Past

Always Remembered

Swedish, Finnish, American Champion

Huffish Entrapment

Tango

We imported Tango from Sweden July 4, 2003 as a four year old retired Scandinavian champion as we wanted to diversify our pedigrees. Six months later he walked into the ring with Chris for his first American shows and by the end of the weekend he had been awarded three 4 point majors. Two weeks later he added to his European titles an American championship. Tango loves to be given jobs to do and his next title was his Canine Good Citizenship certificate in just one try! We recognized what we thought were strong retrieving instincts so Scott had Tango evaluated for field training and sure enough, the trainer said he was a natural and his training began.

Tango’s many virtues have been appreciated by us as well as by those breeders that have bred to him. One of his strongest virtues having been bred to a select number of bitches has been allowing his strengths come through while complementing those he was bred to in producing stable, sound, intelligent and friendly puppies. These qualities are important to those wanting a family companion as well as to those who show their dogs.

Tango has in common the same sire as two worldwide known standard males. The first, Ch. Topscore Contradiction by the call name of King was born in Norway where he now enjoys living out his retirement years. He was the Best In Show winner at two of the biggest shows in the world, Crufts and The World Show. He was also Winners Dog and Best of Winners at our Poodle Club of America Nationals.

The second is Ch. Afterglow The Big Tease by the call name of Donny. Bred by Michael Gadsby of the UK, Donny came to America going Best of Variety from the Open Dog class at our Poodle Club of America National. He continued to be shown in America for one year subsequently being awarded multiple Best In Show titles. Like King, he too has returned to his home country to enjoy life after being campaigned as a Special in the show ring.

Click on thumbnails for larger pictures.

Ch. Lake Cove’s Fanfare

Sport

Sport was the ultimate gentleman of a poodle right up until the day he died at almost 15 years of age in his sleep next to me. We always referred to him as our benevolent leader and it was obvious that he was the most popular dog among everyone in our house.

At 7 months of age he went to his very first dog show which was our Poodle Club of America National. We were very surprised when the judge pointed at this baby puppy and awarded him Reserve Winners Dog. Sport completed his championship at 13 months old.

Sport was what any poodle breeder or owner would want out in public as an ambassador for the breed. He was dignified, stable, forgiving, pensive, and had a twinkle in his eye that made even non-poodle lovers want a standard “just like him.”

Ch. Randenn’s Beyond Hope at Cabernet

Bianca

Bianca came into our lives when Dennis McCoy and Randy Gerren came to visit us from Northern California. Before coming, they informed us that they would be bringing with them a 4 month old puppy. The plan was for the unnamed puppy girl to continue onto Japan with our house being her overnight layover. Scott told them when he picked all three up at the airport that once I saw her she would not be leaving our house. I saw immediately just how beautiful she was and felt that she needed to stay in America.

I hurried home from school excited about our company and stopped in my tracks when I saw this beautiful white puppy girl in the puppy pen. The rest of the evening was spent with me saying over and over, “This puppy was meant to stay with us. She is not going to Japan.”

Bianca was a WONDERFUL girl to live with and everyone was aware of how much “she loved her mommy,” and her “mommy loved her.” Scott and I still laugh when we think of all the things Bianca did such as draping her body over the arm of a couch no matter how high or low it was, letting her puppies pull her around the yard and house by her ears without any discipline being given to them, sleeping past noon even as a young dog, and letting young children pile on her. These are just a few of the things that endeared her to us.

Never moody or demanding, Bianca loved everyone and everything.

Cabernet’s Thread of Hope

Kylee

What can a breeder say about a girl like Kylee except her smile said it all. Kylee’s great grandfather, Ch. La Marka Neque Smilesgot his name because he would curl his lips up and smile. His son, Ch. Prestige I’ll Do Anything, also smiled and his son (and Kylee’s Dad!), Ch. Cabernet’s Love Unlimited, did the same! I’ll Do Anything, and then his son, Ch. Cabernet’s Love Unlimited who is Kylee’s dad. Kylee was our pick to be our next show dog, but like her mother Hope, she too had another agenda and her time in the ring was limited to a few shows. We loved having Kylee as our pet. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to re-home her just because she didn’t enjoy showing and wasn’t a champion. We wanted what our companion people want…a dog that is fun to live with. Kylee was all of that and some.

Zydeco

Zydeco at St. Mary’s and “Going To Work”

Cabernet is extremely proud of Zydeco. The following tribute to Zydeco was written by Doug Murdock and is an excerpt from “Four on the Floor, Spring, 2005, A Quarterly Publication of TherapyPets, a volunteer organization.

“Zydeco lived his life as a therapy dog. Whether entertaining preschoolers or visiting a nursing home, on vacation, or just day to day life, he made friends easily and often.

A familiar character along College Avenue in his Oakland neighborhood, he’d regularly make the rounds, stopping at favorite shops, to see friends. People would hail him from passing cars. It seemed like nearly everyone knew this poodle. He was a local star.

And he was well known and well loved at Saint Mary’s Preschool in Oakland, where he and Adele were frequent visitors. Children delighted in dressing Zydeco up, adorning him in all sorts of hats and costumes, fireman, postman, cowboy-as well as scarves. On one occasion he was even gracious enough to wear a tutu!. The ultra tolerant dog loved being around kids. “He’d just lie down flat and let them climb all over him,” remembers Adele. There’s a hallway at Saint Mary’s festooned with cards and pictures that children made for him.

“One of his great skills was working a room,” Adele recalls. “He would calmly and gently find people to pat him at parties or art openings, which he frequently attended.” A real gentleman, his manners, were better than those of most people, a friend use to say.

Zydeco’s sensitivity to humans was further expressed in his Therapy Pets work. He was very popular with residents of nursing homes, particularly the ladies. He could bring out the best in people. During one visit to the Salem Lutheran Home in Oakland, an elderly gentleman petting him began telling of the dog he had as a young boy. Nurses at the facility were astounded because they hadn’t heard the man speak a word in months.

He never harmed another animal or person. He was exceptionally in tune with people and seemed to prefer human company over that of fellow dogs. Adele is grateful that this natural aptitude had such bountiful opportunity to flourish throughout his life. “It’s good that he could express and develop this special gift.”

Zydeco’s outgoing yet easy going personality made him a lot of friends and he is missed by a great many people.”

Zydeco succumbed to cancer of the jaw December, 2004.

Mariner’s New Hope At Cabernet

Hope

Hope was gifted to Scott and me from, Dennis McCoy and Randy Garren who were our handlers at the time. Because her father was Multiple BIS Ch. Whisperwind on a Carousel and her mother was BOS at the Nationals, Ch. White Farms Mariner’s Miata, we all thought that she would enjoy showing as much as they did BUT it was not in her plans. So, at 14 years old, Hope still had her way and spent her days sleeping on our bed, playing with puppies, and watching TV with a toy in her mouth. We still smile when we say her name. She was a funny little girl.

Hopie with friends

Cash

Ch. Cabernet’s Money To Burn was a puppy champion who lived with and was loved by our dear friends, Lorraine and Nancy. Cash spent his time going to his cabin in the Sierras, camping, and fishing with his mommies.

Every morning, Cash moved all his favorite stuffed toys from the bedroom into the dining room and put them on his pad. Then every evening he moved them all back into the bedroom.