Alnclair
Golden Retrievers
Challenging the future, Valuing the past
We are based at Old Bar on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, approximately 3 hours north of Sydney. Often referred to as "God's own country", the area encompasses lovely beaches as well as peaceful rural lands.
Our kennels have been established on a beautiful, flat 3 1/2 acre property which provides plenty of room for sleeping kennels, day runs, specific puppy runs and accommodation, and of course all our dogs are house dogs as well. They are our "children" after all, and at least one girl sleeps in our bedroom every night!
Golden Retrievers have been a part of our lives for nearly twenty-five years. All of our Goldens are dual purpose - much loved family members, and animals that we exhibit at conformation shows - the first purpose being more important than the second.
Our first "Golden" was actually a cross bred (probably Labrador / Kelpie) that we bought for a ridiculous price when we were first married at the end of 1979. Extremely unfortunately Reba was run over by a car when on a routine exercise run with us in early 1983. Reba's temperament was to die for and so we had no option but to buy a "pedigree breed" to try to reproduce her wonderful temperament - the closest to our original girl was the Golden Retriever. We have never regretted the choice.
The first Golden Retriever to come home with us was "Norjean Mardi Gras" (1/7/83-15/11/99) and at this time we "got talked into showing".
Billie-Jean "Meykel Facilitie" (6/3/84-14/2/00) followed "to keep Mardé company".
Although we have been showing Golden Retrievers for nearly 25 years we only started our breeding program in 1996. In 1985 we obtained our kennel prefix and waited until 1996 when we finally whelped our first litter, and this produced our Jimi CH Alnclair Olympic Gym (w. 29/10/96) who gave us so much pleasure in all ways. Since then we have been fortunate to produce a number of home-bred champions.
In addition to CH St Magol Jye, CH Tulamore Sparkler and CH Taplar Dusky Gleam we have produced 7 home-bred champions and progeny from another 3 litters are well on the way to their titles. Our third litter produced Ch Alnclair Maggie May (w. 7/3/98) who made us very proud by becoming a GRAND CHAMPION on 15 November 2003. This is an extra special achievement as Maggie has also won Best in Show at State Golden Retriever Club level and continues to have success in her mature years.
Our state breed club, the Golden Retriever Club of NSW Inc, has a policy that all Goldens involved in breeding programs must be hip and elbow scored, and also have their hearts tested by a Vet Specialist to check for Sub-Aortic Stenosis (SAS) and other heart problems. The club also requires that breeding Goldens have current clear eye certificates issued by Specialist Vet Ophthalmologists. Thus we test all our dogs annually before breeding them as some conditions can present later in the dog's life - for example, Posterior Polar Sub Capsular Cataracts (commonly known as "Star Cataracts"). We fully support the Club's policies in this regard and always follow these breeding guidelines, including when allowing our dogs to be used by other people.
Please note that the majority of our puppies will be sold on
the "Limited Register" - read here for more
information on the "Limited Register".
Apart from the show ring, we also have Alnclair Goldens competing in Obedience and Agility trials. Brie (Alnclair Shooting Star JD) who lives in South Australia already has her first Jumping Title and is well on the way to her first Agility title. Brie is also a star of the stage having given a wonderful performance in the role of Sandy in the musical "Annie" - Brie obviously has brains as well as beauty, and we are very proud of her achievements.
Our puppy "AKA" (w.13/2/2006) graduated as a Seeing Eye Dog in Queensland on November 9th 2007 - a fabulous achievement which reinforces how great this wonderful breed is. See some puppy shots at the Puppies page, and click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l86mFlaCb_s to see a quick glimpse of our dogs swimming in our dam.
LAST (but not LEAST) - although our lives are now huge operational dramas if we want to go away for a "non-doggy" holiday, we wouldn't change a thing!
12 April, 2008 Proving that age won't slow them
down - our Maggie wins BEST IN SHOW
(All Breeds) aged 10
years old. Way to go
girl!
Prior great show results were for "Clair " - Alnclair Anzac Heroine at Goldwood (imp Aus) - who won BEST IN SHOW in New Zealand under Henric Fryckstrand from the world-renowned "Dewmist" Kennels in Sweden. Best wishes to Clair's owners Phil & Marie Turley from all at Alnclair. The following Sunday at the NSW GRC show we took 4 dogs for 4 places - including Reserve Dog Challenge with Clair's brother "Gilly ". Not to be outdone Clair's and Gilly's brother Brock in South Australia also won Best Intermediate in Show at the SA GRC show in mid August 2007 - these 3 youngsters continue to prove very promising.
Wayne & Sharon
McGrath ~ alnclair@bigpond.net.au
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