CONVERSATIONS...
This month, a
conversation with Nancy Dallaire, Twin Beau
D Goldens. Nancy lives in Swansea,
Massachusetts and has been involved in
Goldens for almost 27 years.
CM: Hi Nancy,
tell me about your first Golden.
ND: My first
female was an Englewood Golden. I bought her
as a pet when my twins were three years old.
I had a mixed breed that had been hit by a
car... I’m not sure I want to say that!. We
had a fenced in yard though! But she got
out under the fence and got hit. She was a
$10.00 pet shop dog. So I went to the
newspaper, everything you shouldn’t do - But
this ad said, “breeder of true Goldens”.
Pauline Sousa was a small breeder right
here in Rhode, Island. This puppy was the
last pick of the litter. Pauline didn’t have
any Champions, but she used to go to shows
and she was trying. We became friendly and
I started going to shows with her. The
dog’s name was Englewood’s Cleo’s Starshine
CD (Pekay’s Cash ‘N’ Carry x Louisiana Gold
Sutter Creek CDX).
The first
thing I did was I put a CD on her because
she wasn’t quite good enough for the breed
ring. She just couldn’t win there. I would
get very distraught because I couldn’t win.
You know how pet people are – “My dog’s so
beautiful, how come it isn’t winning?”
She had good
hips and eyes, which were the requirements
back then. I bred her to Am/Can CH
Gold-Rush’s Great Teddy Bear SDHF OS. I put
her on a plane, which was a big deal for me,
and I sent her off to Ann Johnson in New
Jersey and bred her to Teddy Bear. She was
only a tiny little thing with no coat but
she was very sound. I got my first stud dog
out of that, BISS CH. Twin Beau D’s JJ. He
was my first Outstanding Sire.
CM: Not bad for the bitch you bought from
the newspaper! So when you sent her to
Ann’s, what were you hoping for? Had you
decided on conformation at the point?
ND: Oh yes. I
was going to be a breeder like Pauline. I
had found my little niche. As I had been
doing obedience with Cleo, I would always
get corrected for double handling. I’m a
joker and I like to have a good time. So I’d
be talking to the dog and having a good time
and people would say, “You know, you belong
in the breed ring – you don’t belong here in
obedience.” They were right!
I had bought
another dog, but he didn’t clear his hips or
his eyes so I gave him to my babysitter, but
I did make him a Champion first. That was
Beau, CH. Englewood’s Rough and Ready.
But, to make a
long story short, I bred to Teddy and got
JJ. I then got puppies from a couple of
breeders who bred to JJ and that’s really
how I got started. The next really great dog
I got was Joy - Ch. Cloverdale
Twin-Beau-D's Joy OD SDHF. She was a Best in
Show girl. I got her from Richard and Jane
Zimmerman.
The second
breeding for Cleo was to Am/Can Ch
Cloverdale Bunker Hill Seth OS who belonged
to the Zimmerman’s. That’s how we began our
friendship, back in 1979.
Since I was
doing pretty good showing dogs, Jane would
have me help her. She’d say, “Oh, can you
take this dog in, that judge likes you”. Or
she’d take the breed and call me up and say,
“Oh, this guy’s doing the group and you
always do well under him – why don’t you
come up and show the dog for me?”
So she started
offering to pay me for showing her dogs.
Well, I didn’t want to get paid so she
eventually asked me if I wanted a second
pick bitch sired by Flyboy (Am/Can CH Sutter
Creek Goldrush Flyboy WC OS SDHF) out of her
Sabrina (Cloverdale Sabrina OD), a Seth
daughter – a big hulky brood bitch.
So I said I’d
take her because I was trying to build up
some stock of my own and I really loved her
stuff, so therefore, she gave me Joy.
When I got
home – and this is still a joke to this day
– my husband at the time, Robert – said,
“boy, this is such a nice puppy, why don’t
you send Jane $50.00”. So that’s what I did.
We were so happy with the puppy I sent her
$50.00! <laughter> She never let me live it
down either. I thought I was being really
nice sending her 50 bucks! My first dog,
Cleo, I bought for $175.00 so I thought that
was a fair price.
So that’s how
I got Joy and she really was a joy, right
from the beginning. She was an incredible,
incredible bitch.
CM: She also ended up providing foundation
bitches for several other kennels too wasn’t
she?
