BISS GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC (Miss Ginny) Heart Hound

Godspeed, Ginny. February 2006-February 2014.

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)

Fyre's on Fire

Fyre! Photo by Kevin Peuhkurinen

Fyre, our Gryffindor boy in Canada, won Best of Breed in lure coursing at Canada's National Specialty for Irish Wolfhounds!

Shortly afterward he earned his Canadian coursing championship title.

Fyre is not only outstanding in the field, he also is chasing some ribbons in the conformation ring.

Fyre winning first place, novice dog, at New England specialty,
under breeder-judge John Lewington of Australia. (Mike Wilkinson Photography)

Fyre, who is formally known as Starkeeper Glenamadda Fyrenze of Gryffindor, SC, recently crossed the border into the U.S. and went to his first all-breed conformation dog show.  He won a 3-point major toward his AKC championship title.

The same weekend he won Best of Breed at a lure coursing competition in the United States.

Fyre is owned and loved by his co-breeder, Jocelyne Gagne.

At the Canada national specialty, Fyre's son Jake won honors as the best puppy courser. Fyre's Dad Tate, like Fyre, held a senior courser title ...

So, now it's three generations of coursing wolfhounds.

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.

The Rose is a Grand Champion

Rich Bergman Photo

Rose finished her AKC Grand Championship title with a Best of Breed win and her seventh major at Kennel Club of Beverly Hills. Thank you to Judge Mrs. Betty-Anne Stenmark, who then awarded Rose a very competitive Hound Group 4 placement. Thank you to handlers Erin Hines and Bill Buell.

Now she's GCH Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen. 

Rose and her mom, GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, apparently are the only mother-daughter Irish Wolfhound Grand Champions.

Veteran Bitch, Irish Wolfhound Club of America National Specialty Show 2012

Photo by Bill Meyer

BISS GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC
First Place Veteran Bitch (entry: 16)
2012 Irish Wolfhound Club of America National Specialty
Thank You to Breeder-Judge Jacqueline Carswell!
RESULTS

Photo by Helen Cullum

Photo by Helen Cullum

Photo by Helen Cullum

Verity at Our National Specialty

Photo Courtesy of Helen Cullum

Our own BISS GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC, won Veteran Bitch today at the Irish Wolfhound Club of America National Specialty.

Grand Champion

BISS CH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC, is now an AKC Grand Champion!



(pictured winning Grand Champion Select Bitch at Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast 2011 specialty show, Breeder-Judge Thomas Powers.)

Canine Good Citizen: The Third Generation

(Courtesy of Brian Valente)

Congratulations to Gryff, our newest American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen.
Gryff and his brother Ocho are the third generation of Good Citizens in the wolfhound family. Their mom, Verity, and her father, Merlin, also were Canine Good Citizens.
The CGC is a combined temperament, socialization and obedience test.
Read about it at http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm

Farewell, Raleigh

Farewell,
MBSS Can. Am. Ch. Starkeeper Glenamadda Realtan.
Farewell, beloved Raleigh,
July 7, 2002-October 18, 2011.

Thinking today of this Irish Wolfhound who is truly one of the great ones, our mother and grandmother Raleigh.

We all can be thankful for everything she did and accomplished in her life to bring the breed forward ... A global legacy.

Hugging her daughter and grandchildren extra hard,
with thanks.

Glam Girls

Our daughter and mother photos from

the Irish Wolfhound Assn. of the West Coast 2011 specialty.

Thank you to Breeder-Judge Mr. Thomas S. Powers.


Reserve Winner's Bitch at 17 months

Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen
(Vicki Holloway Photo)


Grand Champion Select Bitch

BISS CH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC
(Vicki Holloway Photo)

See results HERE.

When You Need A Smile ...

You can count on an Irish Wolfhound.

© Pat Murkland

Miss Canine Good Citizen

© Pat Murkland

© Pat Murkland

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?

Coursing

(Steve Surfman Photo)

His name is Fyre.

Starkeeper Glenamadda Fyrenze of Gryffindor (Fyre) courses with joy.

Fyre, one of our Gryffindor 8, is owned and loved by his co-breeder Jocelyne Gagne (Starkeeper) of Canada and is co-owned by Susan Prokopenko (Glenamadda).

Showing Our Joy

BSS CH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity © Pat Murkland

Verity had not attended an Irish Wolfhound Association of the West Coast specialty show since she won Best of Breed in 2008.

On July 28-29, 2011, she returned.

This time she brought her daughter, Rose, with her.

Gryffindor's Wild Rose O'Starry Glen © Pat Murkland

Rose won first place in the 12-18 month puppy bitch class on both days of this year's back-to-back specialties under two breeder judges.

Then on the second day, she won Reserve Winner's Bitch!

We are deeply appreciative to Breeder-Judge Tom Powers.

Rose flies around the ring. © Pat Murkland

We thank Breeder-Judge Dr. Lynn Simon for his kind remarks on Thursday about Rose's conformation.

Dr. Simon examines Rose. © Pat Murkland

Rose had fun!

We thank our handlers Bill Buell & Erin Hines.

And her mother, who loves being with her.

Rose in the ring. © Pat Murkland

On Friday, we were again thrilled when Mr. Powers chose Verity as his champion select bitch, earning a major toward her Grand Champion title.

Verity at age 5. © Pat Murkland

There's more!

Verity went back into the ring with Rose and her handsome son Colin, and won Brood Bitch.

While at the specialty, Verity also earned her AKC Canine Good Citizen certification.

So, now she's BSS CH Glenamadda Starkeeper Verity, CGC.

A Walk in the Old West

GCH Glenamadda Starkeeper Liberty (© Pat Murkland)

Miss Liberty is a dual citizen.

She was born in Canada but was born on our U.S. Independence Day, July 4.

This year she'll be 3 years old, and in honor of her birthday, we traveled together back in time.

We went to the Old West.

(© Pat Murkland)

This is Gilman Historic Ranch & Wagon Museum in Banning.

James Gilman came here in 1869 and began running cattle, along with a stagecoach stop.

Later the family harvested apricots, peaches and other crops, and was especially famous for olives. Their ranch is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Since the 1970s, it's been a historic park that showcases California ranch life in the 1800s.

Unfortunately, recent budget cuts have severely limited its public access, starting today, July 1.

So, the other day Liberty and I took a walk in the Old West, a farewell for now.

We walked on the Bradshaw Trail together.

Walking on the Bradshaw Trail (© Pat Murkland)

I closed my eyes and imagined the dust and noise of arriving coaches at the Gilman Station.

Stagecoaches, freight wagons and prospectors traveled this old route from Los Angeles to the Arizona gold fields in the 1860s.

Overland Stagecoach used in Southern CA (© Pat Murkland)

We passed the ruins of the oldest permanent, non-Indian structure in the Banning area, the Jose Pope adobe building from 1854.

But before then, Native Americans lived near the spring here, and throughout San Gorgonio Pass. Archaeologists found a Native American hearth and other artifacts under the adobe ruins.

And although the stagecoaches are most famous for traveling this road, they were not the first travelers.

Imagine!

Here is the terrain that travelers saw in the Pass:

White sage blooms in foothills (© Pat Murkland)

We are thankful that we still see this beauty, Liberty and I, when we travel back to 2011. Happy birthday, sweetie!

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!

True Love

© Murkland photo

Wolfhounds laugh at our jokes, and we laugh at theirs.

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