The bitch I leased was Apple Acres Fine Silver, a bi-blue daughter of Am/Can/Int Ch Apple Acres Chain Lightning and Ch Apple Acres Fairest Of All. After much searching and researching, I decided to breed her to Ch Kell Renaissance. Sylvia produced a singleton puppy from that breeding, a blue-merle male. I was very happy to see that he had many qualities that I was looking for even as a young puppy.
He was registered Dynestar Ruby Heart Revival. Ruby Heart Shelties owned Sylvia, and I included their name as a tribute. Revival was my choice for a name, as this was a new start for me. My family decided to call him Phoenix. When Phoenix was six months old, I took him to a two-day IABCA show. For those not familiar with this type of show, it is the International All Breed Canine Association. The great thing about these shows is that the judges are AKC judges, and they give you a written critique of how your dog compares to the breed standard. Each day is two shows, so you can get four critiques from four different judges from at least two different countries.
Phoenix obtained the highest marks a six month old puppy can achieve. He received a National and International Puppy Champion Title. Two weeks later, we hit the AKC shows. His first show in my hometown won him two Reserve Winners Dog. One month later he won his first two points at the Sioux Valley show in Vermillion, South Dakota. During the next two months, Phoenix continued to win one point shows, until he went to Des Moines, Iowa in September.
At Des Moines, handled by Amy Massey, Phoenix won a 4 point Specialty Major and followed that up the next day with another 3 point major win. He was not even 10 months old. After these wins brought his total points to 12, Phoenix decided it was time to act like the puppy he was and he started goofing off in the ring. Phoenix really enjoys the show ring and showed his excitement by playing, dancing and leaping his way around the ring.
At St Cloud in December, 2007, he decided to show what he could really do, and took Best of Breed over two specials. Coincidently, the judge that day was one of the judges from the IABCA show. Phoenix finished his championship on June 1, 2008 at 18 months of age, and completely out of coat. A special Thank You to Deb Nordby of Cullivoe Shelties for making a naked dog look so stunning.
To be continued……..
BISS Am GCH CH/Can CH Dynestar Ruby Heart Revival "Phoenix"
