Riverside News & Notes
1/12/2012: Happy New Year from the Riverside crew. 2011 ended with a bang for us when Remy won at Eukanuba, but 2012 is going to be bittersweet for me personally. You see, we have made the decision to retire Colin after Westminster in February. While we aren't expecting anything, this will be Colin's first and only trip. It is hard to believe that just 8 short years ago, he made his way into this world. For those that did not know, Colin was born on 2/10/2004 while the Westminster KC show was being broadcast on USA network at the same moment that "Josh", the Newfoundland, was awarded Best in Show, hence the reason Colin's puppy name was Josh. Anyway, with his show career almost over, I was both happy and sad at the prospect of not showing any dogs this year..........until we got word that Brady was coming home!!!! Woo hoo!!!! Brady and his family are in the process of being transferred back to the states and are most likely going to be in VA once again!!! Yippee!!! So, our days of dog showing may actually be back in full swing albeit locally only - no more road warrior trips for me. We hope to earn the right to be invited to Eukanuba again, only this time with Brady instead. We can't wait to see what 2012 now holds in store for us.
12/20/2011: We just returned from a combination family vacation/dog show week in Florida and are absolutely still in shock and amazed at what transpired Saturday. We are extremely proud to congratulate Robin and Lori on a tremendous win this past weekend. GCh Riverside's Remington Magical Gun was awarded Best of Breed at the 2011 AKC Eukanuba Invitational Dog Show on Saturday. Remy beat several other Welsh entered. We had entered Colin as well for the experience, but were more interested in watching our Remy since we last saw him in April. Boy are we glad we made the trip. Congrats again go out to Robin for caring and raising Remy and to Lori for her handling of Remy the last 6 months. What a day and a trip we will most certainly remember for years to come!!
11/6/2011: As you can tell by the lack of updates, not much has been going on here at Kennel Riverside. Dog shows have taken a back seat in our lives from a priority perspective as we focus on time with our son. Although our three are living a life of retirement, Remy continues to show well. Since he earned his Grand Championship back in July, Remy has gone on to win some Best of Breeds over other highly ranked specials and earned a couple group placements. As for what the future holds here at home, we think our days of breeding and showing are nearing an end. We no longer have any intact females, and Colin will most likely be neutered in the spring. Gracie and Sonnet continue to be shown sparingly and are doing well. We look forward to showing Colin over the next few months before officially retiring him.
9/25/2011: A sad day here at Kennel Riverside as we mourn the passing of our dear Katy (Riverside's Katy Rides Shotgun). We are deeply saddened and will miss her dearly.
7/8/2011: Congratulations to Robin, Janet and Lori on Remy's Best of Breed win today and his new Grand Championship!!! This is a very special day for us as we begin to pass the torch to Remy to take over the reins for the Riverside name. Colin is getting older now and not enjoying the ring that much anymore. We'll continue to show him locally, but let's turn our attentions to the Remster as his show career begins to take flight - GO REMY GO!!!!
7/2/2011: Colin went Best of breed over three other entries at the Bel Alton shows this past weekend. He showed well but managed only a second look in group but no pull. Still a good weekend for the old man.
6/26/2011: Colin showed well this past weekend at the Virginia Kennel Club shows here in Richmond, earning a Best of Opposite on SAT and a Select Dog on SUN. Fun times.
5/23/2011: Congrats to Janet, Robin and Remy for their two Group 4 placings the past weekend. Sonnet also won breed in between the wins by Remy. What an awesome weekend for Kennel Riverside offspring!!
5/17/2011: We received word a few days ago that Remy is now a proud daddy!! He sired a litter of 3 girls and 3 boys out of "Drew"(Ch Ivywild's Ever After), owned by Peg Lehnen, Marion Daniels & Faye Skoczylas.
4/17/2011: We returned from the National Specialty with our heads held high. All of our dogs showed well. Remy is getting more accustomed to his life as a special, while Colin just keeps on going strong. Sonnet was so graceful and floated around the ring and last but not least Savannah - that's right. The ole girl dusted off her feathers, got a major grooming and competed in Veteran Sweepstakes in the 9-11 year old class - and won it!!! We were very prod of our special girl. All in all a good weekend albeit cut short by Mother Nature's desire to flood the show site and cancelling the last 2 days of the show.
