the top producing stud dog for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997. Inevitably, he had a profound impact on what kind of dogs breeders produced that used Butch. Margery Cook of Bugle Bay Bas- set Hounds remembers Butch’s influ- ence on her own breeding program: “Butch was the sire of Ch Bugle Bay’s Praline TD. Kicker was the sire of Ch Bugle Bay’s Amaretto CD TD ROM. Both of those girls are behind what I am showing now—Ch Bugle Bay Hot Cakes TD, Ch Bugle Bay’s Bundt Cake CD TDX, GCh Bugle Bay’s Cherry Cherry and Ch Bugle Bay’s Crunchy Granola. Cherry and Granola (Nola) are presently learning how to track and are good at it. Both of [Bette’s] boys [Butch and Kicker] had a big influence on the current dogs in the ring now. One of the most memorable girls was Ch Bugle Bay’s Pepsi… she looked very much like Kicker and had him behind her. She had type galore and she wiggled her way into everyone’s hearts.” Sharon Calhoun of the By-U-Cal Bas- sets notes that her entire line of dogs comes down from her breedings to Butch. Her top current top winner, GCh By-U-Cal’s Monkey On The Bayou, is no exception. Butch is his great-great grand sire and his great-grand dam was Butch’s daughter Ch By- U-Cal’s Sugar and Spice. Obviously, Ch Hiflite Briarcrest Extra Man has established a legacy of outstanding Basset Hounds. When he died in March of 1999, Knox and Bette mourned his passing deeply, but they did know that their beloved compan- ion had made an important contribu- tion to the breed. His prepotent influ- ence as a “genetic giant” continues on right up until today and into the future. Although Knox Williams has left us, his widow, Bette continues to remain active in the Basset world and treasures the memories of Butch and all of his wonderful descendants. CH SANCHU’S GINGER Kitty and Chuck Steidel began a small Basset Hound kennel in 1968 in Pennsylvania. Even after buying what was purported to be a show quality Bas- set bitch, Kitty refrained from showing and spent two years of intense study of the breed instead—wise choice! Her bitch might not have been truly
show quality, but she was bred well. From what Kitty learned about genet- ics, structure, movement and pedigree research—she was ready. She utilized a link in her bitch’s pedigree to a prepo- tent sire, Ch Abbot Run Valley Brassy, and bred the bitch to his grandson, Ch Bruet’s Taste of Brass. From this breed- ing came the first homebred and han- dled champion, Sanchu’s Bagatelle. While attending shows, Kitty found the Tally Ho dogs of Ann Jerman (Long Island) most impressive. She loved the beauty, balance and effortless movement of the Tal E Ho dogs. Because her Baga- telle had similar bloodlines in her pedi- gree, Kitty mated her to Ch Tal E Ho’s Prancer. Prancer was heavily linebred on Tallyrand Lynette, Abbot Run Valley Brassy, and further back, on Lyn Mar Acres bloodlines. Kitty had observed Prancer and his offspring in the ring and believed him to be prepotent. Based on this premise, the Steidels later pur- chased Ch Dan D Gimli of Sanchu, a double Prancer grandson. This dog had incredible balance, a great topline and that special, fluid movement. By working within these blood- lines, Sanchu developed a strong bitch line—another very wise decision. The best and most successful kennels always strive for such an outstanding, prepotent line of bitches. From this line of Sanchu bitches emerged two National Specialty BOS winners: Ch Sanchu’s Baguette of Margett (1984), co-owned with Mary Smizer and Ch Sanchu’s Kizzy, co-owned and bred with Mimi Tyselling (1990). Also from this line was a National Specialty BOB winner, Ch Sanchu’s Hot Toddy (1993). As Kitty remembers, “Hot Toddy was a show stopper!” On a judging assignment in Argen- tina, Kitty spotted Ch Raspor’s Tiger Black and knew she needed this dog in her breeding program. His bloodlines were similar to her Sanchu dogs, but it was his phenotype that screamed ‘take me home with you!’ He had a phenom- enal temperament, level back line and the smooth, effortless movement that brings chills up a breeder’s spine. Tiger Black came to the US and hap- pily bred Ch Sanchu’s Tabasco to pro- duce the sire of Ch Sanchu’s Ginger, Ch Sanchu’s Double Tai d’ Tiaben. This dog was tightly inbred, so to ensure genetic diversity, Kitty outcrossed him to her
Ch Sanchu’s Hot Toddy winning one of her many Bests of Breed. Photo by Callea.
Kitty’s find in Argentina, Ch Raspor’s Tiger Black, shown winning the breed at the Lompoc K.C. show. Photo by Warren Cook.
Ch Sanchu’s Fuzzy Navel Maredge (sired by Ch Sanchu’s Synergist). Although this mating did not contain a com- mon ancestor in the pedigree, Ginger’s inbred sire had passed on to his daugh- ter some rather powerful, dominant genes, evident in her phenotype. When bred, Ginger then passed on these pre- potent genes to her own offspring that uniformly resembled their dam. When asked if she specifically bred for Gin- ger to be a prepotent producer, Kitty replied, “One always hopes to develop prepotency over time… but no, we did not think in those terms at the time.” As a young adolescent, Ginger showed great promise, but Kitty faced a dilemma. She could no longer balance judging, giving seminars for the PBGV and BHCA clubs, writing and raising lit- ters of puppies. Kitty had entered Gin- ger in the 9 to 12 months class at the 1998 BHCA National Specialty—Gin- ger’s first show—but had a handler show her, because as a Hound Group judge, Kitty thought it inappropriate to person- ally show her own dogs. Watching from GINGER GOES TO TOPSFIELD
32 • S IGHT & S CENT , A UGUST 2015
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