A look back over our years with Tibetan Terriers.
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When we started showing Shang in 1983 there had
not been any TTs in shows in the Prairies and BC for a long
time. Even handlers asked "What is it?"
That has certainly changed over the years and we feel that
by showing our dogs frequently since then we contributed to
TTs being readily recognized nowadays.
In his first show in Winnipeg as a 9-month old puppy Shang
took second in Group to his namesake, the great Chow Chow
"Shang" who went on to Best in Show that day. A
very encouraging start for our first Tibetan Terrier.
Shang is shown here with Dr. Lee Huggins. |
Shang had a very successful show career ans was the Top TT in Canada 3 times, once missing narrowly to place #2.
He also gained his CD title and was wonderful to live with.
Here he is all grown up taking two of his many Group 1 wins.
| Our Tessa
To start breeding we had to get our females from the States,
there were none in Canada especially as we had decided to
have only Lamleh Tibetan Terriers.
We got Tessa from Ron and
Margy Pankiewicz (Malishar) and Buttons and Becky from the
Heltons (Ka-Ba) and embarked on our breeding program in 1986.
Tessa lived to almost 16 and was the all
time favourite of the whole family including children and
grandchildren here at Dalghani. It was extremely hard to say
'Good-Bye' to her and we will always have fond memories of
her. |
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Jonah from our first litter out of Shang and Tessa was different from
all his litter mates. He would not come when called, was always
hiding somewhere and never ran up to people who came to see the
puppies. We figured we'd better keep him as we thought he might
not make a good companion. Little did we know!
He had a stellar show career, ending as #1 TT in Canada three times, just like his dad. Here he is winning a Group 1 at the large Calgary show.
Jonah also excelled in obedience. I showed him most of the time and we developed a very special bond.
He got his Championship and CD both in Canada and the States.
One could not have asked for a better companion! |
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Marbles, the grandson of our Shang, was our all-time success story. He came to us
as a 4 year old Am Champion from his breeders Ron and Margy Pankiewicz.
We already had his son Tonka who had finished his championship but was not ready for Specials.
Marbles had some AKC group placings already but had to start in the classes here
in Canada in 1996. He finished quickly and moved to Specials.
We called 1996 his 'warm up' year with 11 group placings, including
2 firsts ending up as #1 Tibetan Terrier in Canada. |
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In 1997 Marbles soared to the top, breaking all previous records,
with 42 group placings, including 11 firsts and 4 Best in Show wins,
all owner handled. The picture of his hattrick, 3 BIS wins in one weekend, is on our Highlights page. With 2347 points Marbles was the #1 TT in Canada
again and he also placed 9th in the Non Sporting Group.
Marbles kept on winning in 1998, 4 more BIS wins, a Group 6 Specialty win and numerous Group 1sts.
He was the # 1 Tibetan Terrier in Canada for the 3rd year in a row and also placed #8 in the Non-Sporting Group, which
made him the All Time Top Tibetan Terrier in Canada. So far his record stands.
Marbles then officially retired to let his sons take over. Tonka was #1 the following year and
Eli held the #1 spot for 3 consecutive years, from 2001 to 2003.
Two of Marbles' BIS pictures are on our 'Highlights' page, here are two more.
In 1999 Marbles came out of retirement to become a movie star. He
was chosen to represent our breed in the Warner Brothers Movie "Best
in Show" and spent two weeks in Vancouver on set. He even got paid!
Pete and Marbles had a great time there. Of course we enjoyed watching the
movie (more than once!) afterwards.
The movie was seen all across the country and when it came to Salmon Arm Pete and Marbles became celebrities
and made the front page of the local paper.
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