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  1. #1
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    My Life in Labs Vol 5

    1985 turned to 1986. We saw our first year in the UK come to an end. I had no idea when we arrived how involved we would become with the dogs, and and that I would make lifelong friends because of this involvement. I had been to several shows and was really having a hard time waiting for Dusty to turn 6 months old. Now keep in mind we barely were making ends meet, I was an E-5 when we arrived in the UK, and was notified of promotion to E-6 in May of 86. It took over 8 months for me to get the actual promotion and pay raise. Raising two kids wasn't cheap, and obviously family came first when it came to allocating the dollars. I did manage to budget in a few shows for the year, both open and Championship shows.

    It was actually rather funny when I was showing Dusty, as there were very few Americans showing dogs. I would get some very odd looks from the Judges when they heard my accent! It was truly an amazing experience for me, I was able to meet a lot of people and was exposed to many things the average American never got to experience.

    I have no idea what shows these pictures are from, as I wasn't nearly smart enough to mark them at the time. When I was going through my pictures I was actually surprised at how few there were. I think a lot of it had to do with how expensive (relatively) it was to buy and process film. I don't think we realize how lucky we are to have digital photography today. I think I took more pics on my last vacation that I did in 4 and 1/2 years in the UK!!









    I'm honestly not sure who this dog is. I know it's not Ella, as I had never shown her at a show with Dusty. I think it may have been one of my friends dogs, as there were times when they would have two dogs eligible for best Dog or Bitch and he'd ask me to handle one of them. This happen 4 or 5 times over the 4 years I went to shows with him.



    This dog was Dusty's sire. Ch. Trenow Music Man. Still one of my very favorite Labs of all time. A beautiful Labrador with the most wonderful temperment. He was a very hard worker, picking up at local pheasant shoots during the season. He's probably the reason I've always had a preference for black male Labs!!



    My friends had a litter of puppies in June 1986. They invited us and friends of ours (the couple we were just on vacation with on Maui) to see the pups when they were about 6 weeks old. Little did we know there were two pups in that litter who would go on to great things!!!





    Somewhere amoungst these puppies is Ch. Trenow Brigadier, who was and I believe still is the youngest full champion Lab in the UK, and Sh. Ch. Trenow Briar Rose. Both went on to produce multiple UK and international Champions.



    In the fall of 1986 Dusty started having seizures. As time went by they began to get more frequent, and more intense. She also began to become fearful of people. My vet had no diffinative answer, and none of the meds he tried worked. I had gone to an in residence school for the AF in February 1987. My wife called me and told me Dusty had begun growling at the kids, and actually had nipped at them several times. When I got home Friday, I called my vet and my friends. Since we had to consider the safety on my kids, and the fact Dusty's seizures and fearfullness were getting worse, the decision was made to put her to sleep. It was the hardest thing I had ever had to do. My vet felt that most likely she had a brain tumor, which was growing bigger and causing the problems.

    This is the last picture I had of Dusty. Even after all this time, 30 years, I still have tears thinking about her.



    Dusty's Awards:

    The Yellow Labrador Club Open Show - 2nd Place Minor Puppy
    Stratford and District Canine Society Open Show - 2nd Place Minor Puppy
    Stratford-on-Avon Canine Society Open Show - 2nd Place - Puppy; 4th Place Minor Puppy
    Evesham and District C.S. Open Show - 1st Place - Puppy; Group Winner - Puppy Best Puppy in Show
    West of England Championship Show - 1st Place - Minor Puppy - Cruft's Qualifier
    Dudley and District Canine Assoc Open Show - 4th Place - Puppy
    Paignton and District Fanciers Assoc Championship Show 2nd Place - Puppy
    Three Counties Championship Dog Show - 3rd Place - Puppy
    Gundog Society of Wales Championship Show - 3rd Place - Junior; 3rd Place Novice
    The Labrador Retriever Club of Wales Open Show - 3rd Place - Junior

    Dusty's potential was unlimited, and very sadly unfulfilled.

  2. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to barry581 For This Useful Post:

    Bamps (03-17-2016), Berna (03-17-2016), ChoppersDad (03-17-2016), doubledip1 (03-17-2016), KMcD (03-17-2016), Maxx&Emma (03-19-2016), soberbyker (03-18-2016)

  3. #2
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    Love the pictures!

    And so sorry to hear of Dusty’s early passing. We lost Mulder to a probable brain tumor too, but at least he was very old at the time.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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    barry581 (03-17-2016)

  5. #3
    Senior Dog ChoppersDad's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing your stroll down memory lane. Awesome pictures. Good times for sure.

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  7. #4
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    How old was Dusty when she passed? She was beautiful. And do ever have thoughts of getting back into showing?

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  9. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Meeps83 View Post
    How old was Dusty when she passed? She was beautiful. And do ever have thoughts of getting back into showing?
    She was just over 18 months old. I've thought about it many times over the years. I had to be honest with myself, I knew the only way to truly succeed in the show ring was to start my own breeding program, and I seriously though about it many times over these many years. The biggest obstacle at the time was being in the USAF and moving periodically. The second, and probably the biggest reason is I knew I could not repeatedly take the stress of having litters of puppies. The one litter I had convinced me of this. I loved having that litter of pups, watching those babies being born, watching them grow and develop. It was an amazing experience, but I knew in the long run, it wasn't something I was cut out to do.

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  11. #6
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Such great memories. I'm so sorry about Dusty. She was a very pretty girl. You must have made some very special friends for them to let you handle their dogs.
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  13. #7
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by barry581 View Post
    She was just over 18 months old. I've thought about it many times over the years. I had to be honest with myself, I knew the only way to truly succeed in the show ring was to start my own breeding program, and I seriously though about it many times over these many years. The biggest obstacle at the time was being in the USAF and moving periodically. The second, and probably the biggest reason is I knew I could not repeatedly take the stress of having litters of puppies. The one litter I had convinced me of this. I loved having that litter of pups, watching those babies being born, watching them grow and develop. It was an amazing experience, but I knew in the long run, it wasn't something I was cut out to do.
    I 100% get that. We had the option of showing Maverick. Ultimately I would've loved to try it but I know I'd never be able to maintain a successful breeding operation. I'd never be able to let those pups go.

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  15. #8
    Senior Dog Jollymolly's Avatar
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    She was so young. your life has been so full of labs and I love that you are sharing it with us.

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  17. #9
    Senior Dog Bamps's Avatar
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    That is incredible. Lucky you to have such a lab rich life!!

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    barry581 (03-18-2016)

  19. #10
    Real Retriever Murphy030813's Avatar
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    Thank you for sharing your life with labs!!! What adventures you have had!

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