ND: Yes, when
she was bred to JJ that was the foundation
for my kennel. Then she produced the
foundation for Julie McKinnon with Jade
(Am/Can Ch
Twin-Beau-D Nautilus Seastar OD) and
Jade produced the foundation for Chris Weeks
(Edgehill), with Isis (CH Edgehill Nautilus
Diamen Ice CD OD SDHF).
Also
my friends Patty Kane (Horizon Goldens),
Marylou Cook, ( Irongate Goldens ) and Deb
Donnell got their start with Twin-Beau-D
dogs – there were a few of them out there.
So Joy to JJ was a really good combination.
Joy didn’t always like to show, however ,
she sure had all the right parts and JJ was
the moving machine, ready to go all the
time.
JJ won the National Specialty after I had
about 13 major reserves on him. I never
thought he was going to win. I just dragged
him out of the truck, didn’t even fuss over
him that day. It was Michelle Billings
judging and I just decided to let him go. It
was a football field and I just let him go
at the end of the lead. Michelle Billings
just loved him and that movement , so he
finished winning the National Specialty. He
was quite a dog and lived to 13 ½.
CM: Does most everything you have now go
back to Joy and JJ?
ND: About 90% of them do. Julie McKinnon got
Jade and I got a littermate who never
finished, but produced Chase –BIS BISS AM
BDA CH Twin-Beau-D’s High Speed Chase OS
SDHF (Am/Can.CH. Sienna SunnyBrae Fire
Chaser CD OS SDHF x Twin-Beau-D’s Almond
Joy).
CM: And Chase is behind many dogs today too,
isn’t he?
ND: Yes, Paris
(CH Summit Dom Perignon) is his grand
daughter, CH Summit’s Shadow Dancer OD SDHF
was his daughter. He had many other
Champion kids.
CM: Where did your kennel name come from?
ND: Well,
“Twin” is for my twin boys, I got my first
Golden when they were three and they are now
30. They are identical twins. “Beau” was my
first Champion and “D” is for Dallaire.
I now have
twin Grandsons too. They are five years old.
CM: How do you think the dogs in your kennel
have changed over the years?
ND: When I
started, there were a lot of different
types. I did a lot of outcrosses back then
because I didn’t have a lot to work with. I
had more different “looks” then I do now.
Now you can look in the ring and know which
ones are Twin-Beau-D dogs.
CM: When
people pick out those Twin-Beau-D dogs, what
are they looking at? What defines a
Twin-Beau-D dog?
ND: First the head. I have a nice high ear
set and a pretty expression. I don’t like
such a big head that it’s over-done like a
Rottie. When I look at a head, it’s got to
say “pretty” to me. They’d also see a lot of
coat – I love coat. Movement, with good
reach. Not every one of mine had it, but
the ones that did, did really well. I also
offer a very balanced, flashy golden, which
I love.
Peter (CH Twin- Beau-D’s Peterbuilt OS SDHF)
had it, Chase had it, Joy… and a few others
– Bonkers (Am/Can CH Twin-Beau-D Bonkers
SDHF) and Bonnie (Am/Can CH Twin- Beau-D’s
Bonnie Bedelia SDHF). Monty (CH Twin-
Beau-D’s Montego Bay OS) also had that
beautiful movement and flash!
But you always have your ups and downs over
the years. I’ve been humbled, oh my God have
I been humbled. Peter broke my heart. He was
producing so well and then at 3 ½ years old
he went sterile.
CM: Let’s talk
about Peter for a minute. Did you ever
figure out why he went sterile?
ND: No! His
books are open. It started when we noticed
his count was down when I went to ship some
semen. My vet, Dr. Truesdale, he breeds
boxers and is excellent, noticed and
suggested we do a culture to rule out
mycoplasma. So we did and it came back with
a few mycoplasma. We treated him and they
went away but his count just continued to go
down. It took about 9 months.
That was right
after the Garden, the last time I showed him
was Westminster in 2000. Many breeders
wanted to breed to him because he was
producing such nice puppies, but I had to
tell them no because his count was down.
Finally, I talked to Dr. Hutchinson in
Ohio. Rhonda Hovan told me to send Peter out
to her and she’d get him to Hutch. So I sent
him out. Hutch had said that if Peter had
sperm when he got out there he could bring
him back. But when he got there he didn’t
have any.
We had tested
him for every single thing you can test for.
Dr. Hutchinson is a reproductive specialist
and he ran every test we could think of.
Everything was normal! He couldn’t figure it
out. We did an ultrasound of the testicle
and found an old infection but the vet said
that was real common in dogs. So we never
really found out and to this day I have no
idea.
