Happy ending!

Rufus has found his second forever home!

Rufus as a young dog

I am thrilled and delighted that 9.5-year old Rufus, a.k.a. CH(ampion) Blackbullets Varazs Grof Rufus, a grand-dog to our beloved foundation bitch, Nekah, has been successfully placed in a new home following the death of his human dad.  Initially, my concern was whether he had an issue with human males because of his negative reaction to my husband and step-son but I was given assurances he had never had problems before with males although I later learned he did try to bite one of the police officers who was in attendance at the home where his owner had died. (If only dogs could talk and tell us what they are thinking and feeling!)  

Here are a few more pictures of Rufus while he hung out at my place for a week.

Getting sleepy

Cuddling up with Tyro (at the top)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Rufus and I saying farewell.

 

Rufus met his new potential 'dad' two weeks ago and took to him immediately so that was exceedingly good news! 

After being taken to what was to become his second forever home, Rufus met Molly and got along well with her although the play was a little rough at first.  

And then there was the resident cat.  That was another concern but after about a week to 10 days of distant 'getting to know you', it appears Rufus has accepted the cat and vice versa.

Rufus with his new animal family

Thanks to Ray Murdoch, Rufus' new dad for some of these photos and the two videos which show Rufus pretty happy.

I love happy endings!

Happy Mother's Day 2013

Happy Mother's Day to the wonderful female Vizslas who have produced beautiful and talented offspring for Varazs Vizslas.  I salute you all.

Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD, CGC "Nekah" who produced 21 puppies.

BPIG Can/Am CH Varazs Abracadabra TT "Abby" who produced 7 puppies.

 

BPIG CH Varazs Kincses Natasha FDJ "Tasha" who produced 4 pups.

CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation Can/Am CD, FDJ, JH, Can/Am RA, Am RE, Am RAE, CGN "Nova" who produced 18 puppies.

and lastly . . .

Int'l BIS/RBIS (Veteran) AKC/CKC/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, AKC/CKC CDX, AKC/CKC RE, AKC RAE, AgNS, AgNJS, NJP, NAP, OAP, OJP, URO2, CGN, CGC, TDI  "Miska"  who produced 12 puppies.

Thank you for giving me and the owners of all these puppies such wonderful joy and love throughout the years. 

Mother's Day

In addition to honoring two-legged mothers on this special Mother's Day, I want to pay tribute to our four-legged mothers (or dams as they are referred to in the doggie world).  All of these female Vizslas, owned and/or bred by Varazs Perm. Reg'd Vizslas, were wonderful mothers to their puppies, which is such an important contribution to the offspring's temperament and behaviour as future adult dogs. 

Here's to you: Nekah, Abby, Tasha, Nova and Miska!!  Thank you for being such wonderful dams to your whelps and for producing such beautiful and wonderfully talented offspring. (Notice that each of these female Vizslas is titled at both ends of their names which means they meet and/or exceed the breed standard and are versatile and talented in performance events.)

Our foundation dam, Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD, CGC, "Nekah" who produced 21 puppies.

 

Nekah with her first litter, born Dec. 31, 1992

Nekah winning the Brood Bitch class with daughters Keira & Abby at the 2000 Vizsla Canada Specialty Show

Amber joins Bartok over the Rainbow Bridge

BPG * CH Varazs On Point at Blackbullet
"Amber"

February 2, 1998 - April 20, 2012 

Sadly, just two days after her brother Bartok crossed the Rainbow Bridge, his sister Amber followed in his pawsteps to join him.  Amber died peacefully and asleep in the arms of her beloved owner, Sherryanne Farr.  Amber and Bartok were the last puppies out of a litter of four born in 1998 to my foundation bitch, Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD CGC Nekah.  With Amber's passing, all of Nekah's puppies and that generation are now gone.

Jewel with her human, Wes Daniels

Amber was a Best Puppy in Group and also had 2 Group placements in conformation during her show career in Alberta, Canada. Amber was the foundation Vizsla bitch for Blackbullet Vizslas (Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels) in Alberta.  She was bred three times but only one mating was successful - the one done at her home in 2004 with her humans close by rather than when she was sent away for breeding.  That's often the case.  Her kids are:

Amy - Blackbullet Amethyst of Vegso
Chester - Blackbullet Il Mio Amore Varaz
Cooper  - BPG CH Blackbullets Heart of Varazs
Jewel - CH Blackbullet Varazs Legacy NAVHDA NA Prize II
Maggie - Blackbullet St. Mags of Varazs
Nando - Blackbullet Varazs Braveheart 
Rufus - CH Blackbullet Varazs Grof Rufus

Amber's spirit and beauty live on through her seven puppies and many grandkids through her daughter, CH Blackbullet Varazs Legacy NAVHDA NA Pz II, "Jewel".  Amber will be greatly missed by Sherryanne and Wes and leaves a big hole in their hearts. And I share their grief.

