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This is the saga of how my lady decided to get a Lakeland Terrier. This saga is so silly -- it’s unbelievable that anyone put it in writing. Her Lakeland obsession is embarrassing. Ripley, Ripley, Ripley – that’s all she ever talked about. Ripley-Believe-It-Or-Don’t. Jack Russell Terrier extraordinaire. Previously, America’s best dog, world’s best ratter. Jaws of Death. Hunter-Killer Class. Ripley had severe heart disease and experienced occasional seizures. She was in her fifteenth year when she lost her life on the longest day of the year in 2002. In her 15 years, Ripley survived two cats, anti-freeze (or some other poison), snake-bites, skunk-attack, and countless opossums. After Ripley’s death on 21 June 2002, Kathy visited the Jack Russell Terrier web sites looking for a new JRT. What she read was horrifying. They said: If you have a cat, do not attempt to bring a Jack Russell into your home. Don’t even think about it! The two might live in peace for ten years, and then one day you’ll find a mutilated cat. Could this be? Well, having known Ripley for 15 years (and even though they say that Ripley loved Nut-Meg), she knew that this was true. So another Jack Russell was out of the question. In July Kathy went to the library and checked-out several books on dog breeds. She took the quizzes (several of ‘em) about ‘the right dog for you.’ She looked at photos of dogs of all breeds and read descriptions of every dog-breed in the entire world. More dogs than she knew existed. She told herself, "It doesn’t have to be a terrier." But after weeks of discussion, she knew: It had to be a terrier. The tenacious, irrepressible, dashing criminal of the dog-world: A terrier. WHAT KIND OF TERRIER? More dog books were read. More web sites were visited. And again and again a Lakeland Terrier seemed to be the answer. The web site, www.yourpurebredpuppy.com confirmed that a Lakeland was the dog for this lady, so the Your Purebred Puppy book was ordered. This became her Bible for finding a breeder and, ultimately, for finding a puppy. Thank you, Michele Welton. THE BREEDER SEARCH In the meantime, a search of the world wide web turned-up Checkpoint Kennels in Helsingborg and its owner, the thoughtful and supportive Susanne Andersson. Susanne was extremely helpful and answered dozens of questions about my breed. One problem: Susanne at Checkpoint lived in Sweden! More searching turned-up Great Gables Kennel – The Netherlands. Well, at least she was moving in the right direction. Subsequent searching took her from Europe into Britain, where reside June Webb of Majeika and Nicky Patterson of Auchenhove Kennel. June and Nicky were extremely informative and helpful; and my crazy lady (by now obsessed) contemplated flights to Europe sometime in 2003 for a Lakeland pup. Next problem: The thought of putting a puppy on a trans-Atlantic flight was horrifying. Surely, surely there was one good breeder in the United States. Then one happy day a lady named Pat Rock was discovered right here in the western hemisphere in a place called Virginia. Pat had a litter planned for November 2002, but all the pups were spoken-for. Pat referred the family to Judy McKissick. Kathy was finally looking for a dog somewhere on the American continent. Later that week, she discovered the Quansa Training Forum, the Q-Collar, Manners in Minutes, and Pat Muller. I call her the dog-Nazi, but my lady thinks she’s rather clever when it comes to dog training. Then one evening an amazing thing happened. Nicky Patterson, whose champion Lakelands seemed to set the standard for perfect Lakelands (and who also happens to have some of the best-named dogs in the world) eMailed to say that some of her Auchenhove blood-lines were right here in Texas, with Judy McKissick of Herrington Kennels. AH-HA! HERRINGTON! While waiting to hear from Judy (Vice President of the USLTC), daily visits were made to the Quansa Training Forum. Pat and the Forum members tried [oh how they tried] to dissuade the family from getting a Lakeland Terrier, which Pat calls a criminal, an absolute criminal. INTRODUCTIONS At last, she was about to meet Lakeland Terriers, in person, without having to cross the pond and travel to Europe or the U.K. Imagine: Terriers -- practically in her own backyard. Still, she had to find the perfect breeder and the perfect pup.
