In July 1993 the answer to 24 years of hopes, dreams and prayers came into our lives in the shape of Rosa. What can I say about this special lady? Although not instantly the pick of litter, at 8 weeks her brother looked the more promising, by 12 weeks we knew we had something special that just got better and better. At 16 weeks some Italian visitors to Irene saw her and were captivated so we knew it wasn’t just us. The rest is history! At her first show, the Mid Western Shetland Sheepdog Club Open show she took 2^nd place in Minor Puppy and we were so disappointed but as Irene came out of the ring Alida Cardinal (Marklin) said to her ‘never mind, Irene, you’re the one with the champion on the end of the lead’ and how right she was. 35 CCs, Breed Record Holder, 2 Groups at Crufts, Top Dog in the UK 1995, a show career that we can never hope to repeat again and so many friends and admirers across the world. Even now, whenever we say our kennel name everyone asks about Rosa. People would come to shows just to see her. Overseas visitors to Crufts made a point of coming to the bench to see her.

We could never have dreamed when we began our kennel back in 1970 that we could achieve a Rosa Bleu!