3/30/2011: We just received Remy's Best of Breed photo from the FEB show..........lovely!!!
3/27/2011: Colin and I just returned from the Tar Heel Cluster in NC and are flying high still. Friday was a Select placing, but SAT and SUN were Best of Breed wins over other specials and a decent size class entry. 19 total dogs defeated for the weekend and an AKC GRAND CHAMPION to boot!!!! The wins were wonderful. Many thanks to the other exhibitors from the Greater Chesapeake/Dogwood Welsh Springer Clubs that were in attendance and competing. Your kind words of congratulations are greatly appreciated.
3/21/2011: Colin and I competed at another IABCA Dog Show this past weekend. We had a weekend that left me in awe. Colin earned 4 more V-1 Excellent written evaluations, his UCI Ehren and Ehren - Bronze Championship titles, and a few more ribbons to add to the collection: SAT was fairly quiet with a Sporting Group 2, but SUN was a completely different story and one for the ages. Colin earned a Sporting Group 1 for show #3, a Sporting Group 1 for show #4, a Best Veteran in Show for show #4, Gold Cup Best in Show (Ehren Champions and above compete against each other) and the icing on the cake - the Grand Sieger title for the weekend. The Grand Sieger is a secret ballot by the entire judging panel for the weekend and is where all of the Best In Shows winners from all 4 shows compete against one another. This includes the BIS Puppy, BIS BBE Puppy, BIS Adult, BIS BBE Adult, BIS Veteran, Gold Cup BIS, BIS Rare Breed, BIS Geneology (there's a more correct term but basically it is similar to the stud/brood class at our specialties). The total count of dogs can reach up to 28 total dogs in the ring...........and Colin beat them all!!!
3/19/2011: Congratulations again to Robin, Remy and Janet for their Select Dog placing at the New England Sporting Dog show this past Saturday. Remy is now half way to his Grand Championship. Woo hoo!!!
2/27/2011: Congratulations to Robin, Remy and Janet!!! Remy was awarded Best of Breed yesterday over 2 other male specials and 7 class entries with Janet Coates handling him. They followed it up on Sunday with a Select Dog placing as well. We are very proud of all their hard work to date!!! Hopefully this is the start of something good for 2011!!!
2/15/2011: Unfortunately, we did not place at Westminster with our two girls. Although they did not place, they still showed well. It was the first time for both of them, so hopefully they will be back again for another shot next year.
2/7/2011: We just learned that Sonnet was selected as a participant in the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club show next Tuesday!!! Congrats to Jim and Maria for caring for this sweet girl. Congrats to Janet for showing her and bringing out the best in her, and congratulations to Marion and SharLynn the breeders of this lovely little powerhouse of a welshie!!! We also learned that Gracie was also selected to participate at Westminster as well. Congratulations to Bob & Erica for caring for her and raising her in a loving home!! Janet was also given the opportunity to show this little girl and finished her in style. Go Riverside!!!
2/1/2011: In all the excitement over the holidays, combined with Spaniel Club and the exciting news about Colin's new litter on the ground, I completely forgot to congratulate Sonnet on her recent Grand Championship back in December. Sonnet is Colin x Bryn's daughter from the Promises Litter. Sonnet is also a Group placing bitch as well. So much achieved at such a young age. We hope there is more to come from her.......
1/30/2011: Colin had a good weekend at the show earning some more Grand Champion points. I think that all is left is one major and a champion defeated to be complete. We'll see what happens over the course of 2011.
1/23/2011: Girls, Girls, Girls........and we are not talking about Motley Crue!!! Colin was given the opportunity to have a romantic interlude with an older woman back in the fall and sired a litter of 3 girls - Chloe, Callie and Cookie. The pups are approaching 8 weeks of age and will be ready to go home in a few weeks.
1/20/2011: Happy belated New Year everyone!!!! Sorry for the dealy in any news or events, but the holidays were quiet for us with no dog shows to speak of. We just returned two weekends ago from the annual American Spaniel Club, alas with no real significant awards. Several breeders and a few judges commented on how well our dogs looked, so all in all, it was a fun trip. On Saturday night, the NorEaster crew was all together for a belated celebration of Remy's AKC Championship. The guilty members of the crew were: Janet (Sonnet and Gracie's handler) & Tom (her husband), Jim & Maria (Sonnet's owners), Sharlynn (Bryn's owner) and Kim (her sister), Robin (Remy's owner) and myself. We all had a blast. Can't wait to do it again. We hope to show Colin from time to time this year to try and finish his grand Championship title - he is half way there.
