Our first cavalier sighting was back in 1985 and this was just a picture on
a plate of a beautiful 6 month old tri-colour female owned by Gloria
Watkins of Castlewood Cavaliers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I was
actively looking for a family pet and wanted it to be a companion lap dog.
One glimpse of this darling looking dog was it for me. Even though I
didn't know what breed she was, I just knew that that was exactly the dog
for me (in fact, she ended up with us 2 1/2 years later). We very quickly
determined that we wanted a "show quality" pet. Harry's show debut
happened soon after our second cavalier and was one for the "books". We
were sooooo green, both in knowledge of shows or anatomy of dogs. Harry
had a difficult time finding testicles on a six month old puppy (there were
none!!). His confusion came about because there was some swelling due to
his persistent exploration. To make matters more embarrassing, his fellow
RCMP officer buddies came down to observe. Totally to their amusement,
they determined that Harry must be some sort of pervert.
Even though we raised four girls (one still at home); none of them have
followed in our footsteps. Daughter number two showed an interest in
handling when she was about 10, but that only lasted a couple of years.
Daughter number four made her debut in pee-wee handling at just under four
years old (another story for the books) but never continued. We are among
the fortunate ones in that both Harry and I are avid/active cavalier
fanatics. I prefer to focus on learning about health, nutrition and club
administration duties, whereas Harry prefers showing and studying
pedigrees. Harry is a peace officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and has been for thirty + years. I am sort of semi-retired but do contract
work for various police agencies. Contract work enables me to stay home
most of the time. One of my greatest passions is as a volunteer for our
national breed club's mitral valve disease study. I am currently the
chairperson of our health and education committee. I have been on this
list for about five years, with fluctuating participation :) and have
learned so much during that time - about people generally and specifically
and about our breed. I recommend it to all who will listen. We have
recently (last five years) developed the desire to travel down into the
U.S. to view the cavaliers at the ACKCSC Specialty Shows and one CKCSC-USA
Show. The purpose was to meet people and put names and faces together and
of course to see more cavaliers!
Pat Barrington - Barrington Cavaliers (Southern Ontario-Canada)
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