The year 1975 had been a very tumultuous year for me. The entire period that I had been in the USA was overshadowed by the Viet Nam war. When I left, the war had just ended and it was a period of celebration on most campuses. In my own life, I was making a major decision to move back to India. My years in the U.S. could be considered my "salad years". Returning to the hubub of life that India is, was a real "culture shock". My only regret is that during the entire period I was in the U.S. I did not have any thought to attend any dog shows, although there were plenty of opportunities.
The dog show scene in India had changed. A lot of new exhibitors had emerged and the competition was no longer restricted to those who had the royal pedigree. People had started importing stock into India which, when I left, had been extremely difficult as India's foreign exchange reserves were precarious.
The quality of dogs, and in particular the Boxer, had improved considerably to my mind. To restart showing, meant, to carefully survey the available stock, plan where you expected to go, and then try and wheedle a pup out of the breeder.
Since the importation of breeding stock was an expensive affair, breeders were not inclined to part with puppies easily. I was fortunate enough that in 1976, I was able to get a puppy from the kennels of Mr. Rangarajan, who is the current President of The Kennel Club of India. This was no ordinary puppy bitch. She was the grand daughter of the legendary English Champion Seefeld Picasso, and from her dams side she had the Gremlin bloodlines.
Seecrofts Helenita, or Meshu, was the first really good stock that I ever had in my life. Although she was not the pick, she had alll those bloodlines and I thought that this would augur well for the future. I showed her for the next couple of years and managed to garner a few Reserve CCs. In India we follow a very similar pattern to the British Kennel Club. All dogs compete for the best of their sex and then breed irrespective of whether the dog is a champion or not. The winners are awarded Championship Certificates (CCs) which indicates that the judge finds them worthy of being called champions. It is not necessary for the judge to award the CC if he feels the exhibit is not worthy of it despite being the winner. In those days, you required 3 CCs from 3 different judges to attach the highly prized "CH." before the name of your dog. Meshu only got Reserves and despite the disappointment I was quite pleased at winning something after all those years of drought. I hoped that when I crossed her, I would have something better, no, something extraordinary to show.
Seecrofts Helenita (Meshu)-1978
By now I was on the lookout for a male dog to put to Meshu. I was being extremely selective and could find nothing which matched my expectations. In early 1977, a small breeder who was German, Mrs. Roswitha Verma, had a litter of pups from her imported German stock. I was unfamiliar with German kennels, but with great alacrity visited her and saw the litter myself. I had made a few enquiries and the stock seemed good. I was given the pick, and I chose Sikandar or Duke of Roma as he was officially known as.
I showed Siki, as I called him and I won my first ever CC in his first show! An understatement would be that I was ecstatic. After so many years I had managed to win for my dog a CC. Meanwhile work pressures were mounting, and showing had to take a backseat It is unfortunate that I could only show Siki at the annual Bombay show, which meant that his chances of garnering those 3 CCs was quite negligible.
And so it came to pass that Siki only won another CC but not that elusive third CC. I could have sent him to shows with a handler, but he was my pet first and show dog later. In the interim, Meshu was at the right age to be burdened with motherhood. Although, it was an absolute outcross, I expected something good out of the litter. Roswitha had produced some good puppies and I was hoping her luck would rub off on me.
The mating in 1980 was very successful, but the whelping was a disaster! Meshu died after delivering 8 pups. I was fortunate enough to be able to arrange for a surrogate, and decided on the spur of the moment that any of the pups that survived would stay with me. Besides being terribly distraught, this whole ordeal of littering/whelping had left a major abhorrence in my psyche for any more breeding. Merlin and Bruno survived and they stayed with me. At the end of all this I was left with 3 males, 2 of whom would have to compete in the show ring together. The plans of men and mice sometimes do not end up as envisioned.
Duke of Roma (Siki)-1978
And so it was. We limped through the shows, winning something here and there, but nothing to shout from the roof tops. Then in 1982 something very momentous happened in my life. I met my future wife. All thoughts of dogs were obliterated from my thoughts, and the rigours of parenthood extracted a toll on my dog showing abilities. Although I did attend the shows, and salivate at the prospect of showing again, family and business committments precluded any such thing until 1990. By then I had acquired a wife, 2 children, and 3 pets but nothing to show. So here it was again, to start from scratch once more.