10/4/2010: Just found out wonderful news from the AKC - Brady and Colin were among the top 25 Welsh Springers in the country and are invited to the 2010 Eukanuba Invitational this December in Long Beach, CA. This is a first for Kennel Riverside and truly an unexpected honor. What a way to wrap up a year's worth of showing our dogs. Thanks to all of our family, friends, fellow breeders for their patience and support.
9/26/2010: Colin earned another Best of Breed and Grand Champion point at the Valley Forge KC show in Kimberton, PA. Angela and Jacob were able to attend this show with for a change. The weather was not the best and traffic made it difficult to get to the show site. We arrived with barely enough time for me to change into my ring clothes and get to the ring before heading in. All the rushing about made Colin a little nervous, as he spent most of his time in the ring and at ringside looking for Angela and Jacob. No luck in group but he showed a little better and stacked very nicely for me.
9/8/2010: Where to begin.........well, let's start with Sonnet (Colin x Bryn) earned a Best of Breed and a Group 4 placing at a recent show in PA. This past Labor Day weekend, I was able to accomplish a rare feat - finishing majors on two dogs on succeeding days. First, on SAT, Brady earned a Best of Breed/Best of Winners/Winners Dog placing, a 4 point major and 17 dogs defeated points to earn his AKC title. Then on SUN, Remy followed in his brothers footsteps and earned a Best of Winners/Winners Dog placing and 3 point major to finish his AKC title. Not to be outdone, their sister Katie earned her first points and a 3 point major to boot. I had the pleasure of handling all three this past weekend. To top it all off, Brady earned his title out of the Bred By Exhibitor class, a first for Kennel Riverside.
7/20/2010: Made it back home from a long weekend of dog shows. Saturday started off in Berryville with a Reserve Winners placing for Brady, then we headed northeast to show with fellow littermate Remy at a show closer to his home in an attempt to try and finish him. Remy only needs 3 single points to finish having already earned two majors previously. Sunday resulted in yet another Reserve placing for Brady and unfortunately no points either for Remy. Monday was the last day of showing with the brothers going head-to-head for that one point available. Brady ended up winning the point and Reserve went to Remy. Although Brady needed the single point, we were both happy and sad having not earned a single point for Remy. As it stands now, both Remy and Brady have 12 points - Remy has both majors, and Brady has one.
7/2/2010: Katie (aka Riverside's Katie Rides Shotgun from the Gun Litter) has come down to stay for a week and to have her health tests performed. Her eyes are CLEAR, and her x-rays looked promising, but we will have to wait for the official results. Tikka, another Gun Litter pup, also had her health tests done recently, and we learned that she has Excellent Hips!!! Yippee!!! All updated health results are posted on our Health page.
6/27/2010: A decent weekend at the Virginia Kennel Club shows. Brady was Reserve Winners on SAT followed up by a Winners Dog/Best of Winners placing on SUN for another point towards his championship. Brady now has 11 points and one major. Colin won Best of Breed on SAT and receive a Select placing on SUN. All in all a good weekend!!!
6/13/2010: We just learned that Remy (Gun Litter) was handled by his co-owner Robin to his 12 point this past weekend in NY. Remy has both of his majors already, so he just needs 3 single points and he will join his sister Gracie as a finished champion from that litter.
6/6/2010: Took Colin and Brady to the Charlottesville KC shows this past weekend. Brady earned two more points over the weekend for a total of 10 points now, and Colin was Best of Breed both days for a total of 7 select points towards his Grand Championship. We also learned that Sonnet (Colin's daughter) earned her final point for her AKC Championship, and Gracie (Tegan's daughter from the Gun Litter) earned her first Select point as well for her Grand Championship.
6/4/2010: We just learned that Colin and Brady's CERF exams were CLEAR/NORMAL. For Colin, the last strand from his pupillary membrane finally dissolved. Yippee!!!
5/31/2010: Took Brady to the Saturday show in Hampton, VA and earned another point towards his AKC Championship. Brady now has 8 points with one major.
