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History of Seighford
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The history of our prefix stems back quite a few years
before the actual Seighford prefix was registered. It all began in June
1980, in Adelaide, when my brother convinced
our family that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was the breed for us,
and our first Stafford , Colbandie
Game Judy (Jedda) was purchased. Like many being bred around that time,
she was no "oil painting", as the breed was numerically weak,
and the gene pool too small to produce the consistency of quality we
see today. Nevertheless, she was shown sparingly, but without success
of any great nature. We decided that breeding for our own future was
the path to pursue, and this bitch was mated and produced a litter
under the prefix "Toparmour". Unfortunately, due to whelping
difficulties, only a small portion of the litter survived.
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Following this disappointing start, we decided to buy a
dog and bitch with a view to giving ourselves a strong foundation in
the breed. These were Ch Madcap Perfect Peggy (Peggy), and Ch
Waurstafford Jasper CD (Butch), who were consistent winners in the
ring, and formed the foundation of the Anvilhart prefix, that of my
mother, Dawn Tomney. During the period 1981 - 1985, all our family's
activities were centred around this prefix.
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In 1986, I relocated to Melbourne,
and at the time took a young Anvilhart dog with me, Anvilhart Daring Duke CDX (Duke),
and commenced campaigning him in Victoria.
In 1987, the Seighford prefix was born when I met my now wife, Fiona,
and like most she fell in love with the breed, and we decided to become
breeders in our own right. To facilitate this, and because Duke wasn't
either liking or doing that well in the show ring, we were lucky enough
to be given a bitch by my mother to get us started, Ch Anvilhart
Miss Marnie (Marnie).
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Marnie was far more competitive in the show ring than Duke
and was a bit of a natural show-off, and quickly gained her title. Duke
(and Fiona), on the other hand, preferred the Obedience ring to the
show scene, and soon made a name for themselves as they travelled
around trialing and doing Obedience demonstrations, setting a number of
milestones on their way, with Duke becoming the first male Stafford in
Victoria to gain his CDX (Companion Dog Excellent) title.
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We realised very early on, that due to its natural
intelligence that this breed is blessed with, that in our breeding
programme it was of importance to us, that whilst always wanting to
breed good companions and family pets, our aim was to produce dogs that
would be equally competitive in both the Show and Obedience rings. We
also decided that our priority in breeding would not be numbers of
pups, but to only breed to suit the needs of our prefix to provide
additional members of our Stafford
family. As a result since our prefix was first registered in 1987, we
have only produced 13 litters to date. However our breeding plans are
always well documented for the future and we openly share our plans on
this web site under the Our
Future Staffords link.
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Shortly before our first litter was born, we purchased a
second bitch, Skaloway China Rose (Rosie), with a
top quality Borstaff based pedigree, and being a red, introduced the
genes for red into our prefix.
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Our first litter was from Ch Anvilhart Miss Marnie, and
the sire was Ch Borstaff Basildon Bond, and from the 5 surviving
puppies in this litter, we produced two Champions (Ch Seighford
Lykaspike CD and Ch Seighford Sonnabond), the former also gaining his
CD (Companion Dog) title, and required only 1 more pass to gain his
CDX.
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In 1991, we developed a very good relationship with Susie
Park (Thistlewood) in New Zealand,
and were very privileged to provide her dog Aust & NZ Ch Budmarsh
of Tarlair (Bucky) (a son of Eng Ch Skean Dhu) a home in Australia
for 9 months, and through him introduce the Eng Ch Black Tusker gene
pool into our prefix. Bucky was used at stud over both of our bitches
at the time (Marnie and Rosie), and gave us the now legendary Aust Grand
& NZ Ch Seighford Budmarshs Heir CDX (Swampy), whose
list of milestones was as impressive, as the tremendous friend and
companion that he was in himself. We are deeply indebted to both Susie and
Bucky for what they have allowed us to achieve in the breed to date,
primarily through this dog. Apart from Swampy, the introduction of
Bucky as a stud dog into our prefix has given a strong foundation for
many years to come in our breeding programme.
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More recently we have imported semen from Am & Intl Ch
Slam Dance CGC a son of Eng Ch Both Barrels At Nozac, and through this
exciting introduction to our kennel we trust that we can strengthen our
lines even further, with a puppy from this semen (Aust Ch Seighford Tikka
Masala (AI)) having gained her Australian
Champion title in 2003 at a young age.
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From our very limited numbers of puppies produced we have
currently achieved:
- 15
Australian Champions
- 1
Australian Grand Champion
- 2 New Zealand
Champion
- 7
Companion Dogs
- 3
Companion Dog Excellent
We
have also owned dogs bred by others that have achieved the
following:
- 3
Australian Champions
- 1
Australian Grand Champion
- 1 New Zealand
Champion
- 1
Companion Dog
- 1
Companion Dog Excellent
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These results bear testimony to our belief in breeding
sparingly and for the best possible outcomes for both the Show and
Obedience rings.
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In 1998, we agreed to ship semen from Swampy to the USA, to Dayna Lemke (Daydream) in California, and
are pleased that, at 14 months of age, a dog from the first litter
produced from this semen, has achieved his Championship title, Am Ch
Daydream Love and Rockets (Daniel). Through our relationship with
Dayna, we have more exciting things planned for our prefix in the
future.
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Recent additions to our family of Staffords, have come
through Annette and Wayne Pulford (Boldhart), arguably one of the very
best breeders of Staffordshire Bull Terriers in this country. They are Boldhart Jemima Pudlduck (Jemma) and Grand Ch Boldhart Olly
Took (Olly), and
through these two wonderful dogs, that we are able to underpin the
strengths and characteristics of our prefix to date.
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Olly’s credentials in the show ring are unmatched to this
point in time and are summarized on his page on this web site.
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Right now, the Seighford prefix is poised to strengthen
its already good record, through the good friendships that we have developed
with Susie Park (Thistlewood, NZ), Dayna Lemke (Daydream, USA) and
Annette and Wayne Pulford (Boldhart, Aust). Our breeding plans for the
next decade are underpinned by what these people have added to our
prefix, and we thank them enormously for what they are contributing to
our prefix.
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As an adjunct to showing activities, I am licensed, by the
Australian National Kennel Council, as a judge to award CC's to
Staffordshire Bull Terriers, having gained this right in July 1995 and
in October 2007 gained my licence to award CC’s to all Terriers. To
date I have had 24 judging appointments.
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Judge Resume for Mr David Lowe (Adobe Acrobat
required)
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Anvilhart Daring Duke CDX
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