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Miletree Constellation - Crufts BOB

lucidity

Well-known member
So happy that this amazing lad won BOB at Crufts yesterday! I've been a huge fan of him for a long, long time now. Here's a photo of him I stole off the internet:

[removed by admin: you MUST have permission to crosspost images on a copyright site. You cannot 'steal' them off the internet (y) ]

That was taken quite long ago, so his fur is even longer now (especially on the ears)! Lyra even shares many ancestors with him (she is from Miletree lines), so that's really cool :)

I'm also a HUGE fan of Miletree Star of India, who won the RBCC. She's such a pretty young lady.
 
I agree with you that both these Miletree dogs look absolutely fabulous and well deserved to win their classes. However, and maybe I am biased because of my love of tricolours, but ever since I saw Sherrie Baby first come out as a pup I have absolutely adored her. Such a beautiful coat, well balanced, good bone and the most ravishing top line. I really wanted her to go forward into the group, but it was not to be.
 
Lol, I think I'm the opposite of you! Tricolours are my least favourite colour, and I think I might be a bit biased towards Miletree dogs since Lyra is from their lines, lol.. but Sherrie Baby did very well, too! I actually really LOVE Rathbrist Rhydian--he is absolutely my favourite tricolour. Although, I've only seen him in pictures, so can't really comment on his gait or top line...

I'm also a pretty big fan of Spindlepoint Lyra--perhaps when she gets older she will do even better.

I didn't get to watch--only read the results online. Did any wholecolours win any of the classes? I do wish that we could see more Rubies and B&Ts winning..
 
Rathbrist Rhydian is just a stunning tricolour.He's just a magnificent showdog,impossible to take your eyes off him.
I've never seen Miletree Constellation in the flesh,but he looked an absolute dream on tv yesterday.It was so disappointing to see him ignored in the group.:(
Can't imagine that was a better pomeranian than he is a cavalier...:mad:
Sorata Don Vito flew the flag for wholecolours,winning his class.
Sins
 
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Rathbrist Rhydian is just a stunning tricolour.He's just a magnificent showdog,impossible to take your eyes off him.
I've never seen Miletree Constellation in the flesh,but he looked an absolute dream on tv yesterday.It was so disappointing to see him ignored in the group.:(
Can't imagine that was a better pomeranian than he is a cavalier...:mad:
Sorata Don Vito flew the flag for wholecolours,winning his class.
Sins

Yes! Rhydian is amazing. He is just stunning. I'm in constant awe at his amazing build, and that great broken up tricolour coat that is SO hard to breed for! His head is amazing as well. I was rather hoping to see him at Crufts. He would have done SO well..

Oh no! Had no idea that the Pomeranian won group :( I find that Poms win the toy group a lot.. it's always the same around here! They always either win group of BIS.

So good to hear that there was a whole colour winner in a class! I really love them--their expression is so much more appreciable when they are seen up close, especially the rubies.

Lyra's grandsire was MRI'd Grade A and heart clear at 5 years of age (he is a Miletree import). Sunny is already a very, very popular stud dog, though! Spindlepoint Lyra, who won her class is one of his offsprings.
 
There's a video on the KC website of the Toy Group judging with some nice views of the Cavalier. On the website, click on Crufts (on the right-hand side), click on Interactive, then Videos and then click on the list of videos to find the right one. We need top breeders who can lead by example (and I know there are already a lot doing a great job). Just wish they'd go a bit more public and be proud of it in their adverts in the Cavalier Club Year Book, for example - Miletree don't mention it in theirs this year, but we need to get to the point where it's the first thing any prospective stud-dog user or puppy buyer looks for.

Kate, Oliver and Aled - wasting too much time today watching Crufts on YouTube!
 
Hi

Thanks Kate I shall watch on my laptop later .I put the TV on at 6.15 last night ready to watch it all and I managed 45 seconds before I had to turn it off ,within 5 seconds of it starting Poppy spotted dogs on the telly and alerted the other three then all hell let loose so I had no choice but to turn it off so I shall view carefully with no sound on the laptop later even though its all recorded .Just realised they all go to the groomers tomorrow for 9.30 am so I will have a good few hours alone so I could view it all on the big screen in peace and quiet .
 
I just managed to watch the Toy group judging on Youtube! Thanks, Kate.

Have to say that I absolutely loved the spunk in that Pomeranian and the Bichon Frise. Was so tickled to see the Pom jumping around happily and the Bichon walking so fast around the ring that his handler had to run to catch up! He even knew EXACTLY where to go. Such charm!

It was kind of sad to see the judge ignore Sunny, though :( He did seem a little nervous and moved his muzzle away when she was looking at his teeth. Seems like the judge picked the most outgoing dogs? The Papillon had an incredible stack, though!
 
By and large (with a few notable exceptions) Cavaliers don't do very well in Groups. I think what judges look for at that level (as well as closeness to the breed standard) is a real 'Look at me - I'm the best!' attitude that grabs the judge and somehow dominates the ring, and most Cavaliers just don't have that sort of temperament when in competition with other, more bossy and bustling breeds!

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Just a reminder: please do not crosspost images of anyone's dogs unless you have direct permission to use the individual photo. I have removed the image.

Also: please do not post guesses on scanning grades of cavaliers. The information MUST be known as a fact -- it is very misleading if it turns out a dog does not have the grade -- for better or worse -- than what was supposed.

I have edited posts that contained discussions of this information to remove that information.