5/2/2010: Took Colin to Chesapeake, VA this weekend for a dog show for some practice. No entries but he showed well in group nonetheless. Would love to get some breed points this year, but our focus is going to be trying to finish Brady and starting Katy.
4/30/2010: The first set of 2 year Health results are filtering in on the Gun Litter - we have confirmed EXCELLENT HIPS ON TWO dogs already. Thyroid, Elbow and CERFs are all normal so far.
4/21/2010: Brady has come to stay with us for some vacation and play time with our four legged heathen hounds. Meggan and Tywyn will also be coming by for a short stay and play time. Brady will probably have sensory overload with all the new dogs to play with while he is here.
3/29/2010: Remmy was handled by his co-owner Robin to two more points, a Best of Breed/ Best of Winners on Saturday and a Best of Opposite/Best of Winners on Sunday. Remmy now has 9 points total with both majors.
3/21/2010: Another first for Riverside. Colin was entered at an International Dog show this past weekend. Colin earned 4 V-1 Ratings (Excellent), a new International Championship title, 2 Sporting Group 3's, 2 Sporting Group 1's and a Best in Show. We were thrilled!!!
3/8/2010: We are pleased to announce that Riverside's My Aim is True, "Gracie", earned a 4-point major yesterday at the Maryland Sporting Dog show and is now an AKC Champion. Gracie finished with two straight majors and a total of 16 points. Also, it was a first for us having earned points at this show. The best we had done prior to this was a handful of Reserve Winners placings. Congratulation to the Fein's on their new champion and to Janet Coates for handling Gracie over the last year. We hope to see Gracie debut her special status later this year. Colin was also in the Best of Breed line up and was pulled for an additional look but did not win a breed or opposite placing. Nevertheless, we appreciated the pull. What a weekend!!!!
2/14/2010: The Riverside crew wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day and good fortune in the upcoming show season!!!
1/13/2010: A good friend of ours was able to capture Colin's Best in Show Field win at the Flushing Spaniel show this past weekend and was kind enough to share it with everyone via YouTube, so for those that were unable to attend the show, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6h3RDkgMiA
1/11/2010: We had a wonderful time at the 2010 American Spaniel Club Annual Flushing Spaniel show. We had four different dogs in the ring this year, Remy and Gracie from the Gun Litter, Sonnet from the Promise Litter and Colin. Remy and Gracie placed second in their respective classes, while Sonnet won her class and went on to win Winners Bitch and a 4 point major!!! The weekend was capped off with a surprising Best In Show Field win by Colin. I was completely shocked. Several people were present to cheer Colin on. It was greatly appreciated. It was a wonderful way to start the new year. Sonnet now needs only two points to finish after winning three straight majors in the last two months, while Gracie needs a 3 point major, and Remy needs 8 single points having already earned both majors. Let's hope our good fortune continues as we head out to various shows this year. Here are some random photos captured by Susan Willingham at the show.
12/13/2009: Colin earned a Best of Breed placing at the Tidewater KC show over another professionally handled special and class dog. No group placing, but all in all a good warm up before the American Spaniel Club show in January. Hope all of our welshie friends and breeders had a safe and wonderful holiday.
11/29/2009: We just learned that "Sonnet" (Truepenny Poems, Prayers, and Promises) earned not one but two majors this past weekend including a 5 pointer. Sonnet was from The Promise Litter bred by Marion Daniel and Sharlynn McGonigal in the summer of 2008 (Colin x Bryn). Sonnet now has a total of 9 points and both majors. Way to go girl. Hopefully we will have some nice photos to add here soon.
11/19/2009: Not much is going on around the home front these days. We showed our crew (Brady, Remy, Katy and Meggan) at the Middleburg shows and earned class firsts each day but that was all. Brady has returned home for the winter and may be shown in the spring some time if we can get down to FL. Remy I believe is in the ring this weekend in Massachusetts, so we hope to hear from them on Sunday about the results of the show. Colin ran in a hunt test in October but broke at the water after a flawless field and hunt dead, so we are back to square one with him on the basics before we run again. Looking forward to the holidays with friends and family and a quiet show schedule. We'll see you in the ring at AmSpan and MSDA in 2010. Have a wonderful holiday season.
