HISTORY
My name is Debbra Clifford. We grew up in Pittsburgh PA. Our first German Shepherd Dog was "Blitz". We bought him as a pet for $35.00 in the late 50s. We found him through the paper. There were 6 of us kids- Russell, Michael, Debbra, Cindy, Cathy and Lori. When Blitz passed away we all wanted another German Shepherd Dog. We were so excited to get Nether-Lair's Gayiety at 6 months of age from a breeder named Dinny Cowley in 1960. We had met Dinny through Mary Turner, secretary of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Western Pennsylvania. Dinny explained to my mom, Larraine that Gayiety was a "show puppy" and could become a champion. With her help, she became just that. Dinny also helped Larraine learn about conformation and bloodlines of the era. Larraine bought some books on German Shepherd Dogs and signed up for the GSD Review and she studied them every night. She then began to think about who to breed Gayiety too. Larraine decided the best male out there for Gayiety was Ch. Fortune of Arbywood ROM. The breeding took place in 1963 prior to the breeding Fran and Joan Ford would soon make that would produce the legendary Lance of Fran-Jo. In 1963 my dad Jesse built the kennels that would become Doppelt-Tay. Larraine now needed to create a kennel name. When her father Charles first saw Blitz, he commented on how the lines running up Blitz's legs and across his chest looked like a double T. "TT" So Larraine asked her grandmother what was "double T" in German? The answer was "DOPPELT TAY"! And so that is how the name was created! It means "double T" in German. The first Doppelt-Tay champion was Ch. Nether-Lair's Gayiety. When Gayiety was bred to Fortune they produced the second champion - the first for Doppelt Tay Kennels - Ch. Doppelt-Tay's Jesse James. Three other males were to finish their championship out of that litter: Jentleman Jim, Jerry and Jay Hawk of Longworth. Gayiety had 5 litters all together. The "J" litter by Fortune. The "C" litter out of Ch. Uncus of Longworth. A "M" litter out of Fortune again. A "R" litter out of Inspector of Arbywood and then another repeat, the "B" litter out of Fortune again. In the future I hope to write an article about Doppelt-Tay and the years of that era.. Larriane Clifford
Larraine holding her grandson in December 1976 We have always been thankful to our mother Larraine for being such a wonderful Mom. She cared for us as we grew and we all grew together as a team working as Doppelt Tays. We will never forget her.
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