While I was
showing him, he lived with his co-owner,
Patty Kane. I gave her the co-ownership
because she’s a power walker and would walk
with him 3 miles a day while he was being
shown. I couldn’t do that – my knees would
have gone long before they did if I tried!
Now he lives with my parents whose older
Golden died last year.
CM: Did you ever neuter him?
ND: No, I
never have. Every 6 months or so I’ll look
under my microscope, but there’s nothing.
But I can still hope!
Peter produced
puppies of incredible quality and received
Stud Dog of the Year award from the Golden
Retriever Review.
CM: Looking at
his offspring in the short time he was
standing, you can really see the impact he
made. Kay Gosling and Pat Flanagan’s bitch,
Frankie (CH Gosling’s I’ll do it My Way) was
a top 20 bitch. Rhonda Hovan’s PD (CH
Faera’s PDQ) wasn’t she the youngest bitch
to finish? And then her Star (CH Faera’s
Starlight) has been producing well. Merlin
(CH Gorca’s Merlin) just entered the SDHF.
ND: It seemed
everywhere I looked in the GRNews, there
were Peter kids doing so well. I just kept
asking myself, “How could this happen?”
CM: You didn’t have anything frozen?
ND: No. I
never had time to freeze anything. He was
three years old, who thinks to freeze a
three year old? I didn’t freeze Monty until
he was nine. He just had his first litter
out of his frozen semen – my girlfriend
Patty has them. I just never thought to do
it. Now if I breed another dog like Peter, I
would most definitely freeze his semen..
CM: What do
you think it was that made Peter great? I
know he was a great producer, but what about
him in particular makes you call him a
“Great One”?
ND: He was
just the sweetest dog. And his movement!
When he was “on” his movement was flawless.
Of course, when he wasn’t on he was the
biggest slug you’d ever seen. He was so
funny. It was either, “I’m not showing
today, you’re going to have to drag me
around the ring” or “I am so ON there’s
nothing that’s going to stop me!”
CM: I remember
at the National in Rhode Island. He went
around the ring at the end of his lead and
you were just holding on and trying to keep
up.
ND: He got a
JAM there. He loved the big rings, the
bigger the better. The little rings that
took him two steps to get across, he
couldn’t get into, but the big rings…
CM: Did you know he was special early on?
ND: Right from
the beginning when I watched him go across
my family room floor. After I had stacked
him I remember Berna (Welch) looked at him
and said, “That’s a Keeper!” and then I
watched him move and I thought, “Whoa!”
CM: Do you have any Peter kids?
ND: I only
have daughters. But I do co-own one son, CH
Twin-Beau-D’s Smart Alec, with Mary Alice
McGee. In fact, I was ready to get out of
dogs when my knees were so bad. I was so
depressed. I had to have bilateral tibial
osteotomies. To ever run again will be a big
thing, if it happens at all. Anyway, I have
some really nice youngsters coming up, a
Monty son and a Remington (CH Goldstorm
Moving Force) son and an Alex daughter. Mary
Alice was here one day and I was saying I
didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t
show them. So she went home and got a hold
of Rebecca Carner, her handler for Alex and
arranged for her to show my youngsters at
the upcoming shows, then she informed me
they were going to be shown. Ha Ha.. She
took them to a show and one got a point and
one got a reserve. So I decided maybe
there’s something to having a handler after
all and that maybe I should get the dogs
back out there.
CM: So that’s
where you’ve been. I mentioned to a couple
of people that I was going to talk with you
and they all asked where you’ve been.
ND: Yes, I was
out having this surgery. There’ll be no more
big specialties for me with 6 dogs in a day.
Once in awhile, if I have to, I can show a
dog and just suffer for a few days
afterward. It breaks my heart because that
was the part I loved the most. I do have a
boarding kennel - that’s a lot of work, and
grooming, that’s a lot of work, puppies are
a lot of work, although you love them. Just
maintaining your own dogs is a lot of work,
but boy, when you’re in the ring – that’s
the fun part! All the socialization and
laughter, I just miss it so terribly, after
all, I had always shown my own dogs.
CM: What about judging? Have you thought
about that?
ND: Yes. I am
remarried to the greatest guy in the world –
his name is Jim Williams, and he keeps
telling me that I need to get my license. I
was worried for awhile that I wouldn’t be
able to stand on my feet long enough to
judge, but I went to the Doctor’s today and
he said walking and standing are fine, it’s
just the running that I’m going to have
trouble with. Maybe I should get into
Pomeranians?
