December
in Florida
December is here
Along comes chilly Winter
And year's end as well!
December 2016
I am
what I appear to be
The love and passion that I have for Labrador Retrievers is what fuels my drive for my total involvement with the breed. The never-ending quest for the Betterment of the Breed is the legacy that I would
like to leave behind after it is all said and done.
This Blogging Off section reflects the "tell it like it is" persona that comprises one of the many hats that I wear in my daily activities with Labrador Retrievers and the people that own them.
"Questions are the keys to understanding,
answers are the open doors that will follow,
choosing the right door to proceed through will
determine if the correct path was taken."
V. Sandy Herzon
The Blogging Off Experience
These blogs will cover every Labrador-related topic under the sun and then sum/some! There will be puns intended, off the cuff remarks will rule, attempts at acerbic, acidic and arsed-like humor will be on the menu. Since I have lived outside of the box for most of my life, parameters need not apply.
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December 31st
Happy New Year's Eve
Well, here it is, the eve before the new!
Any other day of the year, it would just be another day tomorrow, one in a string of 365......or 366 depending if we leap!
So at the stroke of midnight, which takes us from the PM to the AM in just one second.............we also have just finished traversing 584 million miles in an elliptical trek around a star!
The exact same scenario has been occurring now for some 4 1/2 billion years, the only difference is the fireworks, dropping of gigantic balls atop high buildings and the consuming of a sparkly beverage............ oh yeah, and kissing whomever happens to be next to you!
It's how we, homo sapiens mark the passing of an 'old year' and ring in the new one.
Great process because ever since we have been doing that, the old Timex Earth just keeps on ticking around the hot burning celestial body.
Being semi-superstitious...............like in I only cross one finger and I carry the whole rabbit with me all the time, I too revel at welcoming the unknown to see if it is better than the known that we just trampled over and used up.
So, to all the other worldly wanders out there waiting for the sun to cross yet another finish line, those frolicking at the midnight hour and celebrating whatever it is that is coming our way in the next trip around the gaseous orb......................Happy New Year, see you (hopefully) on the other side!
December 30th
Puppy Time
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than ‘Puppy Time’!
Well, if truth be told…………………..a couple Chambray dogs winning those 2 Best In Shows, the only two Labradors ever from Florida to win BIS’s certainly ranked way up there………………….so has reaching the milestone of being USA Top Labrador Breeder (4 different years)……………….….the just now announced AKC Top 100 All-Time Grand Champions and being the Top Breeder with 7 is pretty thrilling.................hey while we are at it, last year’s 2015 Eukanuba’s Best Of Breed Bred By Exhibitor win and award (especially that being the last ever Eukanuba) and this year’s Best Of Breed win during the inaugural Royal Canin week of shows in Orlando have to rank somewhere over the rainbow as well……………….but Puppy Time for me is very, very special.
Let me count the ways!
First of all, nothing compares to ‘puppy breath’! For those in the know, you know what I am talking about!
Then there is seeing the emergence of new life…………………lives that I am responsible for from way, way before they are born, before they are conceived, before the sire and dam are bred…………………..yep………..way, way back to 8 generations ago. Seeing a puppy born from one of our dogs is seeing the past way back to 1987 when the foundation bitch of most of the Chambray dogs of today was being paired with the eventual sire that started the ball rolling and together they founded the Chambray lines then that today are at the top of the charts nationwide.
Before our puppies are born, there was the selection process of which females will be the ‘chosen’ ones that will perpetuate the next Chambray generation. Keeping in mind that currently there are well over 65 females that are part of Chambray’s Owner’s Programs. Each is independently owned, living in homes with their owners and all taking part in the various Chambray Programs including the Breeding & Puppy Placement Program.
Once the 8 to 10 females are chosen for the year to breed………………..it’s the selection process for the stud dogs that will be paired with those females that takes precedent to all happenings!
That male to female ‘selection’ process entails more than pinning the ‘tail on the donkey’ method, or the ‘eenie meenie miney mo’ way or the ‘dog down the street’ or the ‘let’s make a deal’ deal!
Nope, none of the preceding will do for our Betterment of the Breed ways of doing things! What is involved is the ‘big picture vision’ to see where all of this is going. The acumen to see what each dog brings to the table in any breeding………….to be able to pair traits that complement and traits that will raise the bar for the succeeding generation produced!
Once the dogs are bred and the litter born, it becomes ‘wait and see time’! ‘Wait’ until they are old enough at 7 ½ weeks old to perform the all-important evaluation and the ‘see’ which ones indeed accomplished the mission of producing as good or better as the sires and dams that were chosen for ‘improvement’ breeding!
I have already covered in too many to recall blogs and article how pivotal, how ‘make it or break it’ the evaluation process is……..to be able to ‘see’ and ‘project’ for the future which puppies indeed have what it takes to keep the whole program moving forward………………..once that has been accomplished, then comes the dreaded puppy ‘placement’ process.
Ah, yes……………………dreaded! Out of all the activities, agendas and processes in place at Chambray Labradors, Professional Canine Services, Chambray Dog Training and whatever other endeavors we have going that revolves around dogs and in particular our Labradors…………………nothing is as unpredictable as the Puppy Placement Process……………………..NOTHING!
Placing our precious produce in new homes where no matter how much screening, Interviewing, soul searching, guessing, praying and trusting on my part takes place…………………….I still hold my breath with each puppy placed! Not knowing if my goal and mission for breeding/raising/training/showing is totally understood even though I may have explained, reiterated, written, re-written, blogged, emailed back and forth multiple times……………………….talked until I turned into a Blueman…………………there’s no way of telling if I made sense to the new owners or not!
So, seeing those recently placed puppies gives me hope! Hope that the new owners have come to the realization that they now have way, way more than just a cuddly, lovable ‘pet’…………………………the realization that they, the new owners now are the emissaries chosen by me to ‘Pay It Forward’ because they now realize that they have the best of the best of the breed and that they now ‘owe’ it to the breed to take that ‘special gift of a puppy’ as far as it will go for the breed’s sake.
Seeing those puppies is when the new owners come back to Chambray Acres to take advantage of all the free amenities that comes with their new puppies. Of course the one amenity that new owners take advantage real quick is the ‘lifetime free training’ that comes with all Chambray show puppies.
That’s it, that’s how I get them to come back! Yep, offer the new owners the thing they need the most with a new puppy and they will come………………….just as in the Field of Dreams movie……………….he built it and they came………………………………………….I make it available and they come……………..actually they come because the puppies are ‘biting, jumping, running around crazy, not listening and generally acting as puppies do’…………………………that’s when they come back, when they need my expertise in puppy training!
So, they have been coming, one by one and in 2 weeks, many will come together! Yep, because every so often I have a Puppy Get Together here at Chambray………………….with the next one coming on January 8th, a Puppy Social Event……………..just for the newest placed litters that are 10 weeks to 13 weeks old!
Yep, that’s how I get them to come back and I get to see my top puppies again and see how each is turning out……………….yea for Puppy Time!
December 29th
On Top Of The World
The AKC's Lifetime Top 100 Grand Champions
The AKC’s Lifetime Top 100 Grand Champion Labrador Retrievers Published.
The AKC’s Grand Championships were put into play 6 years ago in 2010 with the different levels starting with:
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Grand Champion for achieving 25 grand champion points with 3 major pointed wins and 3 wins over competition
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Bronze Grand Champion for 100 points
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Silver Grand Champion for 200 points
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Gold Grand Chamnpion for 400 points
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Platinum Grand Champion for 600 points and now there is a Platinum2 for umbillion (1200) points
So, the AKC Lifetime Top 100 Grand Champion Labrador Retrievers has been compiled and can be accessed at the following web address. https://www.apps.akc.org/apps/grand_championship/index.cfm?type=gca&display by choosing Labrador Retriever once the page loads up.
Chambray Labradors has the distinction of being the #1 Labrador breeder with the most Grand Champions atop the Top 100 with 7 Grand Champions.
There is a three-way tie for 2nd place with 4 Grand Champions each, Belquest, Robnie and another Florida breeder, Tampa Bay.
A three-way tie for 6th place were Everso, Chardon and Paradocs with 3 each.
A four-way tie for 9th place with 2 each were Casbar, Rosewater, Double, and Tande.
There were 75 other breeders placing 1 grand champion each to make the Top 100.
There were no Platinum Grand Champions in the Top 100 from 2010 to 2016 with 7 dogs making it to the Gold title and 28 dogs achieving the Silver. Two of those Silver Grand Champions were BIS BBE Silver Grand Ch Chambrays Celestial N Counter ranked #20 and ranked #29 is BISS Silver Grand Ch Chambrays Tucker Everlasting.
The Top 100 Grand Champion rankings is an ongoing process with the final count being published at the end of each year from now on as new dogs accumulate more points than those on the chart now, in essence replacing the lower ranked dogs in the process.
December 28th
Coming In Out Of The Rain
Since I ‘value’ myself as a positive progressive type……………………..I can’t leave the stone upturned with a negative agenda…………………..i.e. the previous blog on chocolates!
So, here is an off-setting piece of mind that should level the playing field so that this previous transgression into the realm of the ‘NOT WORLD’ will somehow launch me back to the ‘moving in the right direction’ mode.
This really ‘feel good’ story from a very pleasant ‘Puppy Interview’ today…………………….one of those where the prospective new puppy client comes to Chambray Acres fully armed with all the ‘right’ type of information………………mostly from the numerous pages that I have penned and published for all puppy searchers to learn from………………..keeping in mind that our very best owners-to-be are those that have educated themselves the best………………………..which then makes it extremely simple for me to elaborate on the ways and means of our novel and most successful Owner’s Programs for the Betterment of the Breed.
