What Becomes a Legend Most?

Seven breeders, 300 years experience -- and countless pearls of wisdom

One of the highlights of the 2012 Mastiff Club of America National Specialty, held in May in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, was its “Luncheon with the Legends.” It was the first event of its kind – and likely its last – as seven senior Mastiff breeders assembled to field questions and share their insights about where the breed has been, and where it is heading.

Now in their sunset years (with one only a few years short of 90), these founding Mastiff breeders are energetic, enthusiastic and saber-sharp witted. Starting from the longest tenured, the group included Eve Olsen Fisher of Willowledge Mastiffs (Mastiff Club of America member since 1945), who has judged the national twice, most recently in 2000; Damara Bolté (1966), who handled some of the earliest Mastiff winners and who bred them (along with her world-famous Basenjis) under the Reveille prefix; Dr. William Newman (1969), longstanding Mastiff club delegate, American Kennel Club board member and this year’s conformation judge; Joanne Williams of Gelwill Mastiffs (1970), who made a strong impact on the West Coast Mastiff scene; fellow Californian Judy Nash of Ram’s Gate (1972), equally as well known in Bullmastiffs; Toni Hyland (1977) of Sle-P-Holo, currently the president of the Mastiff Club of America; and Liz Simon (1982), who with her late husband Fred bred under the Country Creek banner.

Eve Olsen Fisher, Dr. William Newman and Damara Bolté.

“It’s scary to be even up here with these people,” said moderator Cynthia Stewart as she prepared to address her first question to the dais.

“They may die any minute,” Newman quipped.

If there was one overarching theme to the afternoon, it was the sense that the good old days really were better – at least in terms of camaraderie and a genuine sense of breed community. Contracts – for stud dogs, or puppies – were essentially nonexistent. The benefit of the doubt went a long way.

“You trusted them, you knew them, everything was well,” Olsen said of her fellow breeders. “It was just friendship.”

Above: Judy Nash and Joanne Williams. Below: Toni Hyland and Liz Simon.

Today’s breeders have many more choices available to them, the senior breeders noted. Not only is the number of breeders and breeding stock significantly higher, but technology can bring any dog of interest to the computer screen – and any stud dog’s semen to the vet’s office. By contrast, decades ago, Newman noted, “some of the older dogs were good, but we didn’t see them because we didn’t show them.” And when they were out and winning, their show photos often did not do them justice. “Photographs have come a long way, as have Mastiffs,” Bolté said. “It was hard to get them to stand up and look like something.”

Hyland had two words of wisdom for new breeders: Slow down.

“Some younger people start out very enthused and do too much, too soon,” she said. “Do a bit more research. A lot people go with the popular stud, but that may not be what is best for your line. There are a lot of beautiful stud dogs and bitches out there that are not being campaigned that have excellent pedigrees. A lot of breeders are not looking at pedigrees and what’s behind a dog.”

In breeding, as in many things, it takes a village, Nash reminded. “In a breeding program, you need allies you can trust, people you can turn to, a vet you can trust who’s willing to say, ‘I don’t know, let’s find out,’ before the dog pays price. Form your ethics, keep your word, so that people know they can trust you, no matter what.”

Today’s breeders are putting sound, well-temperamented dogs on the ground, and that is getting the attention of judges and fanciers, Newman noted. “People come up to me and say, ‘Oh, your breed is getting terrific.’ It means that the judges are looking at our dogs because they have angles, they have substance, they have toplines, and they look like real dogs.”

Though the senior breeders noted that longevity has improved significantly since they first began in the breed decades ago, Simon implored breeders to resist beefcaking.

“At a show, this woman had 6-month-old puppy – I’ve never seen a dog so big. His feet were splayed from the weight,” she remembered. “You break a puppy down when you put weight on it. Please keep them nice and lean.” Whether you have had Mastiffs for 50 years or five months, these long-tenured breeders agreed on one thing.

“Of all the breeds I’ve been in,” Nash concluded, “there’s nothing like a Mastiff.”