9/21/2009: I just returned from the Atlanta, GA cluster of shows and am proud to report that Brady (Riverside's Cannons at the Beach) earned his first major. Brady now has 7 points total just like his brother. We are showing him at the Warrenton/Millwood shows in VA next weekend. Remy and Gracie are showing up in New York the same weekend. We will post results as soon as they are available.
9/15/2009: We just received Remy's show photos from his two majors. I love the first photo, but the second one the photographer must have used auto focus, because the photo is blurry and focused on the background and not the foreground. I am off to Atlanta for three days of shows with Brady and Colin. I'll post results when I return.
9/6/2009: We just learned that Remy earned another point in NJ this past weekend by going WD/BOW. Remy now has 7 points towards his AKC championship. On a lighter note, I just returned from Raleigh after successfully "handling" Meggan to a class second on Saturday and a Reserve placing today to preserve the major for others. As a result, our good friend Betsy Czechin and her Sara earned her finishing major on Saturday, and our friend Mary Johnson and Maggie earned a major today. I also helped out a fellow novice owner from Virginia in handling her dog Brave to his first major today. Although Colin did not place in the breed ring, he showed well. All in all a good weekend and fun for all in attendance. Next up, the Atlanta shows in two weeks, then the Warrenton/Millwood shows in VA. Stay tuned for more photo updates hopefully in the coming days.
9/1/2009: More good news - Meggan is now an AKC Champion!!!! Meggan earned her finishing major at the Newton KC shows the first day. I kept her in classes on Saturday to keep the major intact for everyone else. I knew she had it in her, but the biggest surprise was Remy. In only his third show, he went Best of Winners both days and knocked out the two majors needed towards his AKC championship. We were completely floored! 3 majors and another new champion. We will be at the Raleigh shows on Saturday and Sunday this upcoming weekend to keep the majors intact for others as well, but man what a past couple of weeks. Let's hope the good fortune continues in the coming weeks at future shows with Gracie, Brady and Remy as the fall approaches.
8/18/2009: Stop the presses - updates two days in a row? Can it be true? Sort of - I found a couple errors from yesterday's updates, and we received a couple photos of Maggie. What a cutie!!! She is one of Colin and Tegan's siblings and lives in Maryland. It is hard to believe that our first litter is over 5 years of age already and closing in on 6. These photos as well as the several that Marion has sent us for the Promise Litter will be loaded as soon as I get time to format them to be web-friendly to enable faster load times. Look for them in the coming week or so in between our upcoming show commitments.
8/17/2009: Yeah Yeah I know - what a slacker. Well, in case you hadn't heard, we were a little busy this summer and have more madness on the way. We were showing 6, that 's right 6 different welsh pups of ours over the summer, including 4 from the same litter. The end result you ask? One finished champion (Diego), two almost finished champions (Meggan and Gracie only need the last major), one with points his very first time in the ring (Brady) and two making progress showing in the ring (Katy and Remy). Oh yeah, did I forget to mention one of the pups (Sonnet) from the litter Colin sired last year earned a point in her first show as well. So you see, there is a reason I have been slacking in updating the site, but alas the major updates are complete. You will now find updated info reflecting: Meggan's current point status, Brady's recent accomplishments and photos, new page for Gracie, Diego's page updated to reflect his new AKC title as a Champion, as well as many updates on the Health page, a couple new links added on the links page for WSSCA Rescue and Cindy Rhine's new site.
One significant item of note which I feel warrants a little acknowledgement - another one of Savannah's offspring received an Excellent OFA hip score. That makes not one, not two but three separate litters with three different pedigrees that have resulted in at least one pup with an excellent rating. The first litter had 4 of 8, the second litter had 2 of 3 and to date on the third litter, 1 of 3 with the remaining pups all scored as GOOD. That is 50% of her pups so far with 5 more left to be scored. I truly hope that others take note of this and will consider using Colin as a stud to help continue this line of excellent hips to add to their respective pedigrees.
In the coming weeks, I will be making some more changes and updating Katy and Remy's pages to update you all on what is going on with them. Thanks again for your patience. I know I am a slacker. The latest photo updates will be added in the coming weeks to the Picasa site as time permits, but here is a quick glimpse.......
