~ Ailea's History ~
A Photographic and Narrative Tale of Sheltie Love
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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. She and I became fast friends, and the spark that is the Shetland Sheepdog in me, began.
Shortly after meeting Buddy it came to pass I met Noella, an unassuming bi-black girl who stole my heart. She was offered to me, and I accepted, her breeder making promises of great breeding potential.
At left is that little bi-black girl Noella, shortly after arriving at Ailea's Place at 6 months of age. She had a sweet face and OK body, but the core of her - those things that make us who we are - was just not built for much stress of any sort: She was a somewhat fragile soul.
Bringing Noella home was a commitment to the Shetland Sheepdog, and I began to go about the business of learning about the breed, about dog shows, about grooming, about breeding, and everything else in-between. I read and I learned. I practiced. I trained and showed Buddy, and began to study pedigrees and type. I PORED over pedigrees - mountains and mountains of them! - and started buying up ASSA Handbooks, old Pacesetter and International magazines, attending matches and shows and reading and studying and learning. I was HOOKED and immediately knew I wanted to breed and promote these wonderful creatures the *RIGHT* way.
An end product of this education about Shelties, however, brought me to the realization Noella, though one of the sweetest, gentlest souls I have ever had privilege to know, was just not a bitch to be bred or shown, even if her temperament could have handled the stress.
So Noella was never shown or bred, but by just being the wonderful Sheltie she was she contributed immeasurably to my Sheltie education. And, being as she was my first Sheltie, it is because of her my favorite Shetland Sheepdog color, of all those possible, is the bi-black. I have always been a sucker for a beautiful bi-black.
Noella was sold as a pet with a young family when she was about 18 months old. It is there she lived and loved the remainder of her days, passing over to Rainbow Bridge due to organ failure at a much too young age of five and a half years, a very sad day for the many who knew and loved her. Noella is remembered at Sheltie Angels Among Us.
Not
long after Noella stole my heart and started the Sheltie fire in my soul I was fortunate to acquire
another Sheltie girl, a beautiful and striking blue merle, Miss Kitty, pictured
at right, and Ailea Shelties and Ailea's Place, were born.
Kitty was bred to Ch Crystalove Camouflage, a Ch Banchory Peerless, ROM son. This daring litter (blue merle x blue merle) produced for me a 4-puppy litter of very flashy blue merles - 3 lovely boys and a beautiful, vivacious girl. My first Sheltie litter was born, and not a double merle in the bunch!
As has always held true for most of my "first" experiences, there's a real, live Amy Story about Miss Kitty's litter and the day her puppies were born. Anyone interested is invited to read about The Fab Four.
I
kept the beautiful, vivacious bitch from this litter and she was named Ailea's
Heather Winona, "Dawn" (at left). It was not long before "Dawn" became
"Don-Don-Bay-Bee" and then "Dinga-Linga-Ding-Dong." Again, an
irresistible topic for a story, so If you're interested, I invite you to read
the tale of
Ding-Dong.
Dawn was placed under co-ownership with Gillian Kent, Ishmael, and was flown to Ontario where she was bred to Canadian BIS Ch Whitegates Beam Me Up, CD, CGC, HC, an Am/Can Ch Far Out Frisco, ROM son and Ch Banchory Peerless, ROM grandson. This cross between a "Peerless" grandson and a "Peerless granddaughter" was a beautiful plan! I cannot thank enough those who were responsible for making this litter a success, including Gillian, Dawn's co-owner at the time, and Jo Anne Pavey of Whitegates Shelties in Ontario, owner of the sire of the litter.
Dawn's litter gave me Willie,
Ailea Stardust of Ishmael, pictured at right at about
18 months of age. Willie comes in about mid-way between Ailea's earliest beginnings (little
Noella) to present day, and shows marked improvement over Noella. Willie was one
of those extra-special boys everyone loves to live with and lives to be loved
by.
The picture of Willie was taken when he was about 18 months old, after taking Best of Opposite Sex to Best in Match at a Sheltie Specialty Match sponsored by the Greater Charlotte Sheltie Club. Considering Best in Match went to Katherine, now widely known as BIS, BISS Am/Can Ch Sunway Chartin Unforgettable, CC, this was a huge acknowledgement of Willie's quality and it was a proud day for Ailea's Place, no doubt.
