Page 50 - 1st Quarter 2018
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Since what age have you been involved with             She won her first Best in Show when she was six and one-half
                                                                                                                                  purebred dogs?                                         years old and in her lifetime has won 14 Best in Shows. I retired
                                                                                                                                      When I was a child, I never had a dog as my mother   her when she was nine years old and she was still winning Best
                                                                                                                                  didn’t like dogs. My husband said that it’s all her fault.    in Shows. She was a remarkable bitch. Her granddaughter,
                                                                                                                                  When I left her, the first thing I did was to buy a Corgi. I   SUPREME CH SILVER PENNY was also a very good bitch.
                                                                                                                                  was in my late twenties.                               Another dog I had was a New Zealand very first SUPREME
                                                                                                                                                                                         CHAMPION. He died at a very young age, He was qualified
                                                                                                                                  How did you move from owning to showing dogs?          to be a Grand Champion before he even became a champion.
                                                                                                                                      I am not actually quite sure. I had a beautiful sable dog   Probably, the best and the most challenging dog I’ve had was
                                                                                                                                  and somebody said to me that I should take him to a dog   GRAND CHAMPION VELVET AND PRIVATE, an import
                                                                                                                                  show. Fairly enough, it was a beautiful sable color but not   from England. To be honest his breeder told me that if he
                                                                                                                                  exactly a beautiful dog, just an average dog. The first time   wasn’t such an absolute terror at the show, I would never have
                                                                                                                                  I went to a specialty show, the dog won the Best Sable   gotten him.
                                                                                                                                  and it always won Best Sable and he had a lovely head too.
                                                                                                                                  And that started me for my need for a good head.       What do you mean that he was an absolute terror at the
                                                                                                                                                                                         show?
                                                                                                                                  Was it your first dog?                                     He hated dog shows.
                                                               For someone who got                                                    No, it was my second Corgi.                        Have you produced a dog close

                                                               infected with the dog                                              How long would that be from that time until now?       to him?
                                                                                                                                                                                             Well, I think FROZEN
                                                                                                                                      50 years
                                                           “bug” only when she was                                                What would you say about your interest? Has your       LIES and PENNY were
                                                                                                                                                                                         relatively close and both were
                                                                  in her late twenties,                                           interest waned over the years?                         females. I’ve got a dog at the
                                                                                                                                      Definitely not. It has just moved into different areas.
                                                                                                                                                                                         moment that is around 3 years
                                                                  Lesley Chalmers has                                             When I started judging, I only wanted to judge Corgis but   old and his litter brother is in the
                                                                                                                                  in New Zealand, the country is too small and you can’t
                                                                                                                                                                                         Philippines.
                                                                   not done badly at all.                                         specialize in just one breed. So I got my entire Herding   When did you start breeding
                                                                                                                                  Group. Then I thought I was quite enjoying it, so then I got
                                                                    She has, through five                                         another group and it just went on and on until I became an   Corgis?
                                                                                                                                  all-breed judge.
                                                                                                                                                                                            Probably
                                                                         decades of canine                                        What was your motivation in showing dogs?              about 5 or 6
                                                                                                                                                                                         years after I
                                                                               involvement,                                           The desire to win. Winning.                        bought my
                                                                                                                                                                                         first Corgi. I got
                                                                          carved a name for                                       What would you consider to be your biggest reward      excited by it and
                                                                                                                                                                                         the challenge of
                                                                                                                                  for showing dogs?
                                                                                                                                      The satisfaction in seeing other people win with
                                                                             herself and her                                      the dogs that I bred. It gives me the same satisfaction as   being able to
                                                                                                                                                                                         breed something
                                                                           Merthyr Kennel,                                        physically winning myself. It makes you so proud.      and it just
                                                                                                                                                                                         snowballed from
                                                                                                                                                                                         there.
                                                                                                                                  Any regrets?
                                                                             in her native                                        made some mistakes but the mistakes have been part of
                                                                                                                                      I have no regrets at all. I wouldn’t change a thing. I
                                                                        New Zealand and                                           learning.

                                                                        all over the world                                        Over the years, how many dogs have you personally
                                                                                                                                  shown?
                                                                      both as a breeder,                                              It would be in a the hundreds.

                                                                exhibitor, canine club                                            Which dog would you consider your biggest show
                                                                                                                                  winner?
                                                               administrator and dog                                              The best dog for me was a bitch,
                                                                                                                                      My biggest show winner was not really my best dog.
                                                                          show judge.                                             GRAND CHAMPION META
                                                                                                                                  WANT TO BE FROZEN LIES.
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