Tragic news

I must post on the passing of Francois last month. It was a tragic accident and he was so young, his owner Deborah Nieborg of Holland, and the whole Shannon Down family still morn the passing of this youngster who had so much life.

BIF winners!

We have two new Best In Field winners in the past month of so. Mya finished her AKC FC a few weeks back and the following day, her first time running in FCh, she won BOB and went on to win BIF! (Her sister Layla finished her AKC FC that same day) Then the other weekend Cricket won her first BIF up in Canada and is currently the #1 Whippets in CSFA!!!! Way to go girls! Cricket and Blair are pictured after winning BIF!

Monty

Got a new picture of Monty the other day - littermate to our Brooks, Leigh & Scarlet from Sweet Pea's first litter sired by Blaze. He looks so happy! I can't believe they are 7 years old now, time flies.

Nigel news

Nigel won his first AKC Ch. point today by going Winners Dog and Best of Winners under judge Mr. Frank McCartha in Deland, FL! Way to go Nigel and Emily! Good luck in juniors today!

Anna pregnant pic

Here is Anna, taken tonight - at just over 4 weeks pregnant. She's growing by the day, actually more like by the hour. I'm scared....

BIG news

Well, it's time to announce it since we have confirmed the news today. Anna is pregnant by Tigger. Anna was accidentally let outside with Tigger (Tigger was hiding) when she was in season, day 10. He bred her and the tie broke before 2 minutes was even up - well we took her in for an ultrasound today and though she counted THREE times, she counted THIRTEEN puppies each time. So it looks like we are going to have a very large litter mid October. I am working on making a litter page for them now to get the news on the website, but here it is. Anna will be a momma again in October and it looks like she's quite the brood bitch carrying huge litters - her first litter being a litter of 12 (11 surviving).

Krys

Weekend news and titles

It was a great debut weekend for two wonderful girls in Antioch, IL. Aesa - from the Bosley x Raku litter - made her WRA debut on Saturday where she finished 8th in the meet and then she finished 8th in the meet today (Sunday) AND finished her CR title!! Congrats to Aesa and her owner Whitney Watts - I know they both had fun! At the same race meet, Michelle ran Tala (from the Bosley x Carina litter bred by Michelle Bernier) in the puppy meet both days and both days she won the puppy meet. There were 5 puppies entered. Steve and Kay took the girls, Mya and Layla, to an AKC coursing trial in Knoxville, MD today only and Mya placed 3rd in the FCh Stake of 7 dogs and Layla was 4th to her in Field Champions! They intend to run at the ASFA Regionals next weekend so fingers crossed that they do well and run safe :) While I was updating the website (and by the way there is a new page for Aesa under the 'Other Dogs' section if you want to take a peek) I went to place Aesa's name under our WRA titled dogs and was amazed at how many of our dogs (owned or bred by us) have titles in certain venues! Here is a quick breakdown but you can also go to the website - under the Archives section (Our Titled Dogs) to see each dogs name that has a title in each venue.

Dogs we have bred or own
5 American Champions - and several others closing in on theirs
2 UKC Champions
1 Colombian Champion
1 Latin American Champion
1 Polish Champion
42 AKC Field titled
18 ASFA Field titled
1 Canadian Field titled
27 NOTRA titled
26 WRA titled
4 Obedience/Agility titled
7 Best In Field Winners
4 NOTRA Meet Winners
1 WRA Meet Winner
1 Best In Sweepstakes Winner

Dogs not bred by us, but out of or sired by a Shannon Down bred dog or bitch
1 Ameican Champion
1 UKC Champion
11 AKC Field titled
4 ASFA Field titled
6 NOTRA titled
7 WRA titled
1 CWA titled
4 Obedience titled
2 Best In Sweepstakes Winners
1 Best In Field Winner

I don't think that's to bad at all :) We couldn't do it without such wonderful owners and breeders who have bred to our dogs. Thanks guys :)

Krys

Weekend news so far...

We've had a great weekend so far in East Ridge, TN. On Friday we had ASFA lure coursing, Helen won the Open Stake of 10 - her first time running ASFA. Striker placed 2nd to her and Tinsley was 3rd to them and Quincy was NBQ. In the Field Champion Stake of 12, GiGI placed 4th (just coming from having a litter of puppies several weeks ago), Cuda was NBQ in Field Champions. Liam and Imagene both earned their first leg towards their JC titles.

On Saturday we had AKC lure coursing, Liam finished his JC title and placed 2nd in his Open Stake of 15 for his very first AKC Field Champion points! Imagene also finished her JC title but sat out of the trial. Trick placed 2nd in his Open Stake for his first 3 point, the 4th puppy from that litter to have AKC FC points. He was also RWD at the show that morning handled by Deborah Johnson. Cuda placed 3rd in Field Champions and Helen was 4th behind him.

Today, they haven't finished with coursing yet (AKC), but at the show this morning Trick was WD for 2 points! He was handled by Deborah Johnson in his class and handled in winners by Grahm Swayze - thanks guys. If there is anything to report with lure coursing, I'll post more later :)

Krys

Basenji news

Also didn't mention that my Basenji kids are now showing! Nathan, that I have been showing myself, so far has 3 wins - totaling 6 points and a major.

Then Nadia who I still co-own, has a 3 point major already - handled by me :) She was 1st in her 9-12 month class at the National Specialty this month as well!

And then the other weekend, a 3rd pup (from a litter of 5), Ms. Nellybelle - was Winners Bitch and BOS for a major handled by Jerry Hope. (Haven't gotten the picture yet) She placed 3rd in her 9-12 month class at the National Specialty this month.

Two other pups from this litter remain, one who has only been shown once (Novalee) and one that has yet to enter the ring (Nora). I am so pleased with my first co-bred Basenji litter and how well they are doing in the show ring!

Krys

Time to get back to the blog

Okay, I have neglected the blog for far to long. I can't go through everything I have missed on the blog these past few months but you can always go to our website and check out the news page to see what you're missing.

I gave the website a re-design which took a few weeks and just went up recently. I am having some issues with our web hoster which is preventing me from updating right now (transferring it over, should be all fixed in a few days when the transfer is complete). Right now our black background is missing so I hope I can fix it ASAP.

Anyways, on to some news - GiGi has given us a beautiful litter of 8 born August 8th sired by Elektra's Infineon RCh, ORC, CC, CM. They are almost 5 weeks now and are growing beautifully! You can see pictures of them on the website.

For weekend news - last weekend was great. On Saturday our Tinsley was 3rd at the AKC trial in Hanover, PA for 2 points. Sunday Mya won the Open Stake for a 5 point major to finish her FC! Sister Layla was 2nd to her for 3 points and Tinsley placed 5th in the Open Stake. On Monday Layla won the Open Stake for a 5 point major to finish her FC!!! Mya won the FCh Stake and took Best of Breed and went on to Best In Field!!! Glenda and David went to a UKC show down in TX. On Saturday Jack (from the Anna x Rupert litter) was Best Whippet Puppy and went on to win Puppy Best In Show! Leo was Best Male which completed his UKC Championship! On Sunday Shinju (Jack's brother) was Puppy Best In Show at the morning and afternoon show!!!! Leo was Best of Breed and Sighthound Group 2 at the afternoon show! Not a bad weekend at all :)

Delite went to her new home this past weekend with Jason Cohen who had our girl Cliona who passed away the end of last year from kidney failure due to lyme disease. She's doing really good so far and settling in great in her new home. She will continue to lure course on occasion, she's already AKC FC pointed.

Well, that's it for now - I promise to keep the blog up to date from now on :)

Krys