ALL IN THE FAMILY Oops. Just that quickly, she was in love with Lakelands. Della was only too proud to show-off her pups; and Boomer and Gretchen were both beautiful, well-behaved, well-adjusted terriers (though Gretchen was in-season and had other things on her mind). An appointment was made to meet Judy McKissick in Houston on Saturday, 28 September 2002. While she waited for the meeting, Kathy continued to visit the Quansa Forum and began an eMail correspondence with Lynn McCain, owner of Tolyn Kennels and head of the USLTC Rescue. LOUIE NEEDS HELP MEET THE PARENTS At the same time, Kathy sent communiqués to Nicky Patterson inquiring about Michael The Navigator and about his parents, Ch. Auchenhove Last Action Hero "Arnie" and Auchenhove Irish Eyes. What she learned was that "Irish loves everything and everybody on this earth, especially food." Arnie was the described as a top dog, who wouldn’t hesitate to chastise the pups at an early age, but who did so in a gentle manner. Good temperaments were confirmed, and she knew that she was getting close to the gene pool that would produce a fine puppy. On the eve of the visit to Herrington it was as if Santa was coming. Kathy didn’t sleep. Their flight left DFW early in the morning, and she arrived at Herrington Kennels before 11:00 a.m. There they were: Eight Lakeland Terriers. Among the group was Dolly, age four-and-a-half, who had recently been placed for rescue and was the victim of a broken home (not to mention victim of a puppy-mill -- her little tail had been docked too short). Judy was so kind to take-in this sweet gal and to find her a new home; but then, that’s what good breeders do.
Who else was there? Miss Jenny, in her fifteenth year, the Grand Dame of the Herrington world. Jenny was lovely. She’d see the other gang members getting ready to storm the fence and off she’d go. Then, a moment later, she’d decide that it was all too much trouble and return to be petted. I don’t think that Jenny had missed too many biscuits in the past year. What a happy, proud gal. Gidget, a.k.a. Ch. Herrington Canadian Mist. Grandmother! The beautiful black girl, and the proud mother of my mommy, U2, and of: B.B. . . . a little blue girl, about six-months old. B.B. was one happy, frisky girl; but Gidget could sure keep her in line. Hugh, or Baby Hughey . . . the red grizzle boy with one of the cutest Lakeland expressions we’ve ever seen. Hugh could be the poster-child for Lakelands everywhere: Happy, loveable, frisky, well-mannered. Everyone loved Hughey, and Hugh loved everyone. Michael, Ch. Auchenhove The Navigator . . . My pop, reigning Alpha member of the Herrington pack. What a stud. If they hadn’t been told, no one would have guessed that this fluffy, blonde creature was Auchenhove’s champion. Michael likes to bark at flying insects. Nothing gets by that perfect set of teeth. Michael is wiggly and likes to have his tummy rubbed. Judy said that she wouldn’t dare reach-down to him in the show ring for fear that he’d roll over and want to be scratched on the belly. Hardly a persnickety show champion -- more like a little, wiggly bear. U2. There she was. My lady fell in love. Ch. Herrington High Flyer. She’s beautiful, happy, and perfect in every way. She was two years old with no prior litters. She’s black & tan; and she’s my mommy. They tell me that Bob, Judy’s husband, is also pretty fond of her -- "loves her to distraction" was the phrase they used. In 2002, U2 was the number ten (10) Lakeland bitch in the entire United States. Am I a lucky dog, or what? Spinner, the little red bitch who was leaving for Pennsylvania to be with her new family. She was a darling bundle of energy. One glimpse of Spinner and you’ll see where she got that name. She does a great spin – dozens, no, hundreds of ‘em, in fact. Tell Spinner that she’s doing a good spin, and she’ll do ten more for you. Spinner is a very happy girl. During the 2002 Montgomery Show, Spinner was delivered to her new home. They’d better be good to her. So there they were. Eight Lakelands, ranging in age from six-months to fourteen-plus years, and ranging in lineage from Dolly’s puppy-mill background (still pretty darn cute) to grand champions. MOMENTARY PEACE THE LONG WAIT On 8 October, 2002, still no word on U2. Liver treats were sent to the prospective parents. On 10 October, she contacted Judy: nothing happening on the Herrington-front (except that Judy brought home Skittles from Montgomery to meet Baby Hughey!). Friday, 18 October: still no sign of U2 being in season; but the liver-treats were a big hit. When Kathy called on Monday, 28 October, Judy advised that U2 had shown the first signs of being in season on Monday, 21 October 2002. Over the weekend, Michael could still be distracted from U2's exercise pen; so U2 wasn’t quite ready to invite him in. On Friday evening, 1 November, Michael and U2 were joined. Though they had a "date" for Sunday, 3 November, U2 changed her mind and would not let Michael near her. In fact, she tried to bite-off Michael’s head (and other parts), so there would be no more mating. Would the one-and-only mating "take?" In the meantime, the name-quest continued. She read all about puppies and calculated my whelping date, if indeed U2 was pregnant. On the day after Thanksgiving, 29 November 2002, Judy called in the morning to announce that not only was U2 pregnant, she was very pregnant. Good work, Michael! Judy advised that U2 was feeling good and, in fact, had assaulted the mane of her white horse-neighbor. Just like grandmother Gidget, U2 hates the white horse. On Saturday morning, 14 December, U2 had a sonogram performed by Dr. Garner, who described it as a textbook pregnancy. Each of us was perfectly positioned, and we and mom were healthy in every way. Everyone was ecstatic. Sonogram photos were made of the four of us pups. MY BIRTHDAY
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