Showsight - April 2022

TOY GROUP BREEDERS Q&A

“Cavaliers are ‘love sponges,’ wanting to please and be loved. They are happy-go-lucky and want to snuggle ninety percent of the time! We feel the best owners are the ones who can give the Cavalier the TIME and LOVE the breed needs. If he will be home alone the majority of the time, I would suggest getting another dog.”

In our opinion, is our breed in good condition overall. Any trends that warrant concern? Overall, the Cavalier is in good hands with our multiple preservation breeders who take care to breed healthy, happy Cavaliers and who actively participate in the ACKCSC and CKCSC for the betterment of the breed. I think we all can do better on front assembly of the Cavalier and on the rears. Additionally, the Standard calls for moderate, moderate, moderate. The trend seems to be over-coated, which is not in the Standard, along with a long cast, slightly bigger Cavalier rather than the compact, cobby Cavalier. Is our breed well-suited to be a family dog? Who are the best can- didates to own our breed? This breed is known as the “companion” breed. Cavaliers are “love sponges,” wanting to please and be loved. They are happy-go-lucky and want to snuggle ninety percent of the time! We feel the best owners are the ones who can give the Cavalier the TIME and LOVE the breed needs. If he will be home alone the majority of the time, I would suggest getting another dog. Do we feel that our breed is supported by a sufficient number of preservation breeders? Yes. In the UK, in particular, and here in the States, there are several preservation breeders who breed exceptional Cavaliers; in health, in temperament, and to the Standard. They breed selectively and with care. They place their pups selectively and with care. I commend them. For a bit of fun, what’s the most amusing thing we’ve ever expe- rienced with a Toy Dog? Sharon was helping a handler friend show Chihuahuas for the very first time. Sharon was told, “Don’t look her in the eye” and “Don’t bend down in front of her, pick her up from the side.” Needless to say, she was initially a whirling dervish going around, but she finally settled. She ended up going Breed under Steve Keating, and our handler friend got BOS. He looked at Sharon and said, “You weren’t supposed to do that, I needed to win Breed!” SHEILAWYMORE Where do I live? Howmany years

Which show dogs from the past have been my noteworthy win- ners? We are very proud of the second litter we produced, two males/ two females, all champions. The female we kept, GCH CH Coach- light Aff-ter A Bad Hair Day (Fizzy), was BOS at the Affenpinscher National Specialty in 2011. Her sister, GCHB CH Coachlight’s Afternoon D’lite At Black Forest (Ella), was Select Bitch, and her brother, Coachlight SCF I’m Finally Ten (Digit), was RWD. The following day at the supported show, Digit finished his CH title by going WD, Fizzy was Select Bitch, and Ella received an AOM. It was a good weekend! Which have been my most influential sires and dams? Fizzy was bred three times to three different sires with differing bloodlines, and consistently produced quality puppies. Her grandchildren are following in her footsteps genetically. Her son, GCH CH Coach- light Aff-ter The Man In Black (Cash), has been used selectively and produces lovely heads/expressions and good Affen coats. Can I talk a bit about my facilities? Where are my puppies whelped? How are they raised? Next to the master bedroom we have an enclosed sunporch that was turned into an office/dog room, with dog doors to the outside exercise areas. Those Affens who do not share our bed sleep in crates in the sunporch, and the Affs also keep me company while I am at “work” on the computer. As I am still active in the national Dalmatian club (DCA), the Dalmatian Foun- dation, and the Affenpinscher Club of America, as well as volunteer treasurer for our local historical society, a lot of time is spent in that sunporch under Affen supervision. I try not to trip over the dog beds. I have always felt that new mothers need to feel safe and secure, so we have them whelp their puppies in a size 200 or 300 covered airline crate, which gives them the “den” feeling that mother nature builds in. This crate sits smack dab in the middle of my couch/recliner, and I sleep with the mother and pups for the first two weeks after the whelping. An alarm gets set for every hour and a half to two hours so that I can keep a lookout for struggling puppies and prevent prob- lems before they develop into life-threatening situations. You will also find me there during the day as I have the luxury of being retired and can spend extra time monitoring mother and babies. During the ten days to two weeks prior to eyes opening, the pups are handled regularly according to ENS (early neurological stimula- tion) suggested movements, as well as having weights taken twice daily and toenails clipped weekly. Once the puppies are up on their legs and ready to leave the “den” to eliminate, we remove the top of the crate and move the bottom portion to a pen with a papered area on the floor that is right in the middle of a traffic area between the living room and the kitchen, so they are in the center of all family activities. We have the luxury of being able to section-off rooms so that the pups are able to get out and explore beyond the pen. What is my “process” for selecting show puppies? At what age do I make your decisions? We watch carefully from the start, looking first for that sparkling, go-get-’em attitude that makes a good show dog. We look for the pups who come to a “dead stop,” standing four- square. As they reach eight weeks, we look at coats, eye color, “lip,” and the square outline called for in the Breed Standard.

in dogs? How many years as a breed- er? I live in Cottonwood, which is located in the Verde Valley of cen- tral Arizona. I started with owning, showing, and breeding Dalmatians in 1972 and have been “doing” dogs ever since; Dalmatians since 1975, although we retired from breeding them in 2000. We fell in love with Affenpinschers while we were still

showing/breeding Dalmatians and we have owned/shown at least one Affen at a time since 1990. So, it was easy to transition to Affens when we could no longer run around the ring with a Dalmatian. What is my kennel name? How many dogs do I currently keep? Coachlight (obviously a holdover from Dalmatian days) is my kennel name. Many of our Affens are registered as “Coachlight Aff-ter...” We now have seven, ranging in age from 6 months to 13 years.

182 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2022

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