How can we recognize them among other labradors? They are usually recognised by their attractive head and their distinctive type, and are usually very outgoing with a lovely temperament, wanting to greet everyone and everything with enthusiasm – sometimes a little too much ! It is not just the owners who recognise the type, but on many occasions they will meet strangers who say ” that must be a Sandylands dog ”

2. You have been breeding and judging labradors for many years. How does a modern labrador differ from a labrador of 30-40 years ago?Modern Labradors generally tend to have more bone, be shorter on the leg and are heavier than they were.

In your opinion, has the breed improved over the years?I really do not think we now have as much quality in depth as there was years ago, and there is not the range of quality stud dogs who are both stallions and good producers – particularly in blacks. Not enough attention is paid to temperament.

3. What type of labradors do you like most? What is your idea of a perfect labrador? Who are your ideal labradors of the past, and of today?I like a dog to look masculine and a bitch to look feminine, with correct head and general overall balance, with level topline, correct tail, tailset and tail carriage and to move soundly.

A perfect Labrador ?One that is very close to the breed standard and has all the main features of a Labrador- head, coat, tail and sound movement.

An ideal Labrador ?A question I have been asked many times. I have seen many great Labradors and it is difficult to name them all so this time I will list :- Ch Cookridge Tango, Ch Ballyduff Marketeer, ShCh Sandylands Mercy, Eng & Am Ch Sandylands Tanna, Ch Sandylands Truth, ShCh Croftspa Hazelnut of Foxrush, Ch Sandylands Geannie, ShCh Beltarn Diuma Of Newinn, ShCh Rocheby Polkadot, and ShCh Bradking Hugo.

Present day:- ShChTapeatom Ginantonic At Sandylands, Ch Warringah Bungle Bungle, ShCh Silver Suede Over Rocheby, and ShCh Sandylands Pressed For Time.
These have all given me that indescribable feeling of excitement that comes with an outstanding dog.

4. What problems of your first labradors, if there were any, you were able to improve in the next generations, and what features you might have lost? I would like to answer this slightly differently. As for the word Problem – if there was a problem that occurred they were never bred from.

I f you mean slight fault then that would be corrected by using a male who excelled in that area. Years ago when we were losing pigment we went to the Garshangen kennel as they were very strong in pigment.

5. What faults do you consider the most serious in a labrador? Without doubt any form of aggression, straight shoulders, incorrect tailset (high or low) light eyes, and anything exaggerated away from the Breed Standard.

Which of them are the most difficult to get rid of?Bad temperament is very hereditary and is best dealt with by not breeding on from it. Bad temperament is not just a problem for the breeder as most puppies end up in pet homes with a family where temperament is so very important. Incorrect shoulders are also difficult to breed out, as are light eyes..

6. As a judge, do you pay attention to a dog's presentation?Most definitely, it is a type of beauty show and I expect dogs to be presented in clean condition, nails trimmed, the whisp at the end of the tail trimmed, and the dog to be in good hard condition.

Do you think good/bad handling can influence a dog's result in the ring? Most definitely. A good handler can make a mediocre dog look better than it is, whereas a poor handler will not get the best out of any dog.

7. How do you choose a stud dog for a bitch, do you look at his pedigree, his type or something else?Look for a dog that can improve where the bitch fails. He must also be a known producer with few problems, of the correct type and temperament and obviously the pedigree has to be suitable.

Do you prefer to use linebreeding or outcross?We prefer to line breed as that is where you produce type and continued type. There have been times when we have used an outcross for a specific purpose but we always come back to line breed in the next generation in order to maintain type. We never outcross consecutively.

8. At what age do you choose the best puppy from the litter? Do you believe it is really possible to see if a puppy has "show potential" at the age, say, 8 weeks?As soon as they are able to stand we begin assessing our puppies by standing them on the table. This continues on a weekly basis to enable us to assess the puppy and the way it is developing. It also helps the puppy to become used to being handled. By the time they are about 8 weeks old we are usually able to assess their construction and know whether or not they are good enough to run on.

9. What do you think is the most important in rearing a puppy?Here we may differ from other people. We begin with ground beef at about 14 days and continue on a natural diet........... for the rest of their lives. We do not confine puppies, leaving them to develop and strengthen in their own way. Mrs Broadley always said ”It is 50% breeding and 50% rearing that produces a dog successful in the show ring”.

10. What would you advise to novice breeders?Listen and learn – even experienced breeders do this. Don’t be afraid to seek the advice of successful long term breeders as the majority will be there to help you. Don’t leave a show as soon as you have finished showing – sit and watch the judging, never be kennel blind and always see the faults in your own dogs, look for the good things in other people’s dogs. You may not always agree with everyone but just remember, as I was taught, that your own opinion might not be the right one.

THE LEGACY THAT IS CHARWAY IN SOUTH AFRICA
by R-M Cabion and Di Holman

At the beginning of February this year Rose-Marie and I received an urgent e-mail from Penny Carpanini in England requesting information relating to any Charway dogs that we owned or had owned, any photographs of Janice Pritchard with or without her dogs and the mark that our imported dogs had left on Labradors in South Africa.

Penny was urgently putting together an article, The Legacy That is Charway to celebrate Janice’s life in Labradors and her Charway kennel, for her Issue 23 Winter 2006 The International Labrador Newsletter which she wanted on the stands for Crufts in March. The following is our part of the article which we thought you would like us to share with you, unfortunately the full article is protected by copyright and therefore we are unable to reproduce it.

