Kathy and I have always liked the same type sheltie. Vegas’s head type was our “dream come true”, as shown above. Of course, he wasn’t perfect. He, like many in this family, had small ears that didn’t have a lot of tip and his tailset was a little high. Now some people might have immediately “corrected” the problems. Kathy could have cared less. She knew Vegas had other qualities that were exquisite, hard to get, and never tried to “fake” any superficial flaw he might have. And if others had a problem with him, that was fine - they didn’t have to put him up or breed to him. She had bred him only for herself. Kathy’s great eye for beauty, balance and elegance was exemplified in this one animal.

Vegas’s dam was another story of Kathy’s good eye for a quality sheltie. “Treasure” was found in a backyard and Kathy saw promise even in this older bitch. Kathy’s wisdom of pedigrees also came in handy, as Treasure happened to be a daughter of the famous Ch. Banchory Classic Image, ROM out of a Banchory Western Express daughter. Kathy got Treasure back in condition and showed her to her championship, finishing at almost nine years of age with Specialty majors! She became Ch. Vanity’s Precious Moment

Treasure was a tri bitch with lovely, flowing movement and a great Banchory type expression. I was thrilled when Kathy decided to breed Treasure to my Ch. Crystalove Spellbound, a son of Ch. Banchory Peerless, ROM. This was the breeding that would produce Vegas. We both knew the breeding should click, and I can remember seeing Vegas and his littermate, “Reno” at six months of age at a NC specialty show. They were just “pictures” of what I thought was correct. Vegas came home with a 4 pt. specialty RWD from that show. And Kathy gave me Reno to take home. I later let Reno go…and, as we get wiser with age, I know that was one of the biggest “dog mistakes” of my career with shelties.

Vegas finished easily under well respected breeder-judges with two specialty majors. He didn’t overly care for the showring the way his sire did. Bounty “lived” for the applause, and whether it was actually for him or somebody in the next ring, he never knew the difference. Vegas was there because Kathy asked him to be. He wasn’t nervous, he just would rather have been home with Kathy chasing tennis balls.

The dog lived for Kathy. He made sure of that. He kept an eye on her at all times. If she was at work, he watched for her until she came home. When Kathy was home, she would always know where Vegas was if he were outside. He would pay attention to her windows, and whatever room she was in, that’s where he’d be…in the yard looking into that window. He always had his eyes on her. The little tri “stalking dog” loved Kathy with all his heart.

There are those dogs which become “more” than just our pets or our showdogs. There’s nothing to describe why one dog reaches this level compared to all the other dogs we’ve bred, shown, or loved. Vegas is irreplaceable. Kathy is heartbroken. And all her family and friends are just shocked he had to leave her so young.

Vegas had a wonderful life. His big heart didn’t let on that his body was affected by cancer. He had the best of care, the best of times. His lovely daughters will go on and produce quality pups at Lochlyn. Kathy stated it best, when I’m sure it was hard finding words to tell her friends that she had lost Vegas… “As you all know I loved Vegas very much. He was a wonderful friend to me, and I was the only human on earth to him.”

Debbie Smithson

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