
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 2nd
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!

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