The bottom line is: breeders have the ability to post their scan information now thanks to the new MateSelect and BVA/KC grading scheme. Doing so will be what puppy buyers and other breeders increasingly look for, for verified information on a dog's grades and a breeder's commitment to health testing. :)

It is always worrying if a single dog becomes a very very popular sire and geneticists widely consider this a critical problem in pedigree dogs generally -- that creates the genetic bottlenecks that lead to breed health issues because generations of dogs end up closely related. When a problem like say. MVD or SM is endemic, it is very difficult to find lines that do not carry these damaging genes and already the worsening of the problem has been in part attributed to 'popular sire syndrome'. Older, distinct lines are now gone as show breeders rush to use the narrow range of winning sires, and lines become more and more closely related to other lines already affected with the unwanted genes. Problems then become very impossible to recover from, because the genetic options are so narrow. That's one of the real issues right now with SM -- there are no clear lines to go to, to breed away more easily fro these two condition.

There's a very strong argument in this breed to limit the number of litters any male can sire (the case in Sweden).

Testing breeders who carefully evaluate what dogs theirs are bred to, are exactly what the breed needs. :)
 
The bottom line is: breeders have the ability to post their scan information now thanks to the new MateSelect and BVA/KC grading scheme. Doing so will be what puppy buyers and other breeders increasingly look for, for verified information on a dog's grades and a breeder's commitment to health testing. :)


We will increasingly be able to see which of the cavalier clubs' health representatives and committee members do MRI and at what age their dogs are scanned before being bred from.

The beautiful dog that won BOB at Crufts is already a well used stud dog. He has sired 103 puppies from 25 litters, the majority of them before he was two and a half years old.

He sired his first litter at 13 months.
His second was at 14 months to a bitch that was 21 months.
His third litter was when he was 15 months.

If he was ever MRI'd and/or heart tested he was too young for the checks to count for anything.

This is why the cavalier has so very little chance of a healthy future.
 
We will increasingly be able to see which of the cavalier clubs' health representatives and committee members do MRI and at what age their dogs are scanned before being bred from.

The beautiful dog that won BOB at Crufts is already a well used stud dog. He has sired 103 puppies from 25 litters, the majority of them before he was two and a half years old.

He sired his first litter at 13 months.
His second was at 14 months to a bitch that was 21 months.
His third litter was when he was 15 months.

If he was ever MRI'd and/or heart tested he was too young for the checks to count for anything.

This is why the cavalier has so very little chance of a healthy future.

Beauty before health yet again. Not a breeder I would want to buy from.
 
We will increasingly be able to see which of the cavalier clubs' health representatives and committee members do MRI and at what age their dogs are scanned before being bred from.

The beautiful dog that won BOB at Crufts is already a well used stud dog. He has sired 103 puppies from 25 litters, the majority of them before he was two and a half years old.

He sired his first litter at 13 months.
His second was at 14 months to a bitch that was 21 months.
His third litter was when he was 15 months.

If he was ever MRI'd and/or heart tested he was too young for the checks to count for anything.

This is why the cavalier has so very little chance of a healthy future.

Is this kind of bitching really neccessary? It seems to me that there were enough problems at Crufts this year without people here joining in. How sad. If you don't like what this particular breeder does then you don't have to use his dogs.
Penny
 
Is this kind of bitching really neccessary? It seems to me that there were enough problems at Crufts this year without people here joining in. How sad. If you don't like what this particular breeder does then you don't have to use his dogs.
Penny

No, what is sad is that there is no way of stopping the puppies produced by this type of risky irresponsible breeding going into the cavalier gene pool to compromise the future generations of cavaliers.

I think it is perfectly in order to flag up the situation when someone who stands as a cavalier club committee member and takes the position of club health representative drives a horse and cart through the breeding guidelines for both MVD & SM.

Why court the publicity that being a health representative brings if you do not mean to put the health of the breed first?

Try reading some of the accounts written by owners of SM affected dogs and feeling their distress and the poor dogs' pain. I think that explains to anyone who is not a blinkered breeder why criticism is justified.
 
By and large (with a few notable exceptions) Cavaliers don't do very well in Groups. I think what judges look for at that level (as well as closeness to the breed standard) is a real 'Look at me - I'm the best!' attitude that grabs the judge and somehow dominates the ring, and most Cavaliers just don't have that sort of temperament when in competition with other, more bossy and bustling breeds!

Thank goodness. I cringe when a cavalier wins group.
 
It seems to me that there were enough problems at Crufts this year without people here joining in.

Are you joking? "Problems"? The Kennel Club finally took a brave stance that it should have years ago. We have already "joined in" in many other threads so not sure what you are talking about.

And as for Margaret's comments? Margaret is the former (and longtime) health representative for the UK national CKCS club.

Her comments are a very eye opening list of facts that sadly indicate yet again, how too many breeders are totally ignoring health protocols often while insisting they are health-focused breeders. This is what is devastating this breed. For nearly two decades the MVD protocol has advised against ever breeding cavaliers under age 2.5. Heart tests and MRIs are meaningless until cavaliers are at least 2.5. Too many of these people then pay lip service to being health focused and publicly complain they are being 'tarred with the same brush' as the breeders who do not test/don't follow protocols -- when often they are one and the same.

Cavalier health and welfare issues are a major focus of this site.

Your comments and attitude indicate they aren't to you. And thus I am sure you will find another community that suits you better. I hope in time you will learn more and care more about the breed you now own because it needs informed people ready to demand that all breeders take health seriously, not just whether a dog is pretty in the show ring.
 
"And thus I am sure you will find another community that suits you better."

Karlin. Why would you be so harsh as to get rid of a member who was simply expressing an opinion in a civilised way and who called for a little more kindness in dealing with others?
 
Is this kind of bitching really neccessary? It seems to me that there were enough problems at Crufts this year without people here joining in. How sad. If you don't like what this particular breeder does then you don't have to use his dogs.
Penny

I hate to say it, but this kind of bitching is absolutely necessary if we are to save the breed before it is too late. We should be thinking about all dogs and not just the ones we use.
 
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