So, here I was prepared with the usual addendum's of furthering education, when to my very welcoming surprise, both husband and wife were totally apprised of our ways of operating and were 100% in tune and able and willing to proceed with our Pay It Forward movement for the breed, for the puppy, for themselves and for Chambray!
Yes sir, all by their lonesome (well, between the two of them) ciphered through all the available hype provided by yours truly………………….through all the kumbaya of the brethren Owner’s Program………………….the litany of successes…………………….the glowing testimonials, both published and also all those provided by the real live personas at the most recent congregation of Chambray owners at the Royal Canin week of shows in Orlando…………………nothing like word of mouth to cement the facts apart from the fiction…………………………..all that Cajun gumbo stew of ‘Howdy Dowdy, rollicking good times’ and here they were making a trip way down to the outer fringes of civilization………………..where going any further west away from Miami proper would lead to an excellent adventure fighting off the native alligators and those invasive species anacondas that roam the Everglades in search of a morsel deer or two!
Nothing like spending time with great minds that think alike! Yep, let the good times roll as if were Fat Tuesday every day!
So, now I feel redeemed and at peace with myself as the excursion to the other side was but fleeting and coming back into the light was full of immense gratification…………….knowing that all is well with Chambray Labradors Owner’s Programs for the Betterment of the Breed………………..for yellows and blacks that is!
December 27th
Bidding Adieu To Chocolates
For The 4th Time!
I Bid Adieu To Chocolates………………..For The 4th Time
“How do chocolate Labradors compare to blacks and yellows?” hundreds of times I have fielded that question and hundreds of times I have been the model of diplomacy for the breed…………….actually for the chocolate contingency!
But no longer can the bottled up angst be contained and my ‘tell it like it is’ bursting at the seams ways of being are let loose.
So, here goes!
Chocolates flying with yellow and blacks are ‘birds of a feather’……………not! Not even close in a country mile race!
That’s the tune for chocolate Labradors and those who can’t stand the music quickly depart this blog!
A Labrador is a Labrador is a Labrador……………………..not! Not when it comes to comparing blacks/yellows to chocolates………………………a better comparison would be apples to oranges and the oranges in this case being chocolates are more like lemons!
Oh, I know that the wrath of Khan will be upon me from all the chocolate lovers out there!
Yep, sure as tootin, an avalanche of ‘ill-will’ will be precipitated this way once I press the ‘publish’ button on my keyboard and this blogs magically appears worldwide!
But take it from me, the self-proclaimed Labrador guru………………………the ‘when it comes to Labradors, the buck stops here’ spokesperson……………………………………..chocolate Labradors are an animal of a different stripe…………..like coming completely from a different gene pool!
Oh, I know that the bleeding heart do-gooders will be in full headdress and on the warpath defending the sweet colored dogs. But, if I am going to be taking time to pen one of my opinions, then I tell it like it is!
No mincing onions, no cutting cucumbers, nope………….just the truth and nothing but the truth will suffice………………..you either can tolerate milk or you can’t, so this is the God honest truth from me to you……………….whether you are tolerant/intolerant or not!
As a whole…………………..chocolates don’t measure up in the conformation department…………………PLUS…………..they don’t add up, add down……….sideways or catawampus in the temperament department as well!
So much so, that for the 4th time in my 47 years of involvement with Labradors, I am not going to be breeding chocolates anymore!
Yep, 3 times before I swore off the ‘black sheep’ colored dogs of the Labrador world…………………………….swore that I had reached an impasse that I just didn’t want to attempt to traverse that chasm of a difference any longer………………….but the sweet tooth in me and my loyalty to a couple of ‘buddy’ Labrador breeders caused me to turn turncoat to my own ‘ruthers’! Each time, backtracking on my own words and giving it another heave ho!
“Ah, what the heck, let’s give it another whirl” three times before…………………each time lasting two or three generations and then the same sour-pussed conclusion would dawn on me. Not the same feel-good feeling that I have standing on top of the Titanic bow proclaiming “I’m on top of the world” a I do the yellows and blacks!
But heaving no longer, I depart from the ranks of those enamored with the odd man out/odd color out and leave the driving to those with more time left and a tougher cranium than mine and I wish the absolute best for the 'sweet as honey' color to ascend to the heights of the brethren multiples shades of yellow and the solidness of the blacks!
As long as my wit and acumen serve me, I will share my accrued knowledge with anyone pursuing the betterment of the breed with chocolates.
December 26th
Short Hiatus & Then Back To Work
The 2016 Chambray Breeding season officially came to end with the last litter just placed. That was the 6th litter of the year with a total of 45 puppies.
There were some very surprising statistics that came of out of those 6 litters…………………half of them, 3 whole litters sky-rocketed out of the stratosphere with 100% Show Puppy Ratings! The other 3 litters combined to produce a paltry 4 pet puppies!
Four pet puppies out of 45 is a measly 8.8%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That also means that 91+% of the puppies were topping the scales at show quality.
Now here’s the real deal……………………….the break it or make it demarcation to be considered a show prospect has risen…………….risen quite a bit! It used to be that a puppy that scored an 80 was designated as being show worthy. That wasn’t that long ago in 2001.
By 2004, we had raised the bar to 85 and that year the top puppy of the year merited a 92……………….his name was Hogan, BIS BBE CH Chambrays Out Of The Ruff and in 2008 we went on to become Florida’s first ever Labrador Retriever Best In Show winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So great was that accomplishment that since then, there has only been one more Labrador Retriever to win another Best In Show in Florida and that is Hogan’s granddaughter, BIS BBE Silver/Bronze Gr Ch Chambrays Celestial N Counter, ‘Kika’! Kika received a 97.8 in 2011!
By 2012, the line in the sand grew to a 90 being show quality and yet each generation produced, kept tipping the needle on the scaleometer higher and higher in the ratings chart.
Here it is 2016 and now it takes a 92 to be considered show worthy…………………………..a 92…………………the score that the 1st Best In Show winner, ever from Florida got back in 2004!
From this recent Class of 2015, there were 7 puppies that received 98+’s ………………….yep, higher scores than Kika got back 6 years ago!
With each succeeding generation produced, the rating’s numbers ascend exponentially, yet the numbers of puppies produced has decreased from an average of 65 seven years ago to averaging 48 puppies a year produced the last 5 years.
While some of the ‘big named breeders and kennels’ produce 15, some 20 and others many more litters a year, Chambray stays in the ‘limelight’ with the bare minimum……………………that is QUALITY vs the QUANTITY that most top show breeders produce and yet, our efforts have topped the Top Breeder’s marquee, four out of the last 5 years and with 2016, three years in a row at the top!
Meanwhile, nothing has stayed constant nor dormant on the competitive stage……………………at the dog shows!
Several of the Florida Lab breeders have upped the ante with a surge in the numbers of dogs they are sending to the dog shows…………………….all being handled professionally with some of the top handlers in the South East dog show circuit. Several top professionals are also going out of state and bringing back dogs from known breeders and padding the number of dogs entered here in Florida with dogs from top breeders from elsewhere.
Even with all the added competitiveness, Chambray Labradors still managed to be the leader of the pack once again with the winningest record from the Labrador ring in the entire country for 2016!
There was even one kennel/breeder from Florida that out-entered our dogs at most of the dog shows throughout the year! Imagine that! Someone having the audacity to enter more dogs, the vast majority owned by them, as in "Keep the best and sell the rest", those dogs handled by the 2nd ranked Labrador handler's group and yet, QUANTITY once again don't TRUMP QUALITY!
Yep, more dogs from one kennel entered at a dog show than those from our Dog Owner’s Collective, but no where's nears the Best Of Breeds, the Winners Dog, the Winners Bitch and of course not even close to the number of champions produced for the year.
There were several breeders from Florida that opted to drive out of state for most of their wins, realizing that winning in Florida, against the Chambray lineup was a tough bone to chew on.
Smart, very smart! Hey, a man has to do what a man has to do and that goes to women too!
So, now we patiently await the Class of 2016 to develop, fill out and learn the ropes on their way to setting the records for 2017, plus the current group of young dogs and adults to finish out their campaigns to earn their AKC titles.
Hey, the short-lived hiatus between the Royal Canin shows, just last weekend and the up and coming Florida Winter Circuit is coming to an end………………………..deadline for entries for the 5 days of shows during the first weekend of shows in Brooksville in the New Year……………..that deadline is in two days!
December 25th
The Theory Of Relativity Full Explained
Or Maybe Not
“I’m rather confused! I have read through many of the pages that you referred me to. You claim to breed ONLY the best dogs to the best dogs! Doesn’t all the other breeders do the exact same thing? They have many dogs which they have kept and I am sure that no one keeps the bad looking ones, so I assume that those other breeders also kept the best, real good looking ones for themselves. So it follows logic that when they breed, that they will use those dogs that they kept that were the best! That means that every breeders breeds their best! That then would not make you and your ‘breeding system’ any better than the rest”
The above was one of several dozen emails that I received this past year from good-hearted folk searching for answers about our most successful breeding/raising/training/placing and showing program.
Although I have published numerous pages detailing in simple terms and even with vivid graphics/photos and pictures on how the entire breeding program works…………………………….I totally understand that there are levels of comprehension that either permit or thwart a person’s ability to grasp certain concepts.
For instances the Theory of Relativity explained to 100 randomly selected folk, will only produce 2% of those that fully can conceive the essence of the conjecture!
Now, we all know (there is probably a predictable % that will not get this statement)………….we all know that the Theory of Relativity vs Chambray’s Avant Garde Breeding Program are not in the same universe of world-wide importance or even registering on the ‘Logic Meter’, but there seems to be quite the number that just don’t seem to follow Mitch Miller’s bouncing ball with any type of watered-down quotient matter or simplified pictures to look at that I provide.
