The Hunt is on!

Written by Linda Shove

I started contacting NZKC to see if there were any Briards in NZ. They replied with Evie Oakes address but, due to a typing error, indicated that "Tess" was 13 years old (instead of 3!!) and made no mention of "Jacques". So I just assumed that "Tess" was an elderly "pet" and didn't even bother contracting Evie at that stage. that avenue exhausted, i asked my mother in U.K. to make some enquiries for me and heard back from a couple of U.K. Briard kennels who offered me an adult in-pup bitch but the cost was horrific when you added on the cost of frieght. So nextstep was to try Australia.

I was given a couple of addresses of people who just imported Briards from U.K. and folowed up with enquiries to them. One of these was to Sue Rodsted in Brisbane. A short time later the phone went at about 2am - it was Sue (she subtracted the time delay instead of adding it on!!) saying she'd recently imported an in-whelp bitch from U.K. and had just had a cancellation for one of the puppies and did I want it? We worked out that the cost  ( including air frieight) would be aorund $800 - (....a lot of money in 1976!!) She needed an answer straight away as the pups were just about 8 weeks old and due to be releases from the quarantine kennels in the next day or two. So I poured a stiff whisky , woke up my very tolerant husband and made him drink it before saying I wanted to spend all this money on a puppy of a breed we'd never even seen!!! I think he knew when he was beaten and put up very littel resistance before giving in gracefully! So back to the phone to sort out details with Sue and within a couple of days "Michelle" (Bendelbad Manara Bear) was on her way to NZ.

CH Bendelbah Manara Bear

"Michelle"

The excitement level increased to fever pitch by the day of Michelle's expected arrival. Only to suffer a big let down when we got a phone call from Christchurch airport to say that the Ministry of Agriculture officials has rejected her and sent her back to Australia!!!

ENG. CH. Desamee Tripoy De Vasouy (IMP FR)

(Grandfather of Michelle)

It appeared that she'd been treated with the wrong insecticide powder and they couldn't accept her. So the poor little thing had to be retreated the next morning and put on yet another plane. The big problem with that was that her rearranged flight arrived in Christchurch too late in the day for a conecting flight to Dunedin - so she had to spend the night in Christchurch airport. (If we'd waited till later in the week for a better timed flight, all her other vet treatments would have had to be repeated - so there really was no option.)

ENG. CH. Desamee Mitzi Moffat

(Grandmother of Michelle)

You can imagine how frantic I was at the thought of this little half portion having tyo fly three times across the Tasman in quick succession followed by a night, still in her crate, at an airport. By six o'clock the next morning I could control myself no longer and phoned the airport to see if she was still alive! The guy who answered asked me "Do you mean this little puppy who's running around our office chewing shoe laces and drinking milk form a saucer?" !!!! It seems the airport staff had taken pity on her and she'd spent the night getting lots of attention and cuddles! She finally arrived at Dunedin airport later in the day and bounded out of her crate none the worse for all her travels!

In retrospect, and with the experience of several of my own litters behind me, I realise that Michelle was way to small for her eight weeks age. She only weighed 10lbs (4.54kg) - the average weight for an eight week puppy would be nearly half as much again. She'd been born and raised in Sydney's quarantine kennels ( one of a litter of 12) and I think the staff just had no idea  how much a Braird litter eats at that age.

Needless to say she started eateing like a horse and her growth increased rapidly once she settled in. There were more worries over the next few weeks as her all important registration (plus export pedigree etc.) failed to arrive from Australia. Her breeder Sue Rodsted told me the causewas a delay in getting the Export Pedigree for Michelle's mother from the English Kennel Club. (It didn't help my peace of mind to hear a story that was doing the rounds at the time about a Beagle puppy that had been bought from Australia for a large amount of money but proved to be a Beagle cross-breed - not even pure-bred Beagle!!)

Like alot of new Briard owners, I'd expected that she would look much like a minature adult Briard on arrival - bot like a very small Lab cross!! The only thing that kept my sanity through these worrying early weeks was her lovely DOUBLE DEWCLAWS !! Anyway, her pedigree finally arrived of course and her show career commenced.

In those early days she was very much an oddity! No-one had even heard of Briards back then. (You have to keep in mind that there had only been Briards in UK since 1967 and in Australia since 1974.)

Once Michelle had settled in I wrote to Evie Oakes in Wanganui - to introduce myself as a fellow Briard owner. To my great astonishment she wrote back to say that her 'Tess' has produced a litter only three weeks after my Michelle had been born (this dispelled the picture I'd been given that 'Tess' was 13 years old!!).

CH Abigail of Bala

"Abi"

Further letters revealed that Evie was having a lot of trouble finding homes for her puppies (she'd been relying on word of mouth and hadn't really done any advertising). By the time they were four months old she still has six of them left. David and i decided that if we were showing one Briard puppy - it might as well be two!! (By this time of course Michelle had us totally suckered in and wrapped tightly round her little dewclaws !!) So 'Abi' (Abigail of Bala) duly arrived at Angevin to join Michelle in June 1976.

Lullingstone Milicent (of Baldslow) 

(Grandmother to Abi)