View
5
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
Winter Issue THE RIDGEBACK REGISTER - JANUARY 2006 Page 49
By Denise FlaimThe Ridgeback Register
It was an international epiphany.
The week before Christmas, en routehome from a vacation in Antarctica,Clayton Heathcock and Cheri Hadley ofCamelot Rhodesian Ridgebacks inMartinez, Calif., were cooling their heelsin the Air Canada first-class lounge atBrazil’s Sao Paolo airport.
With a glass of the lounge’s good-qualityScotch in one hand, Clayton flipped openhis Titanium G4 laptop and startedsurfing the dog-show superintendents’sites for results from the Cleveland andLong Beach shows.
Anyone who has been watching theRidgeback rankings in the last couple ofyears would understand Clayton’sinterest, undampened as it was by thecomplimentary libations or the unfamiliarhemisphere: Two littermate brothers thathe and Cheri bred – Mojave (MBISBISS Am/Aus Ch. Camelot’s Code Red)and Ruger (Can BISS, Am RegionalBISS, Am BIF Am/Can Ch. Camelot’sPromise to Bakari, SC) – were the topconformation dogs in the country in2005. At the RRCUS national specialtythis spring, Mojave went Best inSpecialty Show, while brother Ruger wonthe Top Twenty competition, the firsttime two brothers had ever won these
events at the same national. And now thetwo were vying neck and neck for thenumber-one spot.
But nothing could have prepared Claytonfor the ultimate stalemate in this genialtale of sibling rivalry. Scouring the MBF,Onofrio and Bradshaw web sites andmeticulously counting the Ridgebacksdefeated from each brother’s weekendshowing, Clayton carefully added them tothe point standings in a December 10report he had downloaded from the AKCweb site.
He looked at the two final figures andrecalculated. No, his math was notwrong.
The two dogs had ended 2005 exactlytied -- with 2,025 breed points each.
”After that, I just held my breath foranother two weeks until the official finalAKC report was posted,” Claytonremembers. The official figures mirroredhis airport calculations.
According to Clayton's research, this isthe first time in breed history that twolittermates have finished first and second,to say nothing of a precise tie for thosetop slots.
In the three decades that RRCUS hasbeen formulating Top 10 lists for itsconformation competitors, littermateshave shared that list only three times: in1986, with BIS BISS Ch Gitano ofRaintree, ROM at #1 and Ch. Raintree'sTonto of Sno-Vue at # 6; in 1993, withCh. Ridgelea Rajput Agnikant, ROM at#1 and BISS Ch. Ridgelea's Vartan TheMaster, ROM at #4, and in 2004, withRuger at # 3 and Mojave at # 4.
In 1987, three littermates finished in theTop 10: BIS BISS Ch. Gitano ofRaintree, ROM (#1), Ch. Raintree'sTonto of Sno-Vue (#5) and Ch.Raintree's Otoe Nyota, ROM (# 7).
Before last year, only one Ridgeback hasever accrued more than 2,000 breedpoints in a year: Gatsby (BISS MBISCh. Spring Valley's Great Gatsby) had2,107 in 2001 and 2,153 in 2003.
California rolls are for wimps.And so it was that the sushi-themed litter Clayton andCherie whelped on New Year’sDay in 2002 contained an Uni,an Ebi and an Unagi.
As for the two handsomebrothers who coat colors setthem apart -- Mojave was darkred and Ruger, a light wheaten– they were appropriatelynamed Maguro and Himachi,respectively.
Like the precise Japanese cui-sine that inspired those nick-names, this breeding hadbeen organized with greatcare and anticipation.Standing next to Chip (MBISSMBIS Ch. Kimani’s Blue ChipImage, JC, ROM) at the 2001specialty as the veteran dogearned his third and final Bestin Specialty Show win, Claytonrealized he would the perfectmatch for Marley (BIS Ch.Camelot’s Follow the Sun,ROM), who had just gone Bestof Opposite to him.
Because Chip was on the EastCoast and Marley was inCalifornia, the breeding wasdone using frozen semen. Ofthe seven puppies, two diedwithin the first couple of days,and another was lost at twomonths.
Clayton had promised firstpick to Chris and MicheleBohrer, who had troubledeciding between the twostriking males. "The choicewas a very difficult onebecause even at eight weeks,these two puppies movedeffortlessly and rarely put afoot down wrong," Claytonremembers.
Finally, the Bohrers settled onthe rich red wheaten puppywith the clear face and nowhite markings -- Mojave. Thenext pick, with his lightercolor, black mask and whiteblaze on the chest -- Ruger --went to Julie Schilling ofMarysville, Wash.
This photo of Ruger (left) and Mojave (right) at nine weeks of age was taken the day
Julie picked Ruger up.
Page 50 THE RIDGEBACK REGISTER - JANUARY 2006 Winter Issue
Winter Issue THE RIDGEBACK REGISTER - JANUARY 2006 Page 51
Page 52 THE RIDGEBACK REGISTER - JANUARY 2006 Winter Issue
Recommended