I am not being an elitist with that preceding paragraph, I am just depicting the lay out of the land from the many queries I received of “not getting it”!
The answer to the opening paragraph question goes something like this:
Breeder Q. has some really poor specimens of the breed. He breeds the one male that he considers to be the best to one of his females that he deems to be better than the other 9 he owns. A litter is born with 10 puppies. He keeps the best 2 of those puppies and sells off the rest.
The preceding is the way that the vast majority of breeders operate………………….Keep The Best and Sell The Rest!
Breeder Q now breeds 10 litters a year, so he has to go down the line and picks out which female is his 2nd best, since he already bred his ‘supposedly’ best. Then he breeds his 3rd best and his 4th best, until he has bred all of his available females and those all went on to produced 10 litters with 100 puppies by the end of the year.
The next year, he does exactly the same thing, however he now has 12 females to choose from because he kept 2 puppies from his best breeding……………………..so he goes about and decides which of the 12 females is the best and breeds it, breeds #2, #3 and all the way down the line to #12!
Now, that may sound like a lot of puppies produced, but in the real world out there of indiscriminate folk dabbling and producing puppies, 100 puppies in one year is considered a very small ‘peanuts’ operation!
There are mass puppy producers with 40 to 60 litters a year and those are considered ‘mid-rangers’! Yep, 300 to 500 puppies a year producers are in the ‘average’ range for mass producers!
Some reading the preceding are probably in semi-conscious state right about now. I am sure that some are picturing real run down puppy mills………………which by the way do exist…………………so I am convinced that many will shake their heads with the following:
There are show breeders…………………..YES…………………….SHOW BREEDERS………………………..NAMED SHOW BREEDERS………………with upwards of 20 to 30 litters a year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, take a deep breath and let me say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a top show breeder producing any quantity of puppies because each and every one of those puppies will be placed in great homes……………..which if you think about it, will save many folk from buying a puppy from one of those polar opposite puppy mills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, here is a quick version of the Chambray Way.
We already have the best Labradors in the country. That’s what we start with! Don’t take my word for it……………………….look at the last 5 years’ worth of nationwide results. Top Breeder 4 out of the last 5 years in the country………………….tops in Florida for the last 20 years………………now compare that to Breeder Q who is the top Labrador breeder only from his neighborhood!
Remember that Breeder Q has the 10 females that he owns to choose from for breeding for the year…………………….meanwhile Chambray has the last 6 to 7 years’ worth of breedings to choose which females will be the ones that will produce the 5 to 7 litters for the coming year. These are the best of the best that were placed with specially selected owners that are part of Chambray Labradors Owner's Program for the Betterment of the Breed.
That means that I will be considering every single female that is part of Chambray Labradors Owner’s Program for the Betterment of the Breed…………………………..over 75 of the absolute best Labradors produced by the top breeding program in the country!
Right now, that process is in full regatta………………….the dilemma of course is deciding which females ‘WILL NOT BE CHOOSEN’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! While all the other breeders end up breeding anything they have……………………….we end up turning away some females that would be heads and shoulders better …………………….actually hills and mountains better than the best that those other breeders could field!
So, pray tell, what could be so confusing about any of the preceding…………………it certainly is not the Theory of Relativity, science rocket stuff we are contemplating here…………………this is more like comparing the Flintstone's foot-propelled vehicle with my Mercedes Sprinter……………….no brainer, however knowing how some think (or maybe don’t), I am sure that there will be a % that won’t get the ‘vehicle’ analogy!
December 25th
Showing A Chambray Dog
“What does it entail to show a dog?”
Ah, the old $64,000 Question (TV show from 1958), at today’s prices and currency exchange, it could very well be the 6 Million Dollar Question show!
Any hoot, it is a query that comes up often since our goal is to produce the absolute best ‘show dogs’ possible and those obtaining one of our puppies are more than likely to be neophytes to the dog show world, so the obvious question arises with quite the frequency!
Of course the answer would certainly vary according to who was asking and what expectations those would have to be showing any dog.
So, my answer would only reflect our passionate involvement with Labrador Retrievers at the highest levels of showing dogs for the betterment of the breed………………which would then lead to taking the absolute best of those dogs and making them the center piece of our exclusive ‘pairing the best to the best’ breeding program.
Sounds redundant………………….but that’s how the circle of life goes with our endeavor! Only the best of the best will be the perpetuators of the next generation of puppies produced and those dogs will be determined by competing at dog shows to arrive at which of those ‘best’ specimens of the breed are to be used for breeding!
Around and around it goes and we don’t stop for anything that doesn’t measure up.
So, back to the simple question that necessitates a very complex answer!
Only the best puppies produced by the prior mentioned breeding objective of breeding the best to the best……………………………those then will be the puppies that will be placed with folk that understand the mission at Chambray…………….to show only the best puppies produced so that they will become the ones that will be used in the breeding program to produce the next generation of puppies that will be selected to show to determine which are the best to be included in the breeding program.
I said that it would be a redundant proposition!
So, only the best puppies and their owners are encouraged to go further into the world of showing dogs.
Here’s how elite that group is………………………..out of all the Chambray puppies that rate being placed as show quality, only the top 10% of those best show puppies will make it to be called upon to be on our show roster!
That’s 1 out of 10 designated show puppies will have the obvious breed traits to be called up as puppies to the starting team at the dog shows.
Some others will develop a bit later and those we will put on the practice squad and we continue their training and conditioning in anticipation of making it to the first team at a future time.
So that more or less is how a puppy or dogs gets to make it to the show level. That starts the process of showing at as many venues as possible to get each puppy and dog as ring wise as possible. The more ring repetitions the better performing the dogs will get, the better performance then leads to the eventual winning of points.
Winning points towards the dog’s AKC champion’s title is the ultimate goal………………..however getting the dog to the point that it actually will be show competitive becomes a very individual endeavor.
Some dogs have the physical development to be in the mix for the elusive winners points, however they may lack the mental maturity to go hand in hand with the physical aspects ………………….others are vice versa, great deportment and yet may lack the physical development. Every once in a very long while will a puppy or young dog have it all come together to be able to win early on and then there are the real extreme rare cases where a dog will actually finish its championship before it is a year old.
The norm for finishing a top-notch Labrador in the tough Florida circuit of shows, would be minimum 18 months old, with 2 years old being the more common age for a real good dog to accrue enough points to achieve its championship.
However, what must be understood is that it is not the age, but the time that it will take a dog to actually capture all the points needed. Most dogs that champion out take about a whole year of showing to accumulate those hard earned 15 points and 2 majors for the AKC title.
As stated previously, the more that is put into the dog, the higher the likelihood that the mission of winning the needed points will occur. A great dog that doesn’t compete at the dog shows will never win a point and that’s the way it should be, selecting the best dogs that have won their championship from the competitive lineup at the dog shows.
Competition brings out the best of the crop and it becomes the litmus test for superior quality…………then those ‘winners’ are chosen to be in the breeding program to produce the next generation of puppies to start the process all over again.
That is the Chambray Way which is the winningest way there is.
December 21st
Reflections On The AKC National Championships
Presented By Royal Canin
The effects of ‘Cloud Nine’ diminish over a period of time; however the event that led to the effect will be relished for quite some time. Such is the case with the recent Best Of Breed win with Gr Ch Chambrays Duke Destined For Greatness at the AKC National Championships presented by Royal Canin week of shows in Orlando Fl.
There were other very positive accomplishments for the members of Chambray Labradors…………. ‘members’ that include the whole Herzon family as breeders/trainers/managers/handlers…………….our staff of trainers/handlers/assistants…………………….our loyal owners and of course the prime members, the dogs that get all the attention!
Besides that great BOB win for Duke (one of 5 BOBs awarded during the 5 days of shows), there was Chambrays Galactic N Counter taking a major-pointed Winners Bitch from the Bred By Exhibitor class (also one of 5 Winners Bitch in 5 days) and then there was the Award Of Merit At Specialty Show awarded to BBE Bronze Gr Ch Chambrays Eventful N Counter.
So, as the CEO/Leader of the Pack of the whole kit and caboodle, I walked away with glorious accolades that I bring back and share with all those connected to Chambray Labradors and the Owner’s Program for the Betterment of the Breed.
Those accolades come in all shapes and sizes and from various sources. Of course the more visual ones are the ribbons and rosettes for the BOB, WB and JAMSS……………………there will be photos with the judges commemorating the occasion…………………what goes unseen are the multiple congratulatory offerings from judges, AKC officials, Labrador breeders/exhibitors, professional handlers, from breeders with other breeds, from bystanders and spectators and even from direct competitors……………………….all those I share with all of our ‘members’ be they my family, my staff, my owners/co-owners/co-breeders, our friends and all others that have our well-being in mind and at heart.
I also walked away happy to see that the Labrador breed is doing well and thriving in the right direction.
Through the years I have seen the pendulum swing to extremes and that worried me for the breed.
However as all things in nature, there is the ebb and flow and the seeking of normalcy; the balancing and return to the median and such is the case with Labradors today.
There was a supernova array of the top Labradors, possibly in the world and it was a sight to behold…………not only with the several dozen champions competing for top honors, the class dogs were all ‘world class’ as well!
My #1 pet peeve, we all know to be the dreaded condition, cow-hocks, described by the breed standard as being ‘a serious structural defect’ was not a glaring detraction, as there were only a small percentage of dogs saddled with the obvious defect...........that's a good trend, less cow-hock dogs is good!