Not all the photographs in this article were used in the final edition but what came as an enormous surprise to us all was the ILN cover photograph of “Petey” - Charway Storm Petrel of Trevena WHR born 1 April 2003 by FT Ch Endacott Stoer of Quabrook ex Charway Ballyapril bred by the late Janice Pritchard. As Penny notes at the end of her Editorial “I hope you like the front cover picture. Pictures for the front cover are chosen very carefully and I am always on the look out for one. They must be arresting and preferably have some link to the contents too. I feel this one says it all. A great leap forward for a more successful and better ILN in the future!”

Rose-Marie Cabion first imported Charways into the Cape and this is how it began ...

My friendship with Janice Pritchard began after I saw a picture of Ch Charway Ballywillwill. I wrote and asked her if she would sell him to me I thought he was gorgeous. The answer was of course no - but we corresponded regularly and a firm friendship was born. My husband and I stayed with Janice many times both in Malpas and at new Cottage in Whitchurch.

Eventually Janice sent me Ch CharwayCraftsman of Sleepy Hollow FQ - born 1st June 1983. A medium sized compact powerfully built black dog with the Charway hallmark of beautiful head, neck and shoulders. He was a real gentleman and a joy to own. He quickly became a champion in stiff competition by 10 months of age - quite an achievement. His sire was In Ch Lindall Mastercraft, and his dam was Charway Sally Brown, a chocolate bitch. He won six Best In shows at All Breed Ch Shows. He was mated to a yellow bitch, Ch Sleepy Hollow’s Scandal - sired by Ch Sleepy Hollow Follytower Old Oak and her dam was Ch Reanacre Redvales Andrea (grand daughter of Eng Ch Reanacre Mallardhurn Thunder). The resulting litter proved to be fabulous, as not only did we have show dogs but wonderful shooting dogs as well. This mating plus a repeat a year later produced ten show champions. I kept a yellow daughter from this breeding Ch Sleepy Hollow Hot Gossip, who proved to be a huge winner and also won Best In Shows at Ch Shows. Except for her colour she was the image of Craftsman.

Hot Gossip in turn produced another top winner Ch sleepy Hollow Simply the Best who also won six Best In Shows and was very much like his grandfather Craftsman. They all inherited Craftsman’s beautiful head.

Janice then sent me two lovely black bitches. Ch Rocheby Charity of Charway - born 28th August 1984, bred by Marion Hopkinson and sired by Ch Charway Ballywillwill out of Follytower charlotte of Rocheby and Ch Lindall Black Briar born 22nd November 1984 a grand daughter of Craftsman. Her sire was Charway Blackthorn and her dam was Lindall Brioche, both of these bitches turned out to be a force to be reckoned with in the show ring.

I later imported Charity’s litter brother Ch Rocheby Chancellor of Follytower in partnership with Pam Richardson. The last Charway to come to us was Charway O’Malley of Sleepy Hollow sired by On the Move to Oakhouse his dam was Mallardhurn Black Cherry of Charway.

We were always sorry that we could not persuade Janice to come and holiday with us in South Africa as we had enjoyed so very many times with her. She was a very down to earth person and I admired her for her honesty and dedication to the Labrador breed. She will be sorely missed by her many friends all over the world.

Di Holman continues with the more recent Charway imports into the Trevena kennel ...

Ch Charway Chloe of Trevena was imported into Namibia in July 1995 by Mike and Di. On moving to South Africa, Mike and Di made her up and she produced three South African Champions: Ch Trevena Tantalite, Ch Trevena Midnite Maiden both owned by Mike and Di Holman and Ch Trevena Dawn Star of Valhallen owned by Vanessa Lodge-Lowe. Both bitches have produced litters but few of these pups have been shown to date.

Ch Trevena Tantalite (Ch Balrion Black Arrogance of Breckondale ex Ch Charway Chloe of Trevena dob 22.01.1999) won BIS at the Labrador Retriever Kennel Club Championship Show 2000 under Judge Mrs Eva Mjelde (Norway). In 2001 he won the Dog CC there under judge: Mrs Carole Coode (Warringah, UK) and won the Champion Dog there for several years after. He has been an influential producer although not used excessively at stud. Two of his young progeny have been made up and are currently used at stud and are consistently successful in the show ring: Ch Adamasdor Zorba’s Dance owned and bred by Renier Van Vuuren and Ch Valhallen Man on the Move owned and bred by Vanessa Lodge-Lowe. Their offspring are also currently in the Show ring.
The Holmans also imported Charway Stormpetrel of Trevena WHR - “Petey” (FT Ch Endacott Stoer of Quabrook ex Charway Ballyapril dob 01.04.2003) in June 2003 and Charway Blueberry Wine of Trevena - “Blue” (Nor Ch Birchbrook Barley Wine ex Carpenny Wren of Charway dob 31.01.2004) in November 2004. Blue has been used at stud and is proving to be a useful producer as well as providing SA Guide Dogs Association with their first “rainbow nation” litter - yellows, chocolates and blacks! Petey is worked consistently by Mike both at Field Trials and as a shooting dog. It is hoped that he will prove to be a good producer of working stock.

The Holman’s final import from Janice has sadly proved to be the last of the Charways - Charway Ballymae of Trevena, “Mae” a bitch by Swed Ch Cambremer MacGregor ex Swed Ch Charway Ballycora, dob 13.09.2005. It is early days still but it is hoped that Mae will become an influential and useful producer of Labradors and a lasting legacy to the Charway kennel.

South African bred Labrador Tapeatom Born A Star
Sire: Ch Tapeatom Solo Singer Of Adamasdor
Dam: Ch Tapeatom Grace And Favour

Now with Lenka Malikova, Sable Blues Labradors
Czech Republic Labrador Club Championship show
From an entry of 180 Labradors ,
Best In show judges Philippe Lammens, Misty Dreams Labradors, and Jef and Mariette Verees, Lucifer Delights Labradors