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Shown at left is my sketch of Johnnie holding our Schipperke Whizzer at the pond up north.
This was a time of much activity and fun. Whereas the growth of Tervuren began to pick up in the U.S. during the later 1960's, it started to boom during the 1970s. Among those actively breeding were Edeltraud Laurin (Chateau Blanc) involving her daughters Janina and Darlene, Faye Dickens (Bonheur) with her daughters Alleyne and Carole, Bernadine Paul (Hi Times), Sally Ann Comstock (San Royal), Jack and Donna Allen (de Braise Rouge), Mary Jo Oldendick (Carousel), Thomas Badger (Bon Chateau), June Betsworth (Georjune), Vi Wilson, Jim Davis (Petite Chalet) and continuing on were Bob and Barbara Krohn (Bar-K kennels, using Fauve Charbonne suffix). Many new exhibitors had appeared on the scene - - Jack, Gratia Gilbert and their daughter Tracey, Cheryl Hepker, Nancie Mages, Kay Maves, Sharon Redmer, Judith Lee Smith, Nancy Burka, Maggie Horstman, Joyce McHenry, Gail Frazier, to name just a few. Like me, some of them bred an occasional litter. |
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sketch property of Karen Johnson |
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My own dogs were but a small part of the fast
growing community of Tervuren in the U.S, While I did not breed often, I remained very active in
the ABTC, alternating positions as Secretary-Treasurer, Public Relations
Secretary, Treasurer, as well as other board and committee
positions. Which brings back memories of many late nights, sitting
in the spare bedroom/office, sandwiching carbon paper between two more
sheets of typing paper and rolling it into the typewriter to type club
correspondence. The bottle of white-out near at hand to correct typing
errors. The ABTC was such a small club in the early seventies that I held
the position of "Secretary-Treasurer", which included what is now both our
PR Secretary, Recording Secretary, Breeder Referral coordinator, and
Treasurer! And yet, there was much activity going on by now in the Tervuren world. |
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| In the summer of 1969 we purchased a Schipperke puppy. This was one of the breeds that caught my interest way back when I sought my first purebred, so we decided to add one to our family. | |
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Am. Can. Ch. Von Kay's Whiz Bang CDX
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whelped March 1 1969 by Ch. Skipalong's Gadget
x Ch. Von Kay's Ima Martha breeder Phyllis A. Kerchiel owners Pat and Karen Johnson |
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Whizzer was a delightful companion. He was
bright, very obedient, and had a great sense of humor. Friends delighted
in seeing him sing his favorite song with me. All I had to do was barely
begin the tune (which went, "Whizzer was a Whizzer Bang, Bang, Bang,
Bang SHANG A'Lang!")
and he was off, dancing at the top of the sofa and howling with delight as
I sang his song. He loved water, and would not only swim out to me in the rowboat from the shore of the pond, but he would also jump out of the rowboat on command and swim to shore. In the show ring he would stand perfectly with his ears up at all times. Sometimes, in the Group ring, if he was tired he'd shut his eyes for a bit, but one would never know it as he held the perfect show position.
At one outdoor show for his Novice title, on the long sit he sat in the middle of the lineup with a big dog on either side of him. From the start, they were eyeballing each other. Whizzer knew it, and froze his position, all attention riveted on me so as not to become the object of their interest. As soon as the handlers got to the other side of the ring and turned around to face their dog, all pandemonium broke loose. The two dogs met in the middle, literally where Whizzer sat, then off they went, out of the ring together, with EVERY DOG in the ring following them! Except Whizzer. He sat frozen, being a good boy, all attention on me. It was utter chaos as all handlers ran out of the ring to chase down their dogs. After the judge had me return and said "exercise finished", and when all the handlers eventually returned with their dogs in tow, the judge informed them that even though their dogs were disturbed by the two troublemakers, that since one little Schipperke, in the heart it all, had stayed. that he was going to fail all of the other dogs and he would not allow them to repeat the exercise. Whizzer was not a very popular little dog that day, but I was so proud of him, At another show, indoors with just a little roping for ring gating, I left the ring for the the long down in the Open class. When I returned, Whizzer was still perfectly in position waiting for me. But people were looking at me and snickering. What? I asked, optimistic that we had won the class. More giggles. Then the judge came up to me, laughing, and explained that my dog had left position, gone out of the ring for some petting from the spectators, and then returned, on his own, to his exact same position in the lineup! True story! One time at the summer Monroe show, it was blazing hot with a scorching sun and no shade in the ring. On both the sit and down (handlers out of sight), Whizzer, unbearably hot in the sun with his black coat, simply got up and went out and did his stay under the shade of a car. I didn't blame him one bit, in fact I was glad he had more sense than me! I have a High In Trial plate from the Greenville KC trial that Pat looks at with scorn. It so happened that there was a 3-way tie for High In Trial. Trouble was, in those days a runoff was "sudden death", with all dogs in the ring together. And two of the dogs were mine! What to do? I couldn't handle both dogs at once! So, I gave Pat my most reliable and likely-to-win dog Alouette, thinking, wouldn't it be a thrill for Pat (a non competitor) should he be so lucky as to handle a dog to High In Trial? So there we were lined up and the judge says "Are you ready? Forward!". "You are out!" says the judge to Pat at once. It seems that Alouette was not in the perfect heel position on the starting lineup! Poor Pat, he didn't even have a chance to give it a whirl. We enjoyed many years with Whizzer. Unfortunately, when he was 4 years old, he started having seizures. Soon after that, despite that he was trained for Utility obedience and did well in Groups, I decided not to continue on with his career, for fear that he would have a seizure in the ring. Epilepsy scares you like that - the fear of great embarrassment among your peers. |
