Cannislore

When I was sixteen, my father got us our first German Shepherd from a rescue centre. Sasha was six months old and needed a lot of work. It was a labour of love and so, when I was about to turn 18, the only present that I wanted was my first show dog. We bought Goldryn Axel from Roy and Joyce Gilbert and we also bought a bitch, Goldryn Astra. A growth in the ear sent Sasha nuts and we had to have her put to sleep at the age of three and a half, but we had given her the best life that we could.

We showed Axel and Astra with some success for a couple of years until we decided to have a litter from Astra. Her first litter was a complete disaster. We mated her to the wrong dog and we produced some of the biggest German Shepherds that I have ever seen. With a bit more experience under our belt, we mated her to Shotaans Otis and produced a dog that will stick in my memory for the rest of my life, Blitzenhaim Caffrey.

Caffrey hurt his back foot at about 8 months old when a handler stood on it with football boots on and he wouldn't trust a handler from that moment on. I took him into the ring and something special happened. Caffrey was runner-up top young adult male in the country at the age of three. He performed miracles. One weekend he came second under Malcolm Robinson at Derbyshire championship show and then third at the 2-Day National under a german judge.

Sadly, three months later Caffrey passed away with a torsion. Amy came into my life a week before Caffrey was born and it was she who kept me in showing after his death. Once we had both graduated from University and got jobs, we bought a house and then we could have dogs back in our lives properly again.

At just under 10, Axel and Astra came to live out their retirement with us. Astra and Axel have sadly passed away now, but their legacy remains.

The only Blitzenhaim Caffrey son ever born, CJ, came to live with us from my parents when he was three and has now been neutered and is the best puppy nanny we could wish for. He helps with their cleaning, he helps teach them to play and he's always there to help us find them when they're busy hiding their bones.

In the same year, we bought Matti from our friend Ivor Jacobson who had dislocated his shoulder and been ordered to reduce the number of dogs that he was keeping.

Matti has done well for us in the show ring and we hope that she has now produced us some puppies that will continue to win in the ring as well.

Many people have helped us along the way and we have made a lot of friends through the breed and we wish success to all of them.