Special thanks to dee dee Andersson, Damara Bolté, Diane Collings, Toni Hyland, Steven Oifer and Joanne Williams for their assistance in procuring photos and pedigree information.

Crowd Favorites

Of all the questions lobbed to the seven senior breeders at the “Luncheon with the Legends,” one was particularly tantalizing:

If you were judging a ringful of Mastiffs in Heaven – where you could bring in any dog, of any era – which dogs would you like to see within those pearly ring gates?

“To me this was like a box of chocolates – it was hard to choose,” Judy Nash observed. Nonetheless, she and her peers sorted through the nougats and toffees to find a clutch of contenders whose quality transcended the decades.

Here are some of them, seven dogs and seven bitches.

MALES

Ch. Reveille’s Big Thunder

(Ch. Renrock’s Brian O’Dare x Ch. Reveille Tribute)

Whelped 1972

“Thunder” was a last-minute breeding of Newman’s stud dog to Bolté’s bitch, and he went on to become a three-time national-specialty winner. “He was vital in renewing interest in the apricot,” said Newman, who is unabashed in his appreciation for that color. “He was just a well-balanced dog,” Bolté added. “You didn’t see that kind of quality much in those days.”

Ch. Alexander of Dahlseide

(Master of the Woods x Ch. Dahlseide Dame Dickens)

Whelped 1972

“Beau was prepotent in the way you dream about,” Nash remembered. “It didn’t matter who he was put to, he put better on the ground. He was sweet, and he lived a long, healthy life.” Hyland agrees that with “Beau,” breeding told: “We have brindles of his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and it’s all the same dog. He was a good, sound dog, and he produced good, sound dogs that have gone on through the generations.”

Ch. Rams Gate Job

(Ch. Alexander of Dahlseide x Mama’s Lass Hannah)

Whelped 1974

A “Beau” son, “Job” came from a litter of 13 that had to be hand-reared by their then-fledgling breeder, Judy Nash. Like his namesake, Nash said, “Job did persist and do well.” Williams appreciated his athletic ability. “If they’re built right, they can do it,” she said. “He was a solid, medium-sized dog. His personality was wonderful, and he had a very good front, and that makes a big difference in a dog.”

Ch. Deer Run Wycliff

(Ch. Deer Run Jericho City x Deer Run Stella)

Whelped 1978

One of the great ones, according to Bolté. “In my humble opinion, he put on a lot substance, bone and soundness, and temperament wise he was fine,” she said. “I don’t know, from what we had in the beginning, how [the dogs] ever got any better.” Wink, wink, of course – the allegedly dubious breeding practices at the Deer Run kennel from which “Wycliff” hailed are enshrined in Mastiff lore. But regardless of how Wycliff came to be, his influence as the breed’s most prolific sire was unquestionable.

Ch. Gulph Mills Mulcher

(Ch. Gulph Mills Mugger x Ch. Greenbranch Macushla)

Whelped 1981

“Just about perfect,” Nash said. “He was a pretty fine fellow. Good type and sound,” Bolté agreed. “He’s behind a lot.” That said, “Mulcher” wasn’t an enthusiastic showman. “God, he had a 500-pound head,” Bolté continued. “It’s really hard when they don’t help [show themselves], which they mostly don’t. It’s not a showy breed.” For her part, Williams liked “his straight topline, his angulation” and the fact that “his head fit his body.”

Ch. Iron Hills Into The Night

(Ch. Iron Hills Paint Your Wagon x Kara Stonehage)

Whelped 1993

A naturally showy and sound dog of moderate size, “Butler” was a brindle who didn’t let his stripes handicap him. “For any color he got multiple Bests in Show when nobody else could. He showed like no Mastiff ever did,” Bolté said. Hyland remembered him as “always on, but not over the top. One of the things that our judges miss is the good, moderate brindle male dog because they can’t see past the stripes and because they’re not huge. I would take him in a second.”