The ‘overdone’, super hefty dogs were very few in numbers and the over-coated, wholly mammoth type dogs were not as evident as in past years. So, all in all, there was a very moderate look to the breed which is great for all concerned, again a very good thing!
We didn’t win as many top awards as we had done in the last 5 years, however the dogs that did win deserved those wins………………we still came away as the top winningest Labrador handlers from Florida with those 3 major awards and it is all a good thing!
December 19th
The Thrill Of Victory
Deserves A "Thank You" To My Chambray Owners
What a tremendous life-thrill it was for me, standing inside the ring at the 2016 AKC National Championships Presented by Royal Canin…………largest congregation of dogs in the USA, to look out among that beyond fantastic array of world-class champion Labrador Retrievers and there in the midst of all those dogs to see eight champion Chambray dogs standing toe to toe and side by side with all of them!
WOW & OMG came to mind as I panned back and forth from one end of the gigantic ring to the other and witnessed one great example of the breed after another and in that mix were our dogs looking as fit and proper as any of the others.
Then the realization that those other dogs were the flag bearers of their kennels and breeders, maybe the absolute best from the top 70+ Labrador breeders in the country and beyond, because right there in the thick of it all were two of the top Lab breeders from Mexico and a couple from other foreign countries as well. Yet, here were the four Herzons and four of our chosen handlers working the oversized ring with more champions from one Labrador breeder than has ever been accomplished by any kennel before!
Now here is the twist to the above, trying to explain to 99% of those asking that all of those dogs are someone’s loving home companion and that they were all born in someone’s loving home where the dog’s mother lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Huh?” most will mutter.
"Yep", I tell them…………………………..none of those gorgeous champions and also the puppies and the class dogs that showed before them are ‘kennel’ dogs……………………in fact, there really isn’t a kennel like the majority of dogs at the dog shows………………………nope, Chambray has an owner’s program where the best puppies are placed with people that will participate at the next level for the breed…………….they will aid in paying it forward to ensure that the best dogs will be the ones that will perpetuate the best qualities of the breed by allowing their faithful home companions to produce the next great generation of Labrador Retrievers!
So, to all of you receiving this email and others reading it here at the Blogging Off page…………………………….. “Thank You” for allowing me to savor the thrill of victory in having present the greatest Labrador Retrievers ever,.....................yours, mine……………….ours.................Chambray Labs!
December 18th
Unstacking The Stacked Deck
Well, we’re back home on the range…………………..where buffaloes don’t roam anymore!
Man, that was a long, long, long seven days to be gone from Chambray Acres and on top of that, to be cooped up with all the women of Team Chambray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about OMG moments and then you throw in a topsy-turvey gyroscope (my son Ryan) into the mix and you really have a sizzling ambiance!
There was PMSing, PTSDing, Dissing, Dicing, Spicing and every other emotion and demotion possible!
But hey, here we are and once again, we went out and brought back the bacon!
That’s what I am talking about! You go out and are up against all odds and you come out smelling like a rose in the spring!
I am talking a real heaping of stacked decks, like a double decker of a whopper!
First of all you have cherry picked judges for this event to end all other canine events! Yep, handpicked and sweet as honey cured molasses judges for all those professional handlers to descend down from the frigid latitudes. So, what are the chances that the chances will be good for the locals from Florida?
Second, you have all the top professional handlers…………………the top names in the business that all the judges know by their nicknames……………………yep, starting to sound a lot like Christmas! Not only do those professional handlers have name and face recognition, they also have the ability to round up the best Labradors from all those top Labrador kennels and breeders from their stomping grounds in the New England area, the Midwest, the Southeast and everywhere else that Labradors call home.
Third and probably the toughest cog to unclog…………………………the caliber of the dogs that, like Bob Barker used to bark out loud “Come on down!”…………………………yep, we are talking the bestest of the bestest of Labradors in the whole land of the free and home of the brave…………………..and that ain’t just whistling Dixie………………..no siree, we even had dogs sneak across the border representing the best that Mexico has to offer!
There were over 100 of the top Labradors in the nation…………………..from the #1 Labrador and 11 more in the Top 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From 75 of the most known breeders and kennels in the country!
The winningest professional handlers were there!
Plus, a tribe of friendly judges, mix them together and it’s a Mt. Everest climb to just be under consideration!
Let’s put it all in perspective………………………there were 5 Best Of Breeds to be won. There were 5 Winners Bitch awards to be handed out and there were 10 Award of Merits that would be merited…………………….so how did Chambray fare?
We came home with 1 of those Best Of Breeds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We came home with 1 of those Winners Bitch wins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We came home with 1 of those Awards Of Merits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once again, under severe duress, unlikely odds and slim to none chances Chambray Labradors came away as one of the winningest breeder/kennels at the super-duper affair now known as the AKC National Championships presented by Royal Canin…………………….our winning ways continues to see another day as this was our 145th consecutive winning weekend of dog shows!
December 11th
One More Before We Hit The Road Tomorrow
I wrote a blog about a follow-up evaluation a year later to compare what we saw at 7 ½ weeks of age and later at 1 year of age.
There were many questions that have followed.
I will cover all those questions in a future blog.
What I wanted to express was how much of a dead-end it is for someone to get interested in the breed for showing or breeding and then to find out that they had obtained the wrong ‘equipment’ to play the game! That indeed occurred with the people that bought those puppies that were featured with that blog.
Of course, the flip side to the above is folk that end up having a an exceptional show and breeding prospect and then they either ‘flip out’ or ‘disappear’ altogether and the advancements made by the breeder of the betterment of the breed go out the window.
This is my dilemma now-a- days!
Producing beyond the top of the charts, with whole litters rocking the house and then have some of them ‘wasted’ for the betterment of the breed because those who are entrusted with their placement skip bail, hit the road, skedaddle, vanish or just “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”
Ouch, does that hurt! That’s because this whole endeavor, this fantasy I have which has turned into my life’s passion is all about the betterment of the breed and producing the next generation of Labrador Retrievers that are just what the breed is supposed to be. Of course, those reading these blogs know exactly the opposite of what I am writing about and expressing here. The 99% deplorable-type that don’t adhere to anything other than the money made by mass producing and indiscriminate breeding by those that just don’t know hide, from Mr. Jekyll and I assure you there are a whole kit and caboodle full of them!
While most that follow these blogs only get to see what is being shown at the dogs shows, I on the other hand, here at Chambray, where folk from all over bring their dogs for evaluations and for training……………dogs purchased elsewhere, in the last 46 years, from kennels from just about every kennel and breeder that can be conjured up and named!
I get to see the real sad sack dogs and the sadder story that must be delivered to the people that want to go further with the breed, yet have nothing to really get them going. The problem is that people become enchanted with their own dogs, they become emotionally involved and then their judgement for doing what’s right becomes very cloudy and murky to say the least.
There is this ‘underdog’ mentality when it comes time to accurately ascertain if their dogs are truly worthy of perpetuating the true qualities of the breed. There is an iron-clad ‘blind loyalty’ that persists with owners that prevents them from seeing what’s in plain sight, even if it is pointed out repeatedly. It seems that overlooking due to emotional baggage induced by ownership overcomes reason.
Although all of the above are part of the territory that comes with being actively engaged at the level that I operate at, it still is a sad situation dealing with it all.
December 10th
We Are Off The See The Wizard
Today, Saturday, we put the finishing touches on a dozen dogs that needed bathing and grooming, also last minute touch up with training too and then Sunday will be devoted to making sure that a week’s worth of dog-related accruements is jammed packed into the Silver Bullet Sprinter………………….of course besides the 15 dogs and 2 people that will make the trip………………..starting Monday morning to the Orlando Convention Center for the 6 days of showing that Team Chambray will orchestrate.
A second vehicle will carry all the wardrobe, suitcases, food and of course four of our team members……our assistants and handlers.
The moving caravan will make a couple of pit stops to pick dogs up along the turnpike at predetermined plazas and exits from owners that cannot make the whole week of shows.
Besides those dogs that travel with us, there will also be owners that will meet up with us in Orlando with their dogs that travel with them and that we will be handling at the 3 All-Breed dogs shows, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday………………then there is the Royal Canin LRC Labrador Retriever Specialty on Friday and it culminates with the AKC National Championships sponsored for the very first time by Royal Canin on Saturday and on Sunday.
This last dog show week/weekend at the end of the year has become the finale of a whole year’s operation for our dogs and team of trainers, handlers, assistants and of course of loyal owners that make up Chambray Labradors and the Owner’s Program for the Betterment of the Breed.
It is the final strokes to a year’s worth of working on a canvas that eventually produces a finished portrait of our endeavor! I refer to it as the big picture that all see which is composed of all the individual aspects of breeding, raising, training, conditioning, evaluations, interviewing, placing and then following through with all that comes with a Chambray puppy or dog…………………….and keeping all those who were placed the top puppies from each litter, keeping them on board and moving in the right direction.
The collective of all the parts comes together under the ‘big top’ of this venue…………….which today is the largest congregation of show dogs in the USA.
Just being there is a major celebration because the top Labradors from across the USA and from foreign countries will converge and being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with breeders and kennels that are legends is a thrill beyond compare. Winning anything at the 5 days of shows……………….any points, any designation, any awards or accolade is icing on the cake and a major feather to add to any breeder, exhibitor, handler or owner’s cap!
Although it is a major production to put together the high level of quality and numbers of dogs that we showcase at these shows, it is well worth the work because the dogs deserve being in the spotlight for the world to see.
We look forward to another great outing with our dogs and our owners at the grandest canine event in the country, the new and improved, the 2016 AKC National Championships sponsored by Royal Canin.
This will be the last blog for a little over a week, until Monday December 19th when I return from these shows and hope to have lots to share with all of you.
