Best in Specialty

GCH Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen, Best in Specialty, IWAWC

At the Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast Specialty on July 26, 2013, Breeder-Judge Ms. S. Kelly Cromer awarded Best in Specialty Show to our own GCH Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen (Rose). Thank you, Ms. Cromer. Thank you, handler Erin Hines.

Rose, born Feb. 1, 2010, was the only girl in a litter of 8. She is Gryffindor's first home-bred champion, grand champion, and bronze grand champion.

Rose was co-bred by owner Pat Murkland and by Jocelyne Gagne.
Her mother, our own BISS GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC, won Best in Specialty at Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast in 2008. Her father, CH Taryn Tate of Limerick, SC, won Best in Specialty at Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast in 2002 and 2006. Thank you to all the dogs and people behind Rose.

There's more! The day before, on July 25, 2013, at the first IWAWC specialty, Judge Mr. Bo Bengston awarded the select Grand Champion award to our Rose. Thank you to Mr. Bengston. Thank you to handler Erin Hines.

We believe this win propels Rose to Bronze Grand Champion.


Rose would be the first Irish Wolfhound girl in California to achieve Bronze Grand Champion status. And she would be the second girl to do so in Irish Wolfhound history!

All in all, a fantastic specialty show weekend!

Fred reads the show catalog (Pat Murkland Photo)

Two dogs, two specialties, two wins

Photo by Rich Bergman

Gryffindor Colin at Tara Hill, with co-owner Barbara Call (also co-owned by Linda Souza), en route to winning Best of Winners at Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast specialty 1, July 2012. 
Thank you to Judge Miss Dorothy M. MacDonald. 
Thank you to handler Bill Buell. 
Colin, pictured here winning the Open Dog class, went on to Winner's for a five-point major and then Best of Winners, quite an exciting day!

Photo by Rich Bergman

 The next day was Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast's second specialty. Our GCH Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen, Colin's littermate, went Best of Opposite Sex. 
Thank you to Breeder-Judge Mrs. Beverly Little. 
And thank you to Bill Buell, who has been showing our wolfhounds since 2004!

Rose and Colin were the only two dogs we brought to the specialties. Their mother is GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC, who won this specialty in 2008. Their sire is CH Taryn Tate of Limerick, SC, who won this specialty twice, in 2002 and 2006, and is the sire and grandsire of many champions.

Celebrate Our Veterans

The heartbreak of our heart hounds is that they never live long enough.

Irish Wolfhounds, as a giant breed, generally don't live as long as smaller dogs.

So, we celebrate our veterans.

Photo of Susan Prokopenko and smiling Raleigh

Courtesy of Glenamadda Irish Wolfhounds

In our family, we are honored to celebrate our grandmother and mother Raleigh, who is 9 years old.

Raleigh has won her share of specialties, honors and accolades on both sides of the Canadian and United States border. Her legacy will shine for years. Hurray!

But what we live for, and love, every day, are the two smiling faces of her daughter and granddaughter at Gryffindor.

Thank you, Raleigh!

We're also thrilled to celebrate our mother, grandmother and aunt on the Limerick side of the family!

Halle is now 8 years old, along with her littermates Brolie, Hale, and Lea.

You all rock!

Have you hugged your Wolfhound today?

Worrying about Snakes

Pssst.

Southern Pacific rattlesnake. Pat Murkland Photo

It's snake season.

We have 6 species of rattlesnakes in Southern California.

Three different species live where we do.

Each has its own DNA.

The anti-rattler vaccine doesn't appear to apply to our snake breeds.

Anti-rattler training with shock collars?

Many Irish Wolfhound people will tell you,

not with their hounds.

Our first wolfhound, Erin, was our snake-wise trainer of other wolfhounds.

When Blake was a baby, she taught him about snakes.

Today, Blake barked ferociously.

We investigated.

Blake wanted too let us know this snake was in the yard.

This is our "snake protection yard," with a snake fence around the chainlink.

The snake still found its way in.

Fortunately, this was a beneficial gopher snake. Whew.

Blake stood guard while we checked out the situation, watching the snake and protecting us.

Good dog, Blake!

Thank you, Erin. Good training.

You've Got Mail!

We've got mail! A mysterious package from Texas.

Rosie (at left) says to her mom, Ginny:

"Hey, this could be from my brother Ocho."

Ginny (right) to Rosie: "Yes! It is from our dear Ocho."

Look! Ocho even helped wrap the presents inside.

Wow! Two cards, beautiful and funny,

three cool Ocho decals ...

... And wonderful studio shots of Ocho

(pictured at one year old).

Check it out. Feel envious. It's an OCHO T-SHIRT!

Here's the newspaper with the Page 1 article about Ocho.

He received his certification to be a therapy dog, in case you have not seen the glaring headlines.

And here's another view of the t-shirt.

Thank you, Ocho, and the Cox family,

for such magnificent gifts.

We love you!

Black and White and Red All Over

© Pat Murkland Photo

Liberty is a red wolfhound.

That color always reminds us of apricots.

Above is a black and white photo of Liberty we submitted to the Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast 2010 yearbook. The yearbook honored hounds' achievements.

Here is the text:

GCH CH Glenamadda Starkeeper Liberty

With limited showing ...

AKC Champion: January 30, 2010

AKC Grand Champion: October 30, 2010

Special AKC Award: One of the first 10 Grand Champions in the history of the Irish Wolfhound breed.

Breeders: Susan Prokopenko & Jocelyne Gagné

Handlers: Bill Buell & Erin Hines

Owner: Pat Murkland

Proud of Our Family

Rich Bergman Photo

We were thrilled when our Liberty became one of the first 10 AKC Grand Champion Irish Wolfhounds in the breed history.

