|
Use the IWS
Dog Names on the left hand side to navigate their
web pages
1998
was to see the start of a new era for Tirriki.
Several of our oldies had passed over, and it was
time to seriously consider putting in place a
long-standing dream to import a dog from Ireland.
We had expected that this would be a project taking
some years to bring to fruition, taking into
consideration waiting for a suitable litter and the
time necessary to comply with quarantine
requirements.
The
original plan was to bring in a bitch to be mated by
AI to Champion Tirriki Shawn O’Finigan ET, Bianca’s
first IWS, and a son my first girl, Champion
Rawdonred Penbracken RTQC, FTQC, CDX, ET. We had
been researching dogs from overseas for some time,
and still leant towards importing from Ireland, or
at least England. Contact was made with Emer Mooney
whose dogs I had admired for some time. Fortune was
on our side, as Emer had a litter. However, there
was no bitch available. Reluctantly Emer agreed to
let us have one of the two boys that she had been
running on. Yehudi of Currabell, Casey,
joined us late in 1998.
I
had an older bitch, Ch Tirriki Maeve O’Shawn ET. A
litter by Casey to her would be our only opportunity
to combine the old with the new. It was not to be.
Maude absorbed the litter and she was subsequently
spayed. It was time to reassess our plans and our
aspirations to move the breed forward in our
country. We felt that it was perhaps time to look
overseas for a bitch that would be compatible to
Casey and restart our lines from scratch.
In
1999, while in Edmonton visiting Elaine, we
contacted Colleen McDaniel. It transpired that the
following weekend the Irish Water Spaniel Club of
Puget Sound was to be conducting a match, obedience
trial and CGC test. The McDaniels graciously opened
their home to us. The club members also made us
most welcome. It was at Whistestop that we were to
meet our beautiful Aislinn and her breeder, our
great friend Nancy Wiley. American Champion
Mystic Tirriki Aislinn T’Oz arrived home in
2000.
The
combination of these two outstanding Grand Champion
Best in Show winners has produced a litter of
exceptional quality. Casey, Ash and their progeny
have seen the Irish Water Spaniel acknowledged at
both Championship and Open Shows more consistently
than ever before in Australia.
We
have semen from multi Best in Show winners stored as
a future investment for the breed. The occasional
litters we breed will bring together greats from
around the world. Thank goodness for modern
technology, understanding veterinarians and their
staff, and of course, the breeders and owners of the
outstanding Irish Water Spaniels who have so kindly
encompassed our aspirations. We are particularly
indebted to Emer and Nancy. They played a
major part in our successes and we thank them for
entrusting Casey and Ash to us.
The
failure of 3 AIs to our bitches meant a further
reassessment of our plans. Once more fellow
breeders came to the fore and with the help of
Colleen McDaniel (Whistlestop), Greg Siner (Pooles
Ide) and Nancy Wiley (Mystic), the
#1 Spaniel (Irish Water)
AKC TopDogs 2007 American Champion Whistlestop’s
Special Agent AM CD AMRN Am CGC,
Gibbs, arrived
April 2008. Gibbs was bred to Bianca’s Grand
Champion Tirriki Carragh O’Casey and produced
Bianca’s phenomenal HOT CHOCOLATE litter.
We
are justly proud of Casey, Ash, Gibbs, both our
O’Casey litters and the new kids. The future looks
extraordinarily bright
|