December 10th
An Evaluation Compared A Year Later
Evaluations of litters are only worth the time and effort if they are followed up on to see if the projections made at 7 ½ weeks old hold any water at a year old.
I just completed one of those ‘time spans’ with an outside litter that was brought to me to evaluate last year. An outside litter is one that Chambray was not a part of as a breeder or co-breeder.
In this case, a Chambray stud dog was used in the breeding and the dam’s owner hired our services to evaluate the litter at the appropriate age.
Since we keep records for every evaluation ever done here at Chambray Acres, it just so happens that 6 out of the 7 puppies in this litter ended up signing up for our training services and we were able to keep up with those and perform an evaluation of those 6 dogs after they were a year old to see how accurate the diagnoses at 7 ½ weeks turned into reality at a year.
First of all the dam used in the breeding was of average conformational quality. She was lacking in substance and bone and was a bit narrow in the front and somewhat cow-hocked in the rear. Her head was a bit snippy with little stop at the brow. The male used was solid at the rear with a typical Chambray rear, front was excellent and type and bone was above moderate. The dog finished his AKC champion’s title before he was 2 years old.
Out of the 7 puppies only 2 fared well enough in their composite scores to be classified as minimal show material. The rest of the puppies were inconsequential as far as show prospects.
The dam’s owner wanted to keep a female from the litter to ‘maybe show and later breed’ and the rest of the litter was to be sold as pets.
My recommendations were to sell everything from the litter because the female they were going to keep was no better off than the dam used in the breeding. “Place all these puppies and use the income from the sale to invest in a high caliber female puppy from a show breeder”.
The female puppy in question had a very narrow front, very tight rear thighs and cow-hocked as well, actually worse than the dam.
Only 2 make puppies in the litter of 7 ended up with good rears, all the rest were some degree of cow-hock and also very close quartered thighs.
So, the outcome was that they indeed kept that one female puppy and later some of the other puppies attended our training facility with the owners of those puppies inquiring as to the possibility of showing their puppies.
At a year old, the dam’s owner brought the female dog they had kept for me to look at and see if she was worthy of showing. The evaluation at 7 ½ weeks old was right on! The dog was severely cow-hocked and very close quartered in the rear thighs. The front had atrocious east/west feet placement and very narrow between the elbows. Everything covered as a puppy was now thrice more pronounced!
The owner wanted to know if they bred her to one of my other top champion dogs, would she be able to have better puppies. My advice was that she was not of any quality to breed and that the breeding had actually gone backwards for the breed in general because several of the other puppies also had the same ‘bad news’ delivered to their owners about showing and breeding those dogs.
I ended up evaluating 5 other dogs from that breeding and none actually made it to showing because they were all so behind the eight ball. Even the 2 males that were decent could not stand in the same ring with the dogs showing there now. It was like time had left them behind because they looked like dogs that were showing 25 years ago.
It is sad when new owners want to go further with the breed and are severely limited because of the quality of the dogs they purchased. Fortunately, several of these owners are now armed with more information about the breed and the standard for show and breeding quality and hopefully their next dog will come from an established show breeder with some successful credentials.
December 9th
Let's End Fake News!
One of our readers had it right! The Anti-Information League and their affiliate the Non-Existent Channel News did indeed run the ‘Labrador……..No Longer #1 Dog’ blog from yesterday’s Chambray Blogging Off as their lead story!
There have been calls by PETA & MEAT-A-No and other ‘animals for voter’s rights’ groups to demonstrate and to cause other bodily harm to anyone not considered an animal.
Dozens and dozens of their card carrying members have been seen driving past the front of Chambray Acres…………………..most of them, speeding way too fast for our security cameras to identify who the drivers and their passengers are of said
vehicles…………….many of them are seen on the video replays as driving one way in the morning and then driving the other way in the evening. It is has not been ascertained as to why this two way trafficking is taking place, but trafficking in any fashion is now one of the fundamentalist ‘Isms’ that will not be tolerated……………..although ‘trafficking’ is not spelled with an ‘ism’…………………………….anything even close to an ‘ism’ is now included when flying about the country, on all airlines……………….with ‘pessimism’ heading the charts as the most deplorable of the bunch!
All those ‘animals for full facial recognition’ movement types/tykes are calling for an amendment to the constitution where armed citizens wearing any type of a disguise such as camos while shooting ducks, must sound a 100-megaton blow horn 10 seconds before firing their weapons of mass destruction at the poor, defenseless, mostly homeless flocks of birds………………many of those ducks having all their duckies in a row behind them.
Taking a stand against Labradors being the #1 dog in the country, are untold numbers numbering in the untold numbers as masses and masses of one person are out patrolling the streets as observers to ensure that Labradors keep a safe distance from any and all Chihuahuas. Even if Chihuahuas are not in the proximity, Labradors must keep their distance of over 1000 body lengths. Getting closer than that doubles the fine for the ‘too close for comfort law’. Fines can and will be levied without Chihuahuas in sight, because it is figured that they are somewhere in hiding and just because they can’t be seen, doesn’t mean that they are not there somewhere!
The urgent news broadcast broke the news that drones are now being employed to count any and all Labradors to ascertain their illegitimacy or lack of legitimacy at claiming to be the winner of the newest countdown as to which breed is really or not really #1. These drones are armed with laser beams that drive the dogs super wild because they can’t catch up and grab the little light illuminations laser induced lumen lighting displays.
It has not been ascertained on whether the use of drones is in accordance to the Geneva Accord On The Humane Ascertainment Of Animalistic Ritualistic Numerations Treaty…………………………the act of deciphering whether it is or not within the scope and powers of the GAOTHAOARNT will more than likely take several decades from now to ascertain……………in the meantime, drones are a go! Like in go, go do your thing! Take pictures, bomb the living daylights out of whatever is in the way, sneak a peak in your neighbor’s window, count dogs, drive dogs crazy with the little lights and so forth until several decades pass and we have a ruling that will be appealed and sent back to the committee………..well, you get the drift here.
The Chambray Blogging Off blog set off the loudest tempest that registered on Mohs Scale Of Hardness to Talc, equaling the softest of the members of the Mickey Mohs Club………………………….that resounding sound was the mention of the Kennedy conspiracy thang……………….coming in 2nd was the KFC chickens walking around headless with no feathers and hooked up to all those tubes, keeping them alive to live another day until they have the tubes removed to be served up at the neighborhood fast food places.
There seems to be a connection with these two coming in 1st and 2nd and that is that both start with the letter K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmmm, maybe we have another conspiracy going on, if only we can come up with a 3rd K, let’s see what has 3 K’s that we know of?
So, for now Labradors are still in hiding in 2nd place since 1st place has been officially vacated.
The real #2 breed of dog, that information being kept secret is now appealing to the SCOTUSK9 to be declared the real #2, which would then put the Labrador in real limbo because it would then have no real designation!
So, it seems that Labradors are now in ‘no man’s land’, which incidentally has been found to contain 20% of the natural resources of the country and now will be gobbled up by the Feds even though 200 years ago it was shoved down the pike of native folk as ‘their reservations’ because no one wanted that ‘no man’s land’……………..so just who are the ‘Indian givers’ now?
Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company………………be it KKK, PETA, KFC………see you real soon…………ya’ll come back now…………………….10-4……………….may the force be with you!
This is the official END TO FAKE NEWS, starting right here at Chambray Acres.............let's see how many follow suit!
December 6th
Fake News Feedback
OMG, had me in stitches LMAOROTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Trish
Great job Herzon, here’s the thing, it all sounded so real! Goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover! MC
Every so often, you come up with a gem! I know that your mission is to educate and mentor people that want to know, so your wit and mental twists are kept in check, so when you let loose it is something to behold! JK
What a roller coaster ride, just like the recent elections, just funnier when it’s about dogs! JC
He-larious to the max. Where do you come up with this stuff? I forwarded the link to all my non-dog friends that are into all that lunacy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the conspiracy theory channel doesn’t pick up your blog and use it as a News Release! Ted K
Superb writing, you straddled the political lines and created a ‘blurred vision’ with your puns and sarcasm. I’ve told you before; you should have been into your true calling, a writer! NM
To be honest, don’t worry about being left behind on anything, it seems that the cutting edge is where you dwell the best in, be it your acid rock humor or Labradors and from your training innovations, just about all I have seen that you are involved in is way ahead of its time and ahead of the rest as well. JM
Just when I think that I have read the best you have to offer, you go and whip up another concoction and this one leaves me wanting more! Val
December 6th
May The Fake News Be Yours
This will be my first-ever attempt at ‘fake news’…………………….yep, fearing of being left out in the cold and as most of you know or don’t know or who knows, I don’t do cold well.
In fact there is this conspiracy theory that our competitors are using giant cold air blowers at the venues where I go to show our dogs in an attempt at freezing me out of contention, but that may be another blog someday, for now, I will try my best or worst depending on which end of the spectrum you dwell in to catch up to the trillions of people that are writing these great ‘fake news’ articles and blogs.
So, here we go…………………………late, late breaking news just came in at 12:01 AM, or is that early, early breaking news?
Well, whatever since real facts don’t matter anymore with anything written or reported…………..the thing of life and death consequences is that Labradors are no longer the #1 dog in the country!
Real or imagined after 25 years atop of the canine leader board, they are no longer the top dog!
As soon as the newest 2016 numbers were published by the AKC, there was a recount demanded by Chihuahua owners fearing for their dog’s lives that so many of these overgrown, loud barking and hairy breed of dogs, Labradors have overpopulated and will eventually overrun the general population of other dogs. An owner of these little green card dogs was quoted as saying “What if all of the Labradors were set free, they would hunt down every poor, cuddly Taco Bell dog and eat them!”