On the same day she won a Hound Group 2.

Thank you to Judge Mrs. Lowell (Arlene) Davis.

In January this year, Liberty's Dad, American and Canadian CH McEnroe of Limerick, also became an AKC Grand Champion.

McEnroe was bred by Limerick and is owned and loved by Liberty's co-breeder in Canada, Jocelyne Gagne of Starkeeper. (Go here to visit his page.)

We believe the father-daughter duo of McEnroe and our Liberty are the first two-generation wolfhound Grand Champions!

There's more. McEnroe's brother Cash, owned and loved by the Souzas of Limerick, recently (unofficially) finished his Grand Championship title.

While we await the official word from AKC, we believe the brothers probably will be the first two wolfhound littermates to become Grand Champions.

Congratulations to Limerick, and to our Liberty's co-breeders, Starkeeper and Glenamadda.

We're so proud of our family.

Go Ahead and Make Your Joke About Needing A Saddle ...

© Pat Murkland Photo

Neighborhood Watcher

© Pat Murkland Photo

© Pat Murkland Photo

Happy Birthday!

Can it already be two years?

We love you, Hunter!

Here is what you looked like two years ago:

© Pat Murkland Photo

You've never stopped smiling.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

© Pat Murkland Photo

It was snowing in Southern California,

snowing all over the apple blossoms and green, green grass.

Snow falls with a special silence. We listened.

Afterward, Blake loved walking in our winter wonderland.

© Pat Murkland Photo

© Pat Murkland Photo

© Pat Murkland Photo

The snow crunched as we walked.

We saw where the rabbit had run.

... And where the coyote had loped.

A breeze blew some stray snowflakes onto our footprints.

And Blake said: Life is good.

Holiday walks

Blake © Pat Murkland

It's a holiday tradition in our family to take a walk with our four-footed friends.

We especially enjoy starting out our New Year with unconditional love at our side.

Seeing the wonder of the natural world helps put all that inner small stuff into perspective. Oh yeah ... it's small stuff.

And when we set aside that stuff, we are free to see, smell, hear, touch and even taste what the natural world is offering us. That's, after all, what Blake is doing, with boundless enthusiasm.

Blake is always happy and always there for us, a guardian and a forever best friend.

Have you hugged your wolfhound today?

In the Mail

Got a letter from the American Kennel Club today.

And a little padded envelope held something inside!

It was this medallion!

The letter:

RE: GCH CH GLENAMADDA STARKEEPER LIBERTY

"Congratulations to you and your dog for completing the new AKC Grand Champion title!

"The American Kennel Club is proud of your accomplishment and wants to recognize your dog as one of the first 10 Grand Champion title holders in its breed ...

"In honor of this distinction, the American Kennel Club is pleased to award you with a special AKC Medallion to commemorate your dog's place in AKC history ...

"Your dog's name will also be listed on the AKC website for its accomplishment.

As a Grand Champion, your dog will be automatically invited to attend the 2011 AKC/Eukanuba National Championship."

WOW! Miss Liberty is one of the first 10 Irish Wolfhounds in the history of the breed to win an AKC Grand Champion title!

Thank you to her breeders, Susan Prokopenko (Glenamadda) and Jocelyne Gagne (Starkeeper), and thank you to our handlers, Bill Buell and Erin Hines.

What Love Is

We have new wolfhound babies in our world. Ocho, above, pictured at two days old, wears his heart for all to see.

Wearing Valentine Love

© Pat Murkland photo

Blake loves to love people and be loved.

Catching Up With Hunter

© Murkland

Hunter has his mother's eyes and His Dad's smile, along with his very own Irish humor and sense of mischief.

© Murkland

He's losing his baby coat.

Yes, Baby Hunter is now eight months old!

A Second Major Win for Liberty!

Wolfhound entries at the all-breed Santa Barbara Kennel Club shows on Aug. 30 and 31, 2009, were supported by the Irish Wolfhound Club of America. To support the club, we entered.

We had no expectation at all of winning. Yes, honestly! We just wanted to be part of the fun. The day was so hot, we nearly didn't go. But Liberty was keeping cool in the air-conditioning, so off we went. We wanted the fun of showing our beautiful girl to esteemed wolfhound breeder-judge Joel Samaha.

She was the youngest girl there, still considered a puppy, in the 12-18 month-old class. So we didn't think she would be a contender.

We were wrong.

She went Winner's, with 4 girls present, for one point toward her Championship title. We were so thrilled!

It only got better.

The winner's dog had earned two points (there were five dogs). So when we went in the Best of Breed ring we thought we were competing for Best of Winners, two points.

It only got better.

The Winner's Dog beat three male champions to earn Best Opposite Sex to the beautiful Best of Breed winner. Eight dogs! A three-point major for him! Wow!

Then our Liberty beat the Winner's Dog, for Best of Winners.

A three-point major for her!

Thank you to Judge Mr. Joel Samaha. Wow!

Playing Around

Liberty (left) enjoys playing with her Uncle Blake!

© Pat Murkland

Not sure who is calling "Uncle" ...

© Pat Murkland

Blake (rear) demonstrates a new look

for Wolfhound ears ...

© Pat Murkland

Celebrations!

© Pat Murkland Photo

This week, we celebrated!

Fathers Day (the first day of summer, June 21),

Blake's third birthday (June 22),

and Hunter's fourth month birthday (June 23).

© Pat Murkland Photo

Blake's best way to celebrate was to let his little son believe he was winning all the wolfhound games.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the famed tennis litter from your littermate, Blake.

Can you believe the Dozen are all already three years old?

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, dear tennis litter,

Happy birthday to you!

Let's PARTY!