Page 90 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021

We had been watching ‘The Good Life’ on the Because Elaine and I were working on our
telly and it resurrected ideas of self-sufficiency.
In 1979 we finally after difficult negotiations
moved into our dilapidated and neglected
bungalow called ‘Sunnyside’. Luckily, we were
up for the challenge. The property needed
drainage and soakaways, glass in the windows,
insulation, small amount of rebuild and heating.
The half an acre of ground was great or at
least it would be when it was cleared. The work
involved meant that showing would be curtailed
for a while but fieldwork would continue in a
limited way. We notified people of our move and
within no time at all the phone call came from
Joan Matuzewska asking would we like pick of
bitches from a litter she had planned. We had
not considered having a bitch but after some
consideration we agreed that if the breeding
looked good we now had the space to manage
another Weimaraner. After speaking to Joan
it was no contest, our favourite bitch of Joan’s
Sh Ch Monroe Aequo by a Champion dog.
We began to think that breeding our own stock
would be the next logical step and to be able
to use Ryan would be perfect. Ryan had been
used once and a friend of ours with both GSP
and a Weimaraner had enquired about using
him in the future. Not long after we obtained our
puppy from Joan, our friend’s bitch came into
season, Ryan was used and produced a fine
litter. We were asked if we would pop over when
the puppies were six weeks old and help them
pick any puppies which might be suitable for
show. The honest truth is that we did only go to
help out but then we saw one of the pups which
just looked so nice that we asked the breeder
if we could forego any stud fee and have that
puppy when it was eight weeks, he agreed. This
bitch, Miroku Balfreo of Ryanstock we called
‘Feebie’ as she was born in February and in our
simplistic way of selecting not only did she look
nice but she had a lovely length in neck and
back plus great rear angulation and stifles. We
knew we could not bring our next dog into the
ring with stifles like Ryan. April was a little more
compact but very feminine with that ‘Monroes’
soundness, so now we had a pair of lovely
bitches from which to produce our own stock.
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021
property we were in no great rush to get into
breeding. We did think of an affix and as Ryan
was the centre of our lives and he was our
foundation dog also would be the foundation
of our line the affix should be ‘Ryanstock ‘.
All ‘Ryanstock’ dogs lived in the house or in
this case, the bungalow. It was not equipped
with a suitable area for the dogs and whilst it
was not ideal, we took a sledgehammer to the
utility and pantry which was just outside of the
kitchen but inside of the property. We laid the
floor and put a bar heater in for warmth, this
property was not warm anywhere and although
the dog area was still cold, we had to begin with
major renovations. Year two saw cavity and
loft insulation but it was not for a couple more
years that we could extend the kitchen and
include a new bespoke dog room which could
accommodate growing dogs and as a place
suitable for puppies when we decided to breed.
The dogs were now warm again and we were
becoming more content but with still more to
do to make it homely. If we were going to keep
dogs and also consider breeding, we needed
to work out the way that we wanted to make it
work for us. After much thought and discussion
Elaine and I decided that we would only breed
when we wanted to keep a puppy or when
friends who we trusted, people who we have
vetted and were prepared to wait, came to us for
a puppy. We had set our criteria of not breeding
more than two litters from any of our bitches.
(In fact we did breach our rule once and that
was because of the forthcoming docking ban
when we needed a bitch for work and to carry
on the line, so we had the third litter from Angie).
We could not expect to be choosing between
two puppies if we were breeding and we had
to keep an open mind on whether to keep a
dog or bitch. We could not select when the
puppies were wet like Joan Mat so we decided
that at six weeks to the day we would not allow
visitors on that one day, we would set up the
puppies one at a time and take photos and
write a critique on each puppy. When we had
selected we would never change our mind as
the puppy grew. It may sound clinical but each
puppy we kept would stay for life, good or bad