Not to be outdone by his mother or his grandmother, Willie has his own story to tell and I invite all to visit and read about Willie Willers.
Willie did not go on to pursue a ring career for several reasons, none of which could have been avoided or helped at the time, and certainly nothing that was Willie's fault! He was eventually sold as a pet, where he yet lives and languishes in the splendors of his new roll as a "show horse dog".
Enter Miss Rookie...
Not
too awfully long after Miss Kitty was bred for what would be my first Sheltie
litter, Rookie came to join my heart. Pictured left in the fall of her years, Rookie was a
lovely bi-blue girl hailing from such roots as Ch Macdega Proof Positive, ROM
and Ch Banchory Peerless, ROM. She was an awesome addition, bringing with her an
excellent - and elegant - type and structure which held through the several
generations coming down from her. I was grateful to have her and have been as
proud as possible of all she was able to give Ailea.
Part of the terms for my acquiring Rookie was a litter to be bred to Ch Cub Hill Banker's Hours, Keogh, an outstanding tri-color grandson of Am/Can Ch Macdega Piano Man, ROM and Ch Sunnybrook's Heritage Spirit, ROM, a wonderful pedigree and phenotypic cross.
Rookie's litter brought some lovely puppies, including a bi-black dog I kept for myself, and a bi-blue bitch that went to the co-breeder of the litter. Though my beautiful boy did not quite measure up, the bi-blue bitch did, and was subsequently bred to Ch Bare Cove Keep On Tri'N, UD, a Ch Alfenloch Whirlwind, ROM son. This cross produced a blue bitch I acquired on co-ownership, and SHE was bred to Can Ch Bonnyville Fairfax Nighthawk, ROM, ROMC, another Ch Alfenloch Whirlwind, ROM son. Rookie had become the foundation of everything that is or ever was Ailea, and it is that last litter which gave me Onyx, and it is purely through the offspring of that litter from Rookie, and the generosity of my co-owner, that Ailea's future was drawn.
Rookie lived a very long and happy life with us, and was the one Sheltie against which I compared each Sheltie passing through my doors since she joined the family. Sadly she drew her last breath in the early afternoon of August 15, 2006. She was aged 14 years, 9 months and 16 days, and I miss her desperately. She is remembered on Ailea's Rainbow Bridge Page.
Unwilling to give up on my quest for the Banchory pedigrees, I agreed to another co-ownership on a flashy blue bitch with a lovely pedigree very heavy on Banchory. I agreed to take Taylor (who we eventually dubbed "Tater Tot") on the condition of one litter to the co-owner's stud of choice, with one puppy back to her. The stud to which Taylor was to be bred was of a very similar pedigree as that of the two Keogh x Rookie litters, which would anchor an opportunity to cross, and then improve, the two bloodlines. See Taylor's page...
Taylor
arrived, and when she came into season was shipped back to the co-owner to be
bred. She returned soon after being bred and we settled in for the 63-day wait
for puppies. As the prospective "due date" drew closer, though I was
hoping for a smaller litter of maybe four puppies, I began to wonder if she
was going to blow up, she was SO pregnant!
As fates would have it, most of the Taylor litter went oversize. Those that stayed in size were either somewhat overdone, or just didn't make enough.
And yes, you guessed. There is a story about Taylor's litter, and you are invited to read An Angel For An Angel.
Taylor was a great deal of fun. She loved to play, and together with Willie fairly kept the dog toy basket strewn from one end of the house to the other. They played with each other, grabbing and running after and off with plushies, just as much as they chased - together - the ones the humans might throw.
Though nothing could ever compare to the imp that was Dawn, Taylor was smart and determined. Taylor would pull the corner of the table cloth so that whatever might be on the table would fall to the floor. She knew how to get into a can of nuts, and was known to unscrew the lid from a peanut-butter jar! Living with Taylor was like living with a raucous, devil-may-care clown!
I toyed with the idea of breeding Taylor again, but decided not. She was eventually available for sale as a pet, and lives yet today with her most awesome Senior Citizen best friend. It is hard to believe Taylor is 13 years old this year (2008)!
