Page 51 - 1st Quarter 2018

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.