So, the numbers for this year have been suspended and there is no official #1 dog until every single Labrador has been accounted for. There is really no telling how many there really are. As far as we are concerned, we just witnessed 6 of them last night at our training classes and there were another 8 here for training, so we know for sure that 14 Labradors are for real!
Now, everyday dozens of owners send me photos of their dogs, but with all these conspirators gathering no moss, all those dogs could be one and the same, just different people claiming to be the owners of the same dog in the photos. Hey, with Photo Shop, it is so easy to color a yellow dog black, chocolate, silver and back to yellow again, so right there you can have the same dog voting 4 times in different colors!
Can’t believe what you can’t see in person and even then there is so much smoke and mirrors everywhere that what you see isn’t what you are going to get and then there’s the Alternate Reality, where there is another world right next to ours with the same number of people and Labradors, so whatever number is thrown out there, it has to be multiplied by 2X!
So, just to keep the earth from screeching to a halt, Labradors have temporarily been designated as being #2 and the real number #2 breed now relegated to being #3 and so on down the line until we reach the Chihuahuas………………………….they will be given the symbol of the dearly departed Prince so that Labradors will not know exactly how many there really are or in what place they really stand.
Hey, can’t eat what you don’t know exists! So this move seems to have quelled the near riots that were planned or not planned by the owners of the little foreign dogs!
Since the AKC can vouch for these little tyke dogs having registration papers, none of them will be deported.
Meanwhile, Labrador owners are now in a stew, chowder or gumbo depending on gastronomical inclinations…………………………they are demanding ‘real’ numbers to be posted!
Armed Labrador owners have been witnessed shooting ducks at wilderness lakes and marshes. The real concern is not so much the shootings, but more because these owners were wearing camos and at times could not be seen from the trees and bushes that they were lurking behind!
There have been no reported sighting of clowns yet, but since clowns can also obtain at will camouflage outfits, there’s no real way of knowing if all those Labrador owners seen shooting those ducks were not clowns dressed up as owners in camos!
Back in the city, hundreds maybe several hundred million Labrador owners have been seen in parks and walking around casing their neighborhoods…………………more than likely planning some type of nefarious undertaking when nightfall makes their black dogs invisible. There’s no telling what their plans are because once they finish walking around they all scurry back inside their homes where there’s plenty of time and reason to plan all types of conspiracies unbeknownst to man, woman or child.
Most of those man, woman and child are probably also part of the radiation emitting vapor trails or the Kentucky Fried Chicken tube-fed chickens and for sure all of them are in on it with the Kennedy fiasco ‘man on the knoll’ thing.
As soon as there is more word on which breed the popular vote adds up to being the most and then it is ratified by the Labrador Canine Electoral Induced College……………..keeping in mind that no one really knows how many Labradors actually went to college, so the uneducated vote may or may not have something to say or not, that still stands, sits and lies to be seen.
We, as concerned citizens and more importantly, as Labrador owners will stay on top of all the hubris being spread that is now being used instead of peanut butter………………….since it has been determined that peanuts are not really real, they have been purported to be figments of the imagination of Washington Carver and it cannot be proven to exist because what’s inside those Skippy and Jiffy jars is a secret mind controlling substance discovered by the Disney movie……………………Flubber of all things!
Those in supreme power, the Feds in control using Homeland Again Security are planning to lure untold numbers of Labrador owners to a planned gathering in Orlando next week, where each Labrador will be numbered and their owner or whoever is holding the dog will be issued a corresponding number that they must wear for identification purposes. Each dog will be paraded around so that owners of other breeds, especially the Chihuahua owners can take photos and document each of those dogs, who the handler is and from checking out the dossier catalog, who owns and who bred each of those purported Labradors.
Sooner or later or maybe never, we will get to the bottom of the barrel with all these shenanigans being orchestrated by those lurking in shadows, counting sheep, and keeping score.
When the new adulterated numbers come in, we will be the first to manipulate, distort and disseminate as incorrectly as possible so that others can take all that information to their bank!
December 5th
Sleepless Nights In Miami
The All-Paramount Litter Evaluations & Placements Of Chambray Puppies.
The critical steps to being successful for the taking of a ‘born’ champion and completing the journey to its AKC title are breeding, raising, training, conditioning, evaluating, placing and managing/handling those ‘gifted’ dogs to their destiny, their championships.
Boy that was a load and a half to type out and even a bigger load in real life to accomplish. There are so many things along the way that can derail the best laid plans or intentions………….way too many to cover in this short blog, so I will save all those detours for a rainy day.
In the last couple of years, there has been a shift in importance dealing with those ‘critical steps’ mentioned in paragraph one from above.
In the beginning………..back in the 1980’s it was definitely ‘breeding’ that was first and foremost the most critical of those all-important steps that could lead to success. Back then, I was super lucky of 1 puppy in 3 litters showed what was needed to acclaim it to be as ‘good or better’ than the parents. As I think/look back, that probably wasn’t saying much because the parents themselves were not of all-star caliber.
Through the years, those odds became more favorable to our ways and means and the percentage rate of quality produced would ramp up a nice incline and lead us to where we are today that around 90% of puppies produced are displaying exceptional show quality.
That is a leaps and bounds upward statistic……………….going from around 3% showing any quality then, to 90% topping out at superior quality now…………………that’s in less than 28 years that have lapsed since our first forays into the dog show world. Of course, we won’t take my word for it; we will let all the Chambray successes be the ‘judge and jury’ for these claims.
So, the ‘breeding’ aspect seems to be under ‘standard operating’ protocol and pretty much what you see is what you get………………………a great thing to deal with, because the results exceed the expectations!
The ‘raising’ aspect is also pretty much on autopilot, with our Owner’s Program operating as smooth as can be expected with a large ‘people oriented’ entity going forward as a collective. There are small bumps along the way that are ironed out or removed as needed and this part of the program seems to be purring along at ‘beyond’ expectations as well.
The training/conditioning sector is at the top of the mountain for Chambray Labradors. All cylinders smoothly synchronized like no other training vehicle can match ends with. So, an all go here with bigger and better plans in the works for the future.
The managing and handling dog show program is the business model that others would like to duplicate, but in reality, cannot. As the beer commercial classically states, it doesn’t get any better than this. No other Labrador handler’s group has the ability to handle and be as successful as the Chambray Team has been in the last 10 years. The proof is in eating the pudding with the unparalleled number of Labrador championed in the last 5 years……….31!
So, that brings us to the two areas, ‘evaluating’ and ‘placing’ that still cause major consternation!
I clump the two of these together into side-by-side cubby holes…………………………they go hand-in-hand like bread and butter and cherries and chocolates…………………you can’t have one without the other.
For us at Chambray, the evaluations are a piece of cake, for Ma and Pa Herzon and Jessie too, make that a carrot cake!
Yep, got it down to a science………………………..Jessie using her ‘magic’ hands to do the honors on the table with each puppy……………………….Johanna does the videography or photography and the Little Old Wine Make, me………………does the narrating for those in the audience. That audience has grown from one or two to half a dozen to a dozen or more with each litter evaluation we perform.
The thing is that we get it right 99% of the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just don’t fail anymore, we call it a top show pick and it will grow into the projected right on cue. We declare it to be#1 and it ultimately proves us right, time and time again. Of, we disagree amongst ourselves about which is #1 or #2 and vice versa, but we are a consensus between 3 very opinionated people and we get it right!
So, what’s the hang up along the long and winding road you may ask………………………..if all the aspects are right on, what could give me an upset consternation?
Well, one second after we are done with the evaluations comes the consternation!
As sure as tooting your horn, the next 2 or 3 days after that ‘family oriented’ successful-as-always-evaluation is done, my days are full of second guessing, flip-flopping, pondering, re-reading emails, scouring over the Interview Applications that are taken from each visitor at Chambray, with each visitor that meets up with us at a dog show…………………….lying awake at night counting potential new owners jumping over little fences and muttering to myself during the day…………………all because the worst part of the entire process of breeding, raising, training, conditioning, evaluating, placing and managing/handling those ‘gifted’ dogs to their destiny, their championships is once again underway and there hasn’t been much headway into this sector as there has been in all the other areas of going from point A to the crowning of a new champion!
Nope, it still the same old, same old ‘not knowing’ whether the right decision is being made in placing one of those precious commodities that validates the vast amount of time and energy that is poured into the Chambray Labradors Owner’s Program for the Betterment of the Breed!
So, here we are once again at the proverbial fork in the road, another evaluation for a real ‘looker’ of a litter on Saturday! Then guess what happens?
Did I mention that I also have nightmares with the Puppy Placement Process?
December 5th
Clear Days Ahead
Clarification To The Abbreviation Blog.
It looks like I created a little confusion with my intended clarity blog.
Here is the order of awards at All-Breed, Specialties and big events such as the old Eukanuba, the new Royal Canin and at Westminster…………..plus other regional shows that have very large entries.
All-Breed Dog Shows
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BOB ~ Best Of Breed
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BOS~ Best Of Opposite Sex
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Select Grand Champion Male & Select Grand Champion Female
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JAM and JAE Judge’s Awards of Merit & Judge’s Award of Excellence
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Labrador Specialties
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BISS ~ Best In Specialty Show
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BOSS ~ Best of Opposite Sex at Specialty Show
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SGCh Select Grand Champion Male and Select GCh Female
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JAMSS ~ Judge’s Award of Merit Specialty Show
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All of the above awards are to be lauded and congratulated for their achievements.
I received a few messages inquiring why I give precedence to the BIS as being the most important of the addendums that can be added to a dog’s name over a BISS at a specialty.
