OK, here's my life story: I came to Cavaliers the hard way. Never had any pets while growing up but I always wanted a dog. When I was 12 my dad brought home a Lab X and he was to be my dog. The dog (between 1 & 2 yrs. old) was grateful to my dad and always was his dog although I was allowed to walk him. On my own at 17 the first thing I did was buy a dog at a petstore. This was in the early '60s and I'd never heard of breeders. Yes, I worked but as long as you have your priorities straight, you can make it work. That little black Cocker Spaniel was fun and easy to train and the love of my life until my first husband gave him away (notice first not present husband).
I remarried and realized my dream of having and showing a Great Dane. She was wonderful but started limping at 1 yr. of age. Vet diagnosed HD. Breeder insisted confirmation at vet college. Vet college diagnosed trauma. Found out later second (not present) husband had hit her with a big stick. Terri died at 7 of CHF and since I was now a single mother of 4, purebreds were out of the question. Remarried at 40 to present husband who adopted all kids as his own. Oldest daughter has always done most of the showing and now we were ready to start with purebreds again. Husband nixed giant breeds and wanted something small. I wouldn't consider a small dog (they're all yappy?) so settled for Golden Retrievers. Husband discovered Cavaliers at a show and the rest is history. Daughter continues with GRs but we have slowly phased them out. The last one died at almost 13 just this past January, of cancer. It took a year to find my first Cavalier since I wanted a show potential bitch puppy. Someone eventually (June '86) entrusted me with that special girl Cristy (of Homeranne/Homerbrent import lines) who was actually Edv's dog and mostly she hated to show. It was her attitude that often defeated her at the shows. When she decided to show she would go BW over specials but these times were few and far between. She finally finished her championship at age 5. We lost her at age 13 to cancer. Her son was our first home bred champion and is still doing well at 11. Most of our dogs in some way go back to Cristy through her son Dani. I never had a mentor since Cristy's "breeder" decided she was too busy and we ended up with Cristy's parents as well. Had to learn everything the hard way with Cavaliers but having the GRs and doing all the health testing on them meant I was ready to do the health testing with Cavaliers as well. In this province we don't have the specialists that some of you are so blessed with. Our opthalmologist recently retired but still does clinics so eye testing is difficult but not impossible. The GR club holds a heart clinic every year (imports a cardiologist from Oregon) in February which makes it possible to do hearts without breaking the bank. My husband and I work in construction. We have kennels permanently installed in the truck. The dogs take turns (weather permitting) going to work with us and on those days get 3 walks with some training mixed in. Walking puppies around construction sites with all the attendant noises makes them practically bomb proof by the time they hit the show ring. Well, that's the way I got here and one thing is for certain - Cavaliers are here to stay. I keep saying I'd like to have a second breed but I just can't find one I like as much as the Cavaliers. -- Brigitte Falch Kibergo Cavaliers Reg'd Maple Ridge, BC, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://alescosys.com/kibergo For the life of your dog - FASTRACK - now available in Canada ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