Between Peter
and my knees – they really knocked me down.
But I’m coming back!
CM: How about other favorite dogs?
ND: Well,
Monty was a great one. It took me 16 shows
to finish him, which was a long time back
then, usually they’d just go bing, bang,
boom. But he produced so much better than
himself. He had a lot of Champions, in the
thirties somewhere. We have about 10 more
straws of frozen semen on him which may
raise the numbers even further.
Then High
Speed Chase was quite a story. He was out of
my Almond Joy, Jade’s sister, bred to
Firechaser. I sold him, he was 5th
out of 6th pick male. He went to
a young couple, Donald and Sharon Beech who
live in the next town. . He was a big puppy.
I remember I put in my notes, “Nice but
long”. I didn’t see him again until he came
in for boarding. I put him in one of the
runs and Donald told me that in his
obedience classes everyone kept saying the
dog could be a breed champion. Donald was a
cop and he was kind of insisting that I look
at this dogs potential. I told him that I
didn’t have time to look at the dog right
then but while he was away I would evaluate
him. So I took him out and he had hair to
the ground. I couldn’t even see the dog
under all that. So I sculpted out a dog, it
took me nearly the whole day to bathe and
trim him, and I found this beautiful dog!
One of my twins came home from school, they
had to be around 15 at the time, and I asked
him to move the dog for me. They knew how to
do it.
Well, my son
moved him on a loose lead and the dog was
floating. I thought to myself, “Oh my God,
that’s a Best in Show dog!” So when the
owners came back from vacation, I agreed to
show the dog. I just asked that they put my
name on him as co-owner and said I would do
all the showing, entry fees and all that and
they would just do normal vetting and keep
him in hard working condition. Then they
would get half the stud fees. It worked out
great. They would bring him over or I would
go over there with the bitch. They even went
to a couple Nationals, the one in Wisconsin
and the one in Colorado. We just had a great
time showing that dog. He finished his
championship in 9 shows, many Best of Breeds
from the classes, a Group 1, 2, and 4 all
owner, breeder handeled.
CM: That’s a
great story! I can’t tell you how many times
I hear stories like that where people put
dogs in a pet home and then find them later
and they turn out to be BIS dogs or
Outstanding Sires.
ND: He ended
up number 6 in the country. He and Peter
were both number 6. I think Chase was there
in 1990 and 1991 and Peter in1999. Joy was
number 1 bitch in 1981. Bonkers was another
great dog. Elliott Moore showed him. He got
a group 2 at the Garden one year, he was
number 1 Golden in the country in 1987,
owned by Ed Farrell.
CM: What about Bonnie Bedelia?
ND: Oh, yes.
Bonnie was Peter’s full older sister.
Bonnie, Peter and Monty all had the same
mother (Twin Beau D’s Signet Premier OD),
who I never finished, she was just an
excellent brood bitch. Deb Donnell did a
great job with Bonnie, getting her into the
Hall of Fame. Janet Bunce showed her and so
did Bob (Stebbins) before he passed away.
She was a beautiful bitch and still resides
on Deb’s couch. She’s now 10 years old. I
now have a 12 week old granddaughter to
Bonnie, who reminds me of her so much, I
can’t wait to show her.
CM: Do you have a favorite dog?
ND: My
favorite dog that I have owned would have to
be Joy.
CM: How about dogs that weren’t yours?
ND: I loved
Aruba (CH Asterling’s Aruba SDHF OD).
Another one, I’ll never forget her as a
puppy, was Brook – (Ch Asterling’s Tahiti
Sweetie SDHF OD). It was at a National, I
forget which one, and Sylvia was walking
down the hallway in the hotel with this
puppy. She had to be about 4 months old. I
was with Jane Zimmerman and we saw Brook and
I looked at Jane and just said, “Wow! That’s
some puppy!” I remember giving Sylvia a
thumb’s up and yelling, “Nice Puppy!”
I also loved
Paris too. I thought she was gorgeous. I saw
her win the 1996 National down in Delaware.
I also loved Great Teddy Bear – that
Gold-rush boy. Another one I’ll say was CH
Russo’s Pepperhill Poppy because she was
quite a show dog. She really broke things
open for bitches. They (the Peppers) were
the first ones to really try and special a
female at that time. She never won a BIS,
however, she won many Group 1’s. By doing
that it made it a little easier for the rest
of us who came along later. Then in 1981,
Joy made history by becoming the first owner
handled golden bitch to win a Best In Show
from the classes since 1952! That was the
most amazing day of my life. You could have
peeled my face off the ceiling of the Nassau
Coliseum. I’ve had a few Best in Shows but
that was the most memorable! I’ll never
forget. I ran to the phone to call Jane
(Zimmerman) because she was the breeder.