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Ch. Mi-Sha-Ook's Miss Whiz
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Whelped Jan. 30, 1971 by Ch. Von Kay's Whiz Bang CDX x Can. Ch. Toni's
Topsy O'Star Dust breeder Mr. & Mrs. L.E. Stanbridge owner Pat and Karen Johnson |
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Long before Whizzer's epilepsy surfaced, we had used him at stud a number of times. Of course then, we stopped using him at once. I never learned of any of his puppies that had epilepsy, and I can only hope it turned out that way. One of Whizzer's breedings was to Skip and Elsie Stanbridge's little Schipperke, Star (yes, they too once owned a Schipperke). For stud service we took a pup, and we called her Misty. Misty was a typical silly, patty-caking Schip. I tried to teach her to play dead and it was a hoot. She would duck her head and literally summersault over onto her back and kick and kick her legs. She just didn't have a serious bone in her body. That is, until she had her babies, It was a terrible experience. When one of them took ill she became so distraught that one day while I was away she killed her entire litter. After that, she went into a severe depression, and never was so happy and carefree again. Whatever it was that went wrong, I wasn't going to take any chances. I never bred her again. Misty lived with us for 15 years. |
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Misty playing "dead dog" on command. Alouette in the background, used to
her silliness, was quite bored by it all. |
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| During the 70's I continued to exhibit Alouette in obedience. In 1972 she was bred to Ch. Saint Sur Le Quivive, producing three Champions: Ch. Sunfire Cool Hand Luke, Ch. Sunfire Cowboy, and Ch. Sunfire Cordon Bleu, CD. | |
Alouette (right) with her son, Sunfire Cowboy |
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Nancie Mages purchased Sunfire Colt Forty-Five
"Crash", and placed him in the hands of the popular trainer Jack Godsil.
Jack showed him quite successfully to multiple High In Trial wins, and
this was great publicity for the breed. For those who don't know Nancie, she served ABTC in many important ways, and went on to become a well-known
handler, both of Tervuren, winning BOB and top awards at ABTC Nationals,
and more recently handling multi-Best-In Show Schipperkes. Sometime during the 70's Nancie arranged for Bob Self and Jack Godsil to come to Michigan to put on one of their popular obedience clinics. Although open to all breeds, there was a large turnout of enthusiastic Tervuren owners. |
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This picture was taken at that seminar. Jack Godsil stands to the left with Bob Self next to him. In the back next to Bob is Nancie Mages with Crash and Alouette, and below her is her mother. Next to her mother is Sharon Redmer. I'm not sure about the other faces in the crowd, but it looks like Ginnie Schaeffer with the long dark hair in the center back, perhaps Teri Williams next to her. Scott Salter is in the lower right. Shiela Salter is in there, perhaps center bottom row. I can't remember who the others are. |
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Judge Bernie Brown awards High In Trial to Sunfire Colt Forty-Five, owned by Nancie Mages and handled by the late Jack Godsil. April 27 1974 |
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| It was common at obedience trials to team up with your friends and compete in Team competition (4 dogs and handlers at once). Here is a 1970's snapshot showing me, Bernadine Paul, Nancie Mages and Kay Maves, in our matching outfits ready to go in the ring. | |
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I blush a bit when I think
back to one of my advertisements for Alouette's litter. I proudly advertised
her litter as from "old American lines." Here I had a litter, hardly weaned,
so to speak, from its imported ancestors, and already I was skeptical
about the new imports being brought in! Does this sound like a familiar
story today? My sentiments were nothing new, to be sure. Had I been more perceptive, I would have seen that it was the very same skepticism of "imports" that put some Groenendael people before me into such an uproar that they literally kicked the Tervuren right out of their registry! History certainly does repeat itself. While I am a bit embarrassed to admit my earlier sentiment, I am glad to report that I have long-since moved past that way of thinking. I am convinced now that one will breed much better dogs by recognizing and respecting the abilities of fellow fanciers and breeders not only in this country, but around the world. We all (myself included) need to learn more about our breed's history, especially in Belgium and France. The real pity is that so many dogs, and their history, were lost from the wars. |
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 (coming)
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