It goes without saying that winning a Best Of Breed-BISS (Best In Show Specialty) at a LRC specialty is a huge honor, one that I would treasure just as much as any other great award made to any of our dogs.
However, BISS are commonly won as compared to winning a Best In Show at an All-Breed show. There are dozens of LRC specialties held all over the country throughout the year, which means that for sure, one dog or bitch will walk away with a BISS……………………………………there are over 3000 all-breed dog shows a year and maybe, just maybe there may be one Labrador per year that will snag a Golden Fleece hanging high on that precarious tree branch!
Some LRC specialties have huge entries, there have been many with over 1000 Labradors entered and then there are LRC specialties with less 50 total entries, so there is a ‘diminishing returns’ to some of the BISS awards since defeating several dozen dogs pales in comparison to winning a BIS where there may be 500 to 2000 All-Breed dogs showing, with many of those dogs holding high rankings from their respective groups.
I hope this blog makes sense to some.
December 4th
What's In Your Abbreviation?
The AKC National Championships sponsored by Royal Canin are less than two weeks away in Orlando FL on December 17th and there is much excitement in the air in anticipation to the newness that awaits all of us there. As I have covered in various blogs and updates, this year and from now on, Royal Canin replaces Eukanuba as the sponsor for the premier breeder’s canine event of the year.
For this blog I will be covering some of the titles and designation that many of the dogs that will be competing there will be adorned with.
Champion’s titles are earned in head to head completion, first from the classes to achieve the AKC’s Champion’s title which is abbreviated as Ch before a dog’s name.
The following are those conformation titles that the AKC awards for dogs to sport as part of their official name:
Ch ~ This is the first official conformation title that a dog can be awarded by competing at AKC All-Breed Shows, Sporting Group Shows and Breed Shows (Specialties). The dog must win at least 15 points, with 2 of the wins coming in Major-Pointed shows (with different judges) and there must be at least a 3rd different judge in the mix.
GCh ~ after finishing the required points for the Ch, then a new champion must accumulate 25 new points, with 3 majors and 3 wins over other champions.
GChB ~ a total of 100 points are needed to accrue the Bronze Grand Champion’s title
GChS ~ Continuing on, 200 points for the Silver Grand Championship
GChG ~ oh boy………………400 points for the Gold
GChP ~ 600 points............yeah, don’t hold your breath for a Labrador to accumulate any of these Platinum!
GChp2 ~ 1601 points are needed for a 2 to be added to Platinum, also dogs probably will be 15 years or older still showing to get here!!!!!
Hold on to your seats, a Papillion has 2350 points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Labrador with the ‘mostest’ has 540 (a Gold and 60 points away from the ‘low end’ platinum at 600)
Chambray’s top claim to fame dog, BIS BBE GChS Chambrays Celestial N Counter ‘Kika’ has 275 points which places her as the 20th highest Grand Champion Labrador in the country.
Now those are the ‘official’ AKC bestowed abbreviation that can be affixed to a rightful dog. There are numerous ‘other’ addendum's that are attributed to dogs to announce great achievements in their showing career. These adornments are hung on the dog by the owners and breeders pretty much at will and there is no accountability as to their proper use or not, so a grain of faith is used and we trust that the affixes are worthy to be worn.
Okay here goes:
BIS ~ This is the Best In Show award at an All-Breed dog show…………………..this is the whopper of all affixes! Yep, this is the really big one that not many Labradors will ever be able to claim because there are whole years that come and go and nary a Labrador is anointed with a BIS! To show the extreme rareness of the occasion there have only ever been 2 Labradors born in Florida that achieved this ‘highness’ designation, BIS BBE Ch Chambrays Out Of The Ruff ‘Hogan’ and his granddaughter BIS BBE GChS Chambrays Celestial N Counter
RBIS ~ This is a more recent designation award that can be added to dog’s name, it is awarded to the runner up to a Best In Show at an All-Breed dog show.
BISS ~ This is awarded to the Best Of Breed dog at a Labrador Retriever Specialty……………….a dog show just for Labradors.
BOSS ~ This is awarded to the Best Of Opposite Sex at a Labrador Retriever Specialty.
SGCh-E ~ Select Grand Champion Eukanuba now SGrCh-R Select Grand Champion Royal Canin
SGCh-W ~ Select Grand Champion Westminster
The Select Grand Champion awards are given to the dogs after Best Of Breed (BOB) and Best Of Opposite Sex (BOSS) have been awarded. After which Judges Awards of Merits (JAM) & Judges Awards of Excellence (JAE) are given out at special large All-Breed gatherings such as the Eukanuba (now the Royal Canin) and at Westminster according the total number of dogs competing.
JAM & JAE~ Judges Award of Merit & Judges Award of Excellence see above.
JAMSS ~ These are awarded at Labrador Retriever Specialties after Best Of Breed, Best Of Opposite Sex and Select Grand Champion awards are given to a male and a female.
BBE Ch ~ This means that the handler had to be the breeder and also the owner of the dog to all the points required from the BBE class at the dog shows to become a champion. The AKC bestows a special medal award for dogs that are championed solely from the BBE class. When a breeder/owner/handler has championed 5 different dogs from the BBE class, the AKC bestows upon them the prestigious BBE Silver Medallion and then a BBE Gold Medallion for 10 BBE champions.
In Florida, the Herzons under the Chambray name are the only BBE Silver Medallion breeder/owner/handlers with 5 Labrador champions from the BBE class…………….plus we are the only Labrador breeders with a BBE Gold Medallion for 10 BBE champions.
So, now armed with all those abbreviated titles, awards and designation, here are the Chambray ‘specials’ with their ‘adornments’ that will be among the elite champions competing for the big prize at the Royal Canine event coming up.
BISS GrChS Chambrays Tucker Everlasting CGC JAMSS (CGC = Canine Good Citizen awarded by the AKC)
BBE GrChB Chambrays Eventful N Counter
BISP GrCh Chambrays Tank’d On The Boulevard
GrCh Chambrays Duke Destined For Greatness CGC
BBE Ch Chambray’s Where Eagles Dare
Ch Chambrays Maxed N Counter JAMSS
Ch Chambrays Shining Diamond Dazzle
Ch Chambrays Midnight Delta Lady
Chambray Labradors has had 3 dogs awarded the SGCh-E at past Eukanubas with BBE GrCh Chambrays First N Counter SGrCh taking the first ever at the 2012 Eukanuba, her sister Kika would take the same award in 2013 and BBE GrChB Chambrays Ruff Jewel Walter SGrCh JAE JAMSS coming away with the SGrCh award in 2015 at the last Eukanuba shows, in addition he also was awarded the Best Of Breed Handled Bred By Exhibitor award. Walter also was awarded a JAE at the 2014 Eukanuba and a JAMSS at the LRS show in 2014 too.
So, with much anticipation we head for these most prestigious dog shows of the year looking for a good outing and maybe garnering a few more of those abbreviated titles, designations and awards for our dogs.
December 3rd
The Chambray Way or the Other Way
There has been considerable feedback once again on the premise that champions are born blog……………once again because I brought this issue up before and more or less had the same type of response mostly from owners of said ‘born champions’!
Yes, the eventual home…………..owners………. that a top show prospect is placed with makes a huge difference in the long range outcome of that dog’s life, including its champion’s potential to be realized.
The first step in making sure that champions are born is having the knowhow in producing them!
The 2nd step is identifying those puppies that have what it takes to take the ball all the way for a touchdown.
The ‘very’ crucial 3rd step for Chambray Labradors Puppy Placement Program is the actual choice of where those top ranked puppies will be placed!
I state for ‘Chambray Labradors’ because the overwhelming majority of Labrador breeders follow the tried and true mantra of ‘keeping the best and then placing the rest’…………………….so that there is no choice in placing the best, because the best stays at home with the breeder, who will take that puppy to its destiny……………………a championship!
With our Puppy Placement Program, it is up to me, 100% to choose where each potential show champion will be placed with.
So, that becomes the toughest of those prior mentioned 3 agendas of……………. 1, producing those champions………………….2, identifying those potential champions………………and of course the toughest part, choosing wisely where to place that valuable cargo, with the chosen new owners.
That mistake of wrongly placing a puppy along that arduous process will lead to a great one that will be lost or misplaced.
Now, having done my best job in those 3 sectors, it then becomes a leap of faith for each of those highly scrutinized puppies to be cared for, groomed for the future by the owners to fulfill their natural born destiny to earn that eventual champion’s title.
That process of course is made much easier with Chambray Labradors Owner’s Program for the Betterment of the Breed, something that comes with all that acumen with the breed is the ability to identify which ones really have what it takes and then choosing wisely where each puppy will call home.
In the entire Labrador world, there is no other program quite like our very specialized breed program for producing, raising, training, conditioning and then showing those awesome puppies and dogs.
There are great top Labrador breeders producing world class dogs.
There are great trainers and conditioning programs for dogs.
There are great handlers at the dog shows.
Chambray Labradors is the only top Labrador breeder that is also at the top with training and conditioning and then putting it together in the show ring with the winningest team of Labrador handlers in the country.
We take each owner that has been chosen to participate with our various programs and work individually with each and their dog, giving each of those owners’ very specialized mentorship and education about the dog that they have and what it will take to ensure that the dog realizes its natural born potential.
This all leads to the successes that Chambray has been posting year after year as the top champion Labrador breeder in the country. It is part of a concerted effort by all those chosen to be part of the process and the program.
There have been quite a few puppies placed that maybe I failed to identify accurately the intent and purposes of the people that the puppies were placed with, because here is where the most failures for born champions not to make it to their destination. The success rate for puppies placed as potential show champions is less than 30% when owners go off on their own tangent and do their own thing!