Ch. Middle Earth Aragon

(Ch. Ridgewood’s Otis x Ch. Middle Earth Song Of The South)

Whelped 1995

Owned by Nancy and Jerry Harvey, “Strider” wasn’t a huge dog; Hyland remembered him as a “moderately sized dog with great movement and a clean outline.” Nash thought could have been an even bigger winner if his owners would have been willing to part with him, which they weren’t. “To his owners he was like a single lamb that other shepherds who had thousands on the hill came after,” she explained. “His spirit was extraordinary, as well as wonderful conformation. There was a light that shone out of that dog that took your breath away.”

FEMALES

Eng. Ch. Weatherhill Milf Manetta

(Eng.Ch. Hotspot of Havengore x Serena of Sparry)

Whelped 1960

Bolté was fortunate to travel to the United Kingdom at a time when British breeders were producing some exceptional quality. It was there that she saw this bitch, owned by a diminutive veterinarian named Dr. Allison, and “she just knocked my eye out – so full of type and sound, with a gorgeous head.” With her bone and balance she was, Bolté said, “delicious.”

Ch. Dahlseide Dame Dickens

(Ch. Falcon of Blackroc x Helena of Rainbow Mountain)

Whelped 1968

“Dickens was an early beautiful brindle bitch – too early to get the attention she deserved,” Newman said. Her father was a rarely used brindle male from Marie Moore’s largely closed Mooreleigh kennel. But he exerted his influence through Dame Dickens’ son, Alexander of Dahlseide, an important sire on the West Coast.

Ch. Massalane’s Dinah-Might

(Ch. Nemo of Massalane x Ch. Bengali Tigress)

Whelped 1976

“A beautiful brindle,” according to Newman, one that went on to help establish Mike and Dee Gensburger’s Gulph Mills kennel. She was unarguably a wonderful producer: Williams remembers that when she was bred to “Beau,” she had a litter of eight brindles – all of which finished their championships.

Ch. L. Olympus Diana

(Ch. Gulph Mills Mulcher x Diablo’s Lucy Brown)

Whelped 1983

“In her day she could hold her own with any male in the ring,” Nash said. “Very balanced, very good moving.” Bolté judged sweepstakes at a national and found “Diana” to be her easy winner. “I thought she was a knockout,” she said. “The standard says don’t put a premium on showy, but she was. She stood up there and had a topline and pizzazz.”

Ch. Penelope P of Blackpoint

(Ch. Gulph Mills Mulcher x Sasha III)

Whelped 1984

“In a drought of brindles, she was a lovely girl and had this intense brindle coat. She was like a black lump of shiny coal,” Nash said. Williams remembered her as a big bitch who was reminiscent of Ch. Massalane’s Dyna-Mite, with good dark pigment, and an enviable win record for a bitch.

Ch. Blu Ridge Goldleaf of Black Point

(Ch. Goldleaf Montanna x Ch. Southports Jez of Blue Ridge)

Whelped 1990

“Daisy” began her show career at six months by going BOB from the classes and finished on her nine-month birthday, again going breed out of the classes. “She was just as good as a puppy as she was an adult,” Hyland noted. “That’s what you want, a Mastiff that grow slowly and moves well.” Williams called her a “wonderful girl who had everything going for her. She was a decent-sized bitch – for a while the bitches got kind of small – and I think she’d still do very well in the show ring today.”

Ch. Ironclads Ironhill Ivana

(Ch. Acorn Hill Uther Pendragon x Iron Hills Ironclad Alibi)

Whelped 1998

An all-around favorite of many of the breeders, especially Newman. “Ivana was a beautiful fawn bitch who was a specialty winner and Best in Show Mastiff,” he said. “I saw her when she was 12 or 18 months old, and I thought, ‘I could take her home in a heartbeat.’” Bolté concurred: “She was unto herself. Sound and showy and balanced, with a head and topline. Generally the bitches aren’t the biggest things in the world, but she was plenty big enough. The whole package. I think everybody loved her – and that’s pretty hard.”

Wed, 09/09/2015 - 1:19am