Dawn returned home from Ontario in the spring of 1999, and was bred a second time for a litter that failed terribly. I've heard time and again 'if you breed dogs long enough you'll see it all' and though I did not breed too many or too long, I can vouch for it- I have certainly seen my fair share of "hard luck"! Just like everything else whose tale bears telling, there's a story to be had about Dawn's last litter - Little Tara Puppy - and all are encouraged to read!
After Dawn's last litter I had to admit defeat. My beautiful Banchory pedigrees were just not meant to be and I was forced to forego my interest in them; for whatever of many different reasons, they simply did not turn out as I wished and expected they should - and so my eyes turned to Rookie and the contributions she had made and, through her offspring, continued to make.
Following several serious major health events which all occurred within 18 months of each other (beginning in November, 1999), I was simply never able to entirely recover from so much so fast. Capping my greatly reduced stamina and vigor were allergies which finally took me out. At the time I faced my allergist across his desk I was begging to keep the dogs but he said 'no.' I was found to be allergic to just about every pollen- and spore-bearing species in North Carolina, as well as house mites, house dust and dogs. Of all the things to which I was allergic, dogs, house mites and dust could be reduced to acceptable levels to avoid continuing and ongoing allergy-caused asthma attacks.
Dog numbers had to be reduced.
Dawn was sold as a pet to a great home in Atlanta; Willie was sold as a pet to a wonderful woman in western North Carolina; Onyx's dam was returned to her co-owner, and that left me with Rookie and Onyx, a Rookie great-granddaughter.
Though
Onyx exhibits a definitely different type of Sheltie from Taylor or Willie or
Dawn before her, she is a gorgeous, plush bitch, a beautiful culmination of my
efforts. She portrays the detail and balance of all the awesome Shelties
in her pedigree and is possibly the nicest of the litter.
What happened to Onyx?
It is a nearly unforgiveable misfortune Onyx did not get the proper socialization or training at the right time. She was, in fact, several years old before she would allow herself to be led about by leash- living at home with me a leash wasn't required and my brain was simply unable at the time to grasp those things she needed and I was not giving.
These circumstances were certainly not Onyx's fault, but all my own. At the time I was raising Onyx I was struggling to figure out why things weren't quite right about me, and it was during this time, finally, I accepted I had simply lost too much of me in all the major health events occurring in such a very short span of time. It is a difficult admission to make now, that I failed Onyx and others of my Shelties during this period of time. Trust me, it was harder still to be forced to realize the fact at the time. I would never have consciously neglected a dog, but neglect is exactly what I was guilty of. I have never been able to forget those many difficult months but I feel lucky to have finally arrived at the "knowing why" so I could place myself in the position of doing better from that day forward, one step at a time.
Though Onyx was bred subsequent to this overwhelming exodus of the Shelties in my life, she was bred under co-ownership and puppies were whelped by other breeders. For more than a year Onyx didn't even live with me, but was cared for by Kristy Pedersen, a friend and fellow Sheltie breeder who lives near me. I refused to give up Rookie. She was far too old to be shipped out to pasture, and besides, I couldn't imagine life without having at least HER around. My allergist reluctantly agreed providing I did not allow her in our bedroom, in my lap, and so long as I wore an appropriate dust mask at the times I bathed and groomed her.
I began receiving allergy shots, and admittedly my allergic asthma has, for the most part, been held at bay, but I still react if I try to bathe or groom Onyx without using a mask, and so it remains a permanent fact of my life- a life without Shelties.
It is sad to think Ailea ends here, with Onyx, now nearing 9 years old, living out the rest of her days as a spoiled and pampered pet, but I honestly do not see me getting back into breeding and showing. If the day comes my daughter, Sarah, decides she wants to take a hand in it then I would hope to be able to acquire Shelties going back to my Ailea pedigrees, from the handful of wonderful breeder friends who have taken a share of Ailea into their own breeding programs. Busy today with two young children and a full-time job, though, Sarah is not at all close to knowing what may lie in her future.
Ailea's Place was always very small and few in number. The years are not marked with many litters of puppies or finished champions, but this means very little to the bigger picture, for despite my lack of proliferate breeding and far-flung success Ailea came a long way from that sweet, unassuming bi-black bitch, Noella, and the rest, as they say, is history-
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Onyx, all dressed up and ready to show! |