The success rate for those puppies placed as future show champions is about 75%......................where the owners followed the program! The difference of those percentages bodes exceedingly great for Chambray! That is twice+ as many dogs taken all the way our way and sadly, way too many sacrificed by poor decision making processes away from the Chambray way!
There is nothing like success to boast about, but it does bother me to no ends the ones that could have 'been' that instead end up 'has been' as champions!
December 2nd
A Day At The Farm
There are all types of people breeding Labrador Retrievers………..from one end of the spectrum, clear across to the other end where the sun doesn’t shine!
Yep, I have seen and heard from all of them…………from the real good ones to the ones to those that I don't wish to pass judgement on.
I guess that in every endeavor, be it dog breeding, politics, beach combing, truffle digging, name it there will be all kinds doing their thing, some good, some bad and some kind of meddling some where’s in the middle of the heap!
I had two of those polar opposites today come by……….one planned and one a drive up.
There’s a sign at the gate that boldly states that we don’t do drive ups………………………..No Appointment No Service in bold black lettering on a white background!
Yet, there they were blasting their horn away, parked in front of the other sign that also boldly states DO NOT PARK IN FRONT OF THE GATE!
One of the notes to take when writing for a large group of folk is to keep the content at an 8th grade reading level, so I do my absolute best when penning these blogs to adhere to that dictum so that all the nice people that follow this blog will have a good understanding of what I have to share.
As evident by the those at my gate today, there will always be those that can’t read big bold black on white lettering.
However, being the peaceful, social civil-minded type, I got up from my comfy chair in front of my computer and strolled the distance to the front gate……………………..besides all the noise they were making was riling the jellybeans out of the dogs here at the peaceful Chambray Inn, so instead of hollering at the dogs to hush, I instead quelled the disturbance by meeting it tete a tete………….in horsemen’s terms, grabbing the bull by the horns.
The rowdy bunch was now all out of the truck and standing at the gate, 2 adults and 4 wild-willy kids playing punch buggy with each other and darting in and out of the street!
“We’d be headin to the Keys and thought we stop by and see your famous champion dogs, cause we also be Labrador breeders too……………..only thing is we be using our dogs to round up the livestock and not to be showing them to be pretty at them shows!” the leader of the pack would announce.
Saved By The Bell!
Just then, right on cue and on time was my next APPOINTMENT!
“Well, maybe on your way back from the Keys you can set up a visit here with me at Chambray Acres, because right now I have an appointment with someone that rode 5 hours from Elkton Fl to meet with me about getting one of those future champion dogs.” Was my rightly tuned reply.
The rather large man continues on “Well, can’t we just look around a bit while you take care of your visitor?”
“Well, there’s ways and there’s ways and I take it very personal to take my time with each and every folk that is invited to come spend some time with me and my dogs and right now, it is this family’s special time.” Having said that, I opened the gate a bit and welcomed in my guest for their appointed time under the old Orchid Tree here at Chambray.
The other family moseyed on down the road with the roar of the big dual wheeled 4X4!
December 2nd
Try To Explain The Inconceivable.
Good Luck!
Thirty days has December and then it’s the New Year!
That’s it, that’s all that’s left of the current year.
Just like that, 2016 is almost history!
For Chambray Labradors, like the Timex Watch, ‘we just keep on ticking’…………………however, like a good pickup truck, ‘we just keep on trucking’ sounds even more impressive!
Although our show successes ring far and wide, it’s the wonderful home companions that brings us so much joy…………………..that’s because all the great Chambray show dogs that are in the spotlight across this great country of ours with top rankings, awards, accolades and more…………………….they are all someone’s loyal best buddy, best pet ever!
That’s the end product of the Chambray story!
All these great loving pets double as the top Labradors in the country!
That’s tops in 2012, 2014, 2015 and now an unprecedented 4th year, 2016 riding higher than any other Labrador Retriever breeder in the 50 glorious states!
There are folk from all over that want to come and visit the ‘kennel’ at Chambray Labradors to see all these beyond stellar dogs……………………………….talk about a difficult explanation……………………….but I try “All those top ranked, top producing, top champions……………….they don’t live in a kennel…………………..they all live with their owners………………in their owner’s homes……………………as loving pets, first and foremost!” I do my best to explain.
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???????????????????” Dumbfounded for sure most will exclaim!
How can that be? All other Labrador breeders with top champions as well, have kennels full of their wonderful dogs, of their top producing stud dogs, and their ‘brood bitches’ that are bred to those top producing stud dogs and have litters and litters of awesome, top quality show puppies!
“What do you mean none of the sires and dams actually live at Chambray?” some that are totally aghast will blurt out!
“No one does that…………………no breeder operates that way…………..do they?” others will hark some more.
Well, if they could just speak to all the owners of all those wonderful Chambray dogs, then they would be getting it straight from the source, straight from the horse’s mouth……………….nothing like word of mouth from the perfect mouth pieces……………….the great folk that own those dogs that are their loving pets and then those same dogs go out and whip up a frenzy at the conformation shows hosted by the AKC, UKC, IABCA FCI and any and all other abbreviated clubs, organizations or whatever group puts up dog competitions where selecting the best examples of the breed is the goal.
By proclamation at all those canine gatherings, the Chambray dogs reign supreme …………….the proclamation by the judges that all add up to Chambray being the #1 champion Labrador Retriever breeder 3 straight years and 4 years out of the last 5 in the entire country, not just the state of Florida!
So, once again, another year that we rule the roost in the sunshine state, NUMERO UNO again and again and again, 20 years straight now and going stronger than ever, almost on autopilot for being the state’s number one champion Labrador breeder…………………………..setting a winning spree of epic proportions, now standing at 143 consecutive dog show weekends of winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, some of the other fellows celebrate with back-to-back weekends of winning and here we are with 143 of those back-to-back-to-back and back again for more.
Meanwhile the number of lifetime champions by Chambray now towers at 56………………dwarfing by 3 times as many or more whichever claims second place. Just alone in the last 5 years there have been 31 new champions produced…………………….that’s more champions in 5 years than anyone else has ever produced in a lifetime of breeding and showing.
Now, try and explain that sequence of events to someone coming in from the cold…………………the temperate or even from the hotter places on our beloved planet!
Nah, don’t even try because I have been turning blue in the face for years doing my best to explain our Owner’s Programs……………………how all our dogs live with their owners, that there really isn’t a breeding kennel with several dozen breeding females lurking about waiting to come into season every 6 months and then produce yet another litter of puppies that will be kennel raised among several other litters that are ‘underfoot’…………………all the time!
Nah, it doesn’t work that way at Chambray! The few, the proud, the best of the best of our girls, which each live in the comfort and loving homes of their owners…………………….whenever the owners are ready, then they will be under consideration to have that ‘one’ special litter that will perpetuate the great qualities of the breed! However, there are so many of those wonderful girls and yet only 5 to 7 of them will be called upon per year to be the ones that pass on the superior genes to the next generation of Chambray puppies.
Then there are the males…………..thousands of them to choose from! Not only the absolute best from Chambray…………………the ABSOLUTE BEST FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD!
Yep, we have all those in mind and those from Chambray………….they too live with their owners, in their owners homes being the loving pets that they are and yet they are the Top Stud Dogs, Top Producers in the Country, let alone Florida!
Now, try explain all that to folk that ask that don’t know any other way than the old way………………the tried and true blue in the face kennel way versus the Chambray Way.
GOOD LUCK! Like the Borg from Star Trek, “Resistance is futile”………………………I know, I have been trying my best for years to illuminate and yet the blank stares continue!
.
December 1st
Butter Is Churned, Champions Are Born
I recently had someone say to me “You guys are really churning out the champions over there!”
Butter is churned!
Labrador Retriever champions are born!
They either have it or they don’t!
Now, there are some borderline dogs that are dragged and traipsed over hill, over dale, over the river and through the woods until the poor cows drop dead trying to get home…………………………oh, they finally are shown enough to where there are the required points accumulated………………….heck right here in Florida there was the fruity pebbles lady that had a couple of dogs shown to over 300 to 400 shows and one dog finally was spared the agony of defeat at 7+ years old, with over a dozen different handlers, a small fortune bankrolling it and it too would be able to have an AKC champion’s title in front of his name………………..the dog was not BORN A CHAMPION…………………….it was ACCRUED A CHAMPION!
So, to those that can’t see the light because they are so shrouded in the deepest fog, champions are NOT CHURNED!
Champions are born, years before they are born! Sound confusing?
If you get my implication, then you know what I am talking about! If it needs explain…………..let me explain it to you.
There are close to ½ a million Labrador puppies born a year! That’s 500,000…………………over 200,000 are registered with the AKC…………………..don’t look for that figure as the AKC keeps it wrapped up in the Ft Knox depository! Just take my word for it.
From those gargantuan numbers that are BORN each year, less than 100 Labradors achieve their AKC champion’s title yearly with the AKC……………………………………that’s a smidgen of a drop in the bucket compared to all those that were born.
There are thousands and thousands that are taken to shows all over the country…………………close to 3,000 shows annually and less than 100 will reach the promised land.
The overwhelming majority of those that make it to that vaulted elevation are produced by a small cadre of the same breeders each year.
Once in a rare purple moon being eclipsed by a comet that comes around every 1000 years, new comers will add their 2 cents worth to that tally, but by far and large, it’s the same small numbers of breeders producing the vast majority of the dogs that are destined to wear that title justly and proudly.
Those truly are the dogs that were born champions by the judicious pairings based on layers of expertise accumulated over years of study and hard work with the breed.
Butter is churned daily in farms all over the country, Labrador champions are born sparingly to those that have the best of the breed in mind when considering any breeding.