The Story of Macdolly - how it all began......
In June 1987 I purchased my first Cocker, a black male. He was not purchased for showing, but rather for obedience. However I went along to a dog show after his breeder advised me that he was good enough to show and sure enough he won a ribbon. He went on to become Australian Champion Appintiki Fire Away. Needless to say, I was then hooked into the wonderful world of showing dogs and so our history begins.
With a lot of help and advice from Lyn Monk (Appintiki Kennels), I learnt how to groom and show the dog to an acceptable level. I quickly worked out I would have more success if I got a second dog and in October, I bought another black male, who went on to become Australian Champion Beaubonange Little Boomer. Of course it was more fun with two dogs, but when they both won their classes, it made it hard to take them in for the CC, so I soon worked out what I had to do. I had to buy a bitch !!!!! I approached Lyn who had a beautiful gold bitch in whelp to a Noel Boddy (Arrunga) golden New Zealand import and I ordered pick of the litter bitch. The puppies were born 17 December 1987 and there was only one girl. I had named her even before she was born and she was to become Australian and New Zealand Champion Appintiki Karisma.
Karisma was a winner from her very first show where she won Baby In Group under a breed specialist and I had a feeling we were destined for great things. In hindsight, I knew she was not the best in the ring,but knew she had something special about her. In 1987 gold bitches were rarely seen in the showrings in Brisbane, as Blue Roans and Blacks were the colours of the day. But she held our own and gained her Championship by the time she was 14 months old.She won many In Group awards (including Best In Group under breed specialist, Mr Geoff Kill - Bifield Kennels) along the way and had finally grown some feathers. But as fate would have it, she came into season at the wrong time, so I put her into kennels to keep the boys away from her. No way in the world was I going to mate my Champion bitch and I finally brought her home from the kennels on the seventeenth day of her season. But Appintiki Fire Away was determined to have his merry way with her and in the middle of a thunderstorm, I went out to find her screaming her lungs off, stuck in the doggie door. The funny thing was he had mated her, tied and turned himself, and he was facing out through the doggie door in the rain as happy as Larry. Well I was just beside myself and was on the phone to the vet straight away. I was told not to worry, she won't get pregnant as she is too far along in the season. Feeling much better, I rang Lyn who thought the same thing. So I was much happier about it all and Appintiki Fire Away was banished for a few days.
Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, everyone was wrong and she got pregnant! Five little bundles of joy came into the world on 17 August 1989 producing the very first Macdolly litter. The only two girls of the litter both went on to become Australian Champions and the rest is history................