Amber on point

Amber, visiting me in Ontario

Amber with her toy

 

A life lived & loved

Varazs Bartok Bluebeardscastle "Bartok"

February 2, 1998 - April 18, 2012 

I am sad to announce that Bartok crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday to be with his brother Otis, sister Rosie, mother Nekah and father Rowdy.  He was out of a litter of 4 puppies and the last breeding I did with his dam, Nekah.  Bartok, in his 15th year, was loved and owned by Renate, Oliver and their son Jarno Gepraegs.  He will be greatly missed.  Rest in peace dear, sweet and mischievous Bartok.

Jarno & Bartok

Photos courtesy of the Gepraegs family.

Tribute to Moms

Tribute to Moms

Miska with one of her puppies (2011)

Miska contemplating

Mom in this case is Miska.  She's been an awesome mother to 12 puppies, six in each of her two litters.  But even before she had her own babies, she demonstrated wonderful maternal instincts when her younger siblings (our Nova-Hudson litter) were born in 2006.  At that time, Miska was 3 years old and so badly wanted to join her mom, Nova, in the whelping box to help clean and nurse Nova's 8 puppies (even though Miska couldn't nurse at the time).  It's really no surprise that she's been a fantastic mother because her mom, Nova, was tremendous, Miska's paternal grand-mother, Nekah was also an extremely devoted mother and Miska's maternal grand-ma, Bree, is wonderful around other dogs.  As well, Miska's father, Sasha, was absolutely terrific with puppies and all dogs and Brick, the father of our 2011 litter also has a terrific personality.  Adding to the wonderful temperament/fantastic mom list is Miska's sister/littermate, Shandy (2 litters), half-sister Mila sired by our Sasha) and niece Gypsy (who is Mila's daughter/Sasha's grand-daughter).  All of these female Vizslas have been wonderful mothers to their puppies.  So here's to you terrific Vizsla Moms!

It's so important to breed dogs with good temperaments.  I know of a few Vizsla breeders that haven't always done this but they shall remain nameless.  If you don't have a good stable temperament in the parents, then you are being irresponsible by breeding them.

Here's a short video clip created by Corrine Sellars of Miska watching over and trying to discipline her two puppies - 11 week-old Bodi (Mr Blue) and Tunder (Mr Black) who were acting crazy in our family room.

Nekah - who started it all

Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD,CGC

Sylvia with Nekah in 1999

Today, our foundation bitch would have been 20 years old if she was still alive. She was born in New York state and came to be known as Maritza of Kezdet Nekah.  "Nekah" was our first Vizsla puppy and first female as we had adopted two adult Vizslas before her.  I can still remember so clearly picking her up in Syracuse, NY from Judy Vernon (now Judy Saddlemire).  Nekah wasn't Judy's litter but Judy had 'supervised' the breeding.  We didn't have a crate because we didn't know how big Nekah would be. So we tried to fasten 2 laundry baskets together to bring her to her new home in Canada.  It was about a 5-hour drive and Nekah screamed the entire way!

I dearly loved Nekah.  She became the first Vizsla that I handled to her Canadian and American Champion titles. I also earned her American & Cdn Companion Dog title.  She eventually became, Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD,CGC.  We lost Nekah at too young an age but she started the Varazs legacy. She was dam of:

• 1993 VSO Booster Best of Breed: BPIG Am/Can CH Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Can CD, Am/Can CDX, FDJ, Am RE, Am RAE, TT, CGC, CGN (Sasha)

• #3 Vizsla in Canada in Conformation (1998):  Ch Varazs Blackbullets onthe Wing - Rex

• Best Cdn Bred, Vizsla Canada National Specialty Show (1998, 1999) - BPIG Can/Am CH Varazs Abracadabra TT (Abby)

