BREEDER INTERVIEW WITH DOUG & KAY BELTER MAJESTIC ENGLISH COCKER SPANIELS
Your English Cockers are widely known, highly successful, and well respected. What breeding philosophies do you adhere to? Always stay true to type, good temperaments, and health! We are also very discriminating as to which dogs we will breed. Like others, we may finish dogs that we later place because they do not pan out to be strong enough to play a role in our breeding program. A good rule of thumb we also stick by is if a dog is not good enough to win at a specialty, it is likely not good enough to be a significant part of our future breeding program. How many dogs do you typically house? Tell us about your current facilities and how the dogs are maintained. We currently have seven English Cockers. With Doug’s client dogs, we usually have a total (including our Cockers) of 20 to 25 in our care. We have a couple of permanent housepets, and the rest of the dogs reside in the kennel. We built our house and kennel our- selves, so it is set up nicely to provide a great living/exercise space for the dogs. Our property is located on eight beautiful, private, wooded acres in western Michigan. We also have four employees who work regularly when we are home or on the road. They all help to manage the day-to-day care and conditioning of the dogs.
BISS CH Prydwen Canterbury’s Taffeta – the foundation of Majestic ECS
BIS NBISS GCH Majestic’s Keeping The Drama
MBISS GCHS Majestic She’s Got Whatever “It” Is
How did you transition into professional handling? How are you able to balance the commitment to a breeding program with your pro- fessional handling obligations? Doug: After a short break from shows as a Junior, I went to the US to work for the two handlers I mentioned earlier. I then returned to Canada and showed as a professional there before meeting Kay and moving to the States in 2003. Kay: Actually, I am not a professional handler, just married to the best! I am currently a hospital floor Registered Nurse. For me, it is challenging to balance work with getting to shows. We share the responsibility of whelping and raising puppies. Doug and I are a great team. Often with puppies, Doug may be home to whelp the litter. I arrange my work schedule, so I can stay home to care for them while Doug travels to shows.
BISS CH Majestic’s Bring “It” On – a very significant sire for our line.
62 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 2024
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