelping box. At her most elegant maturity now at just under five years of age, Onyx is presently recovering a litter of puppies born in June, 2006, waiting while I decide exactly what it is I wish her do next. Onyx has more than proven her worth - in the whelping box - but going beyond that I am at present uncertain. She certainly does "her thing in the ring" with the same quiet dignity she exhibits doing anything else.
Ailea's Place is very small and few in number, and has taken a few years to stand alone. Those years (numbered now in the 'teens) are not marked with many litters of puppies for which to take credit, nor finished champions whose accomplishments Ailea might flaunt, but this means very little to the big picture, for despite our lack of proliferate breeding and far-flung success Ailea has come a long way from that sweet, unassuming bi-black bitch, Noella, and the rest, as they say, is history -
Despite where we have been, and where we may yet go, I suppose most importantly of all, Ailea's Place is MY place - a home of love, compassion, understanding and respect for shelties and all animals alike; a place where information is always welcomed and always available to those who ask; a place where anyone can sit and receive the boundless and unconditional love of these mighty hearts we call shelties. What more could anyone need or desire?
I hope you enjoy your visit to Ailea's Place!
Please feel free to e-mail Amy with any questions or comments