• #4 Vizsla in Canada (1999): Ch Varazs Blackbullets onthe Wing - Rex

• #5 Obedience Vizsla (1998): BPIG Am/Can CH Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Can CD, Am/Can CDX, FDJ, Am RE, Am RAE, TT, CGC, CGN - Sasha

• #3 Obedience Vizsla in Canada (1999): BPIG Am/Can CH Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Can CD, Am/Can CDX, FDJ, Am RE, Am RAE, TT, CGC, CGN - Sasha

• Best of Opposite Sex, 1999 Vizsla Canada National Specialty Show & Vizsla Society of Ontario Specialty Show: BPIG Can/Am CH Varazs Abracadabra TT - Abby

• 5 Group Placing Dogs - Sasha, Rex, Abby, Tasha, Amber (1993, 1998, 1999, 2000)

• My first Agility-titled Vizsla (Keira), my first Rally-Obedience (AKC)-titled dog (Sasha, 2005)

• VSO 2007 Tibor Reiter Trophy winner for versatility - Sasha

• Varazs Summer Solstice (Bob), who was the inspiration of the book, Mr. Bob's Magic Ride in the Sky

And she is the grand-dam of:

• #4 Obedience Vizsla (2002) & #1 Obedience Vizsla in 2003: M-OTCH Szuni's Shooting Star CD CDX UD FDJ FD FDX TD AGN AGI AGDC AADC (Mila)

• Best of Opposite Sex, 2004 N. California Vizsla Club's Specialty Show: Am CH Varazs Sara's Full of Grace MH ROM - Sara

• IABCA Best in Show Veteran: Am/Cdn/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, Am/Cdn CD, Am/Cdn RE, Am RAE, CGN - Miska

• First Vizsla in Canada to earn the RAE (rally) title from the Cdn Kennel Club: RMCH Varazs Mokany Ficko FDJ, Am/Can CD, Am/Can RN, Am/Can RA, RAE AgNJ, AGN, RACL (CARO), RVCL (CARO), RXCL (CARO), SSGDC, SADC, CL1-R, CGN CGC - Milo

• Our first AKC Master Hunter and our first Registry of Merit (Vizsla Club of America) Vizsla - Am CH Varazs Sara's Full of Grace MH ROM (Sara)

• Group placing or puppy group winning dogs:
•      BPIG CH Varazs Vidam Lolamae - Lola
•      Am/Can CH Varazs Kiralyi Vadaszat FDJ, Can/Am CD, NAVHDA NA Prize II, JH, RN   (AKC), RA (AKC), CGN - Vadasz
•      2X BPG CH Blackbullets Heart of Varazs - Cooper

Thank you Nekah for being a big part of my life, although not for long enough, and for starting it all.  Happy 20th Birthday! You are still loved, greatly missed and will never be forgotten.

Best of Breed with Judge Nigel Aubrey-Jones (1994)

In memory of Nekah

In loving memory of Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD, CGC, "Nekah", our first Vizsla puppy, first female Vizsla, and our foundation bitch whom we lost June 7, 1999 - 11 years ago today.  Nekah made such a huge impact on my life and changed it in so many ways for which I am eternally grateful.

Nekah - gone, still greatly loved, and missed and never forgotten. 

Groundhog Day litter turns 12!

I've never referred to the birth of our 4th litter as the Groundhog Day litter before now but it did happen that day, 12 years ago! Four puppies were born February 2, 1998 to our "Nekah" (Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah CD CGC), sired by "Rowdy" (Am CH Legacy's Rhythm N Blues). It was Nekah's last litter. Of those 4 puppies, three have outlived both parents and reached the age of 12 years today: Amber ( BPG CH Varazs On Point at Blackbullet), Bartok (Varazs Bartok Bluebeardscastle), and Otis (Varazs Betyar Otis).

Happy 12th Birthday!!

Great grandpuppies

Jewel (CH Blackbullet Varazs Legacy NAVHDA NA PRIZE ll) is a grand-daughter of our foundation bitch, Nekah (Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD CGC). Jewel was bred and is owned by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels of Blackbullet Dalmatians and Vizslas in Alberta, Canada. Jewel was recently mated with Am CH Jaybren's Heart's Desire, Am RN Am CD and produced 8 puppies (7 boys and 1 girl) on July 5, 2009. This was her second litter and her puppies are great grandkids to our Nekah. Thank you to Sherryanne for sharing these recent photos of Jewel's puppies with me.