Barbara Brody was judging and she was using
the phone next to me. I don’t know who she
was talking to, but she was on the next pay
phone. I didn’t even see her and I was
telling Jane that Joy had just beat 2300
dogs. Jane was yelling, “Who was there?”
and she yelled it so loud Barbara Brody
heard her and yelled back, “Tell her
everybody was here!” Oh my God, it was
exciting! It was one of those highlights
that you never forget.
Showing has
just been such a great experience – all the
friends I’ve made. I’m a people person
anyway, so I just always had a great time.
Here I am trying so hard to get my knees
straightened out so I can do it some more. I
miss it so much… Standing outside the ring
and watching someone else show your dogs,
even though they are doing a great job, is
not nearly as rewarding.
CM: Is there a breeding you wish you’d done
that you never did?
ND: Oh, I
think I wish I had taken a puppy out of some
of the litters that Peter sired. But I
thought I had plenty of time for that. I was
too busy showing him. I think he would have
had a lot more great puppies but a lot of
people were sitting back waiting to see what
he produced. But by the time we saw what he
was producing, it was too late.
Beth (Johnson)
was waiting to breed to him. She said to the
Judge at the 99 National, Beth Specht , that
Peter was the next boy she was going to
breed to. I wanted a puppy out of whoever
she brought to him, but it didn’t happen. I
knew my stuff would be complimentary with
hers. I was holding out for that, but it
never happened. Our sport is really the
“Thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”.
But would I give up any minute of it? Never.
So, I’ll
probably do some judging. I’ve done some
sweeps, in fact I just got a call today
about doing a sweeps in 2005. I told them
if I was alive I’d be there!
CM: Speaking
of disappointments – what are the problems
you have to watch out for in your lines?
ND: I guess the same as any breeder. Just
when you think, I haven’t had a case of
something in years, it’ll show up. Whether
it be hips, eyes or heart. There are these
problems in our great breed, so we all need
to be on our toes. One thing I never have
had that I know of is elbow dysplasia. I
have heard many breeders discussing it, but
that’s not something we’ve seen. Overall, I
think we have done pretty well.
CM: Tell me about picking puppies. What do
you look for?
ND: Well, years ago I would look in the box
and say, "There's the winner!"
Now it's a little more difficult. The
puppies are much more uniform, so
it's harder to pick out the winner at first
glance.
But I still go with my same priorities. I
still want a pretty face and I
want balance. It doesn’t matter how great
individual parts are by themselves, if the
dog isn’t balanced it will never be what I
want. Balance is the key.
CM: How
about picking stud dogs? Do you do many
outcrosses?
ND: I have a couple of stud dogs here.
Harley (CH. Twin-Beau-D's Harley D),
my Chase son is getting old - he's about 10
½. So he's just about done.
Then I have a Remmington son, Horizon’s
Twin-Beau-D Daytona, (Tony), out of a Monty
daughter, who's pointed, but needs to
finish. Pretty soon I'll be far enough
removed to begin using Monty’s frozen semen.
I'm waiting to get another generation away
first.
Oh, how I wish I had Peter's and High Speed
Chase - I never froze him
either! So the lesson is to freeze your boys
early if you think you might
have a great one because you never know.
CM:
Nancy, has what happened with Peter changed
the way you manage your
stud dogs? Do you still do natural
breedings? Require antibiotics for girls
coming in? Anything like that?
ND: Yes, I now do all artificial
insemination. I will also put the bitch on
an antibiotic, just as a precaution,
especially if she has missed before. This
usually does the trick.
CM: How
many dogs do you keep now?
ND: Not as many as I used to. I used to keep
about 20 dogs, but now we are
down to around 14. I have 4 nice ones ready
to go out and win. I'm not
giving up! You can tell people, "Look out,
she's coming back!"
The last thing I wanted to leave you with is
my routine for picking
puppies. Even to this day when I pick a
puppy, I always say, "How lucky do you feel
today?" If I don't feel lucky, I wait for
another day. I've always gone with
that. A little superstition is not a bad
thing. The other thing I want to share with
other breeders is “ if you can’t stand the
heat, don’t go near the fire”!!
CM:
Nancy, thank you so much, it was a blast
talking with you
