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Barbados, an
island in the far Eastern Caribbean, is a rabies-free
nation. Therefore animals can only be imported from
England or other rabies-free countries. England happens
to be the closest and most accessible-and the home of the
Airedale.
I had to leave behind my
beloved Airedales in the USA when I came here, but after
a few years I longed for Airedales again.Much time passed
before I found a woman who was perhaps the finest breeder
in England for exports. She shipped good quality
Airedales, which is unusual in the export-to-Third
World-countries trade.
The original foundation pair
came from Jean Campbell's Loudwell line in 1985; Nicol
(Ch. Loudwell Right Hand Man) and Zara (Loudwell Purple
Heather). However, Zara was killed when she was just over
one month pregnant, so we had to start again. Hence the
arrival of Winnie (Carac Copy Cat) from Marcie and Mike
Gilbert through Jean.
The two together produced my
'A' (Rushview) litter of 11 pups, 8 of which survived a
terrible Parvo epidemic. Other breeders on the island
were not so lucky. Due to her many health problems, I
kept the runt (Rushview All's Well Aubrieta) of the
litter, nicknamed "Runty". You can see her
growth in the photo montage.
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From left, Loudwell
Purple Heather (Zara) and CH. Loudwell Right Hand
Man (Nicol) in 1985 at Heron Bay House, Barbados.
Famous fashion photographer Bruce Weber used the
two, but primarily Nicol for the new Ralph Lauren
'Polo' campaign. Though the dogs were supposed to
pose for one hour, Bruce asked for them back day
after day for a week. This was one of the
episodes where Bruce asked the models to leave so
he could shoot the dogs alone.
They had asked
for two Boxers, Dobes and Shepherds as well.
However, to OUR glee, none of those breeds proved
suitable for the Lauren campaign. Bruce used the
Airedales exclusively. He later said he wanted to
"speak to Ralph about making the Airedale
the 'Polo' mascot." Yes! Airedales!
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Runty's sister, Mollie (Rushview
Amarylis), mated an Irish import (Rosara Buccaneer), who
produced our Cricket (Buccaneer Ali's Story). Cricket
produced our 'B' litter, and from the four came Blaze
(Rushview's Blaze).
Blaze some years later mated an
English Jokyl import to produce 'Pico', our newest
addition.
Now just over a year, he's a
fine dog, with good character and pesonality. However,
since he is monorchid, he cannot be bred. And
unfortunately, the other two male imports mentioned
earlier have both since died. So the breed on the island
is in jeopardy.
Nicol, who was the primary stud dog on the island for
many years, produced some 30 progeny, many of whom are
still alive today. Nicol passed away in August, 1997, at
a grand 12 years old. It was still too soon.
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More recently, Cricket passed away
far too soon at age 8. She died on December 27, 1999 of
complications due to heart and other organ malfunctions,
a new ailment recently named MODS (multiple organ
dysfunction syndrome). If that were not enough, we lost
Runty on January 20, 2000 from lymphoma, which had
invaded her heart, liver and kidneys. She was 11.
We have now brought in new blood to revive the breed and
are happy to announce the arrival of two Shadlian/England
puppies, who arrived April 6. (Digital images coming
soon). Breeders Jan Favell & Keith Raper accompanied
eight month old Molly and 10 week old dog puppy, now
named 'Brick' (for looking so much like a walking cement
block). It was great to meet our breeders in person.
Wonderful people, excellent Airedales.
And so, a new chapter in the Barbados Airedale Terrier
book begins. . .
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