5/17/2009: A triple play for Kennel Riverside!!!! First, Gracie (Riverside's My Aim Is True) earned her first point the first weekend in May. Second, Meggan earned 4 points (2 points each day) this weekend with Winner's Bitch both days and a Best of Winners on Saturday at the Mattaponi KC shows in Manassas, VA with Katy (Riverside's Katy Rides Shotgun) making her ring debut and showing very well for her first time out. And last, Colin earned his second leg towards his Senior Hunter title last weekend. We hope the momentum continues next weekend with Diego in Hampton!!! Meggan now has 11 points with one major towards her championship.
5/1/2009: Colin and I have been working on retrieves to hand with the 'hold' command reinforced. So far so good, but our first test will be next weekend at the Mason-Dixon English Cocker Spaniel Club's hunt test in PA. After that, the following weekend is when Katy (Riverside's Katy Rides Shotgun from the Gun Litter) makes her ring debut at the Mattaponi KC shows in Northern VA. Right now, Carys (one of Colin & Tegan's sisters) is here for a stay while her owners on on holiday. Diego will come by for a little while to show some as well. To cap it all of, shortly after that, Brady comes for a visit while his parents are on vacation. So you can see that we are a little busy these days.
4/12/2009: I made it back from the National Specialty and I can say that the trip was long and tiresome. While we didn't earn any points, Meggan placed first in her class all three days. Colin placed first in the Hunting Dog class all three days as well and made the final cut in the Best of Breed competition. All in all it was a fulfilling weekend albeit without any more points, but we showed well and had a few people compliment us on our showing. Next up for us is most likely the Mattaponi KC shows, then the Langley cluster of shows Memorial Day weekend. Pictures will be posted soon from the show.
3/1/2009: Meggan showed well at the Maryland Sporting Dog shows and earned another Major Reserve Winners on Sunday. We'll see how we do at the National Specialty in a few weeks.
2/23/2009: I have been such a slacker with updating our site these days - so I posted some new photos on the Picasa site for Remy and Brady. I also uploaded new photos of Colin's pups Sonnet and Colin. I will add more as they are provided to us by the new owners. We are getting ready for the MSDA dog shows this weekend. Both days are afternoon ring times, so at least I can have a chance to sleep in some.
1/17/2009: Uploaded two photos from recent shows: one for Meggan's BOW/WB (2 points) at Old Dominion KC in September 2008 and the most recent win of Colin in the Field Dog class at the AmSpan show just last weekend. The photos have been loaded to the photo albums for Meggan and Colin respectively.
1/16/2009: A somewhat sad day here at Riverside. We just returned from the vet after having Savannah officially taken out of the gene pool as a brood bitch. Out of concern over her age as she nears nine years old, we felt it was the healthiest option for our baby girl for her long term health. Although she will no longer produce anymore litters, Savannah produced three quality litters with excellent hips throughout the first two. The third litter is due their health tests later this year, so we will know more about hip scores by summer. We are also spaying Tegan. After careful considerations, we felt that she had too many undesirable structural traits to correct to warrant breeding her any further in the future. If we have another female, it will most likely come from another breeder in the future. As for now, the only intact females in our line are Meggan (out of Savannah) and Gracie (out of Tegan). Colin's pups have a few females intact, but they are not co-owned by us.
1/12/2009: I just returned from the 2009 American Spaniel Club show and boy am I exhausted. I had six of our dogs entered but only ended up taking 5. Tegan came into full blown season a day or two prior to the show, so she spent time at Toby & Jenna's home playing with Tywyn. I took Colin and Meggan to the show and had Gracie, Remington and Diego meet me there. All of the dogs showed well. Remy was in only his second show and is quite the playful pup in the ring. We are working on settling him down but a few people commented on how much better he behaved on Saturday in the classes compared to Friday in the sweepstakes. He place third both days but enjoyed himself thoroughly. Looks like the dog show is a positive experience for him so far. Gracie did very well also. She place third in sweepstakes and fifth in classes and showed wonderfully in only her fifth show. Diego had a blast and was wagging his tail non-stop. He placed second in his class on Saturday. Meggan strutted her stuff and placed first in her class. Colin had the best result with a class win in the Field Dog class. While we did not earn the title of Best Field Dog in Show, at least our friends Shelley Traylor and Cindy Ford won the title with their welshie girl Gracie. ALl in all it was a good weekend and a good start to the 2009 show year. Hopefully, we will have continued success as the year progresses.