The year 1990 was a very different kettle of fish from when I had last been active in the dog world. A lot of my friends and people I was acquainted with had either retired or changed their breeds. The Boxers in India now, were not from any of the bloodlines I was familiar with. During the past few years, a lot of dogs carrying American bloodlines had come into the country. One of the more well known breeders had introduced the Jacquets bloodline from the USA. When I went looking around for a show prospect, I was faced with no choice but this stock. As this was my third foray into the world of showing, I was determined to do it as scientifically as possible. However, besides science, Lady Luck has a large part to play. From Dr. S.Y. Sawant, a local Mumbai breeder, I was lucky enough to get Brunswick's "Oh Baby!". She carried the Jacquets' bloodlines. She was to be the foundation bitch of my current kennel line.
Sherry was my first champion, Indian Champion Brunswick's "Oh Baby!", after 30 long years!. She was shown the first time at 8 months and won the Reserve CC. She never lost after that. She went Best in Show All Breeds at The Baroda Kennel Club All Breeds Show in 1994. Before that she had been 2nd BIS show at Poona, and was on Board a number of times. She was not perfect by any means, but she would do. Besides being a wonderful show woman, she was a most affectionate pet and those were the qualities that my family prized very highly. Towards the end of her show career, she had intimidated the competition so much, that at many shows only a single entry would compete. She ended up with 10 CCs and was retired to the whelping box.
Sherry-1994
During Sherry's show career, I had agonized who I would put her to. Most of the dogs that I had seen, barring a few, were not the types that I would have liked to breed from. It was then that I decided to bring in some UK bloodlines. I had admired English Champion Tyegarth Famous Grouse, and decided to bring in a dog carrying his lines. In 1991, I imported Tyson from Martin and Rita Wyles of the Rimarti Kennels in the UK, and he soon became Indian Champion Rimarti Jean Luc.
Tyson was a delightful dog. He had a very "laid-back" personality.He was a true English gentleman. Besides giving his lovely temperament to his progeny, he was able to stamp some of the qualities of his forebears onto most of his litters. He was able to deliver the size, bone and lovely heads, so lacking in the Indian Boxers of the day. My business committments took me to England frequently, and the weekends were spent at dog shows. I met quite a few of the famous Boxer people. A lesson I had learnt early in life was that there are always people who know more than you.
I was introduced to Sue Harvey of the famous Faerdorn Boxers by Martin and Rita Wyles. Bonhomie comes naturally to Boxer lovers. I talked to her about my predicament, and she
Tyson-1994
told me to produce bitches to be put to a dog with a similar breeding asTyson. This was my first exposure to "fixing type", and in retrospect, it was excellent advice. As I was not a very large breeder, considering the disasters I had had at my attempts, it was essential that I do this with some caution. The crossing of Sherry and Tyson produced an average litter, and I retained a plain red/fawn bitch, Lady, whom I thought would be an appropriate brood bitch.. It was now time to wait for the dog and in 1994, Sue Harvey sent across a very lovely red/fawn dog puppy, Cooper, who became Indian Champion Faerdorn Mulbrae Home and Away.
He had impeccable breeding, being the son of English Champion Faerdorn Finneas Fogg. I had seen Finneas Fogg in the flesh, and really like what he looked like. In the meantime, Lady had been mated to her grand sire and produced a champion bitch for Dr. Sawant. This bitch was then put to Tyson, and the result was only two bitches. I retained one, Zoe, who later on became Ind. Ch. Brunswick's Spice Girl. Lady was subsequently mated to Cooper, and produced a litter of which I retained a plain red/fawn bitch, Carrie.
As I have often seen, time seems to speed away. The repeat mating of Sherry and Tyson was a disaster with none of the pups surviving more than 6 months. It was extremely
Cooper-1995 (5 months old)
disheartening, and now with the family aware of how "iffy" breeding can be, a decision was taken to hold back on any further matings till the problems could be identified and, perhaps solved.
Sherry and Tyson enjoyed their lives in retirement fussed about by all. Sherry passed on in 1999 and was followed by Tyson in 2001. I try to believe that they enjoyed their time with us as they were much beloved pets first, and then the show creatures that my own vanity made them into. I often think that dogs sometimes think we humans are crazy prancing around the show ring on a warm Indian summer's day.
In 2002, Cooper finally met up with Sherry and Tyson. It was a sad day for me, as the "oldies", as I called them, had exited my life forever. All that remained were wonderful memories, besides 3 bitches from my efforts at breeding.
Many years ago, a very colourful Indian dog show personality had told me that it was ordained, that some people had all the luck in breeding, and others the luck at making champions of them. I wondered then, in which category I fell, because, it seemed at that time, that I had very little luck in either!
