I bought my first golden retriever in 1986, Ragamuffin Whirligig of Castlerock. Although she wasn’t a show dog we had a lot of fun at some shows and she had the most wonderful temperament. She had a couple of litters and I kept a few golden retrievers over the years. I bought in a male called Rags “Ramchaine Rags to Riches for Castlerock JW” and had quite a lot of success in the showring with Rags. He sired some beautiful pups all with his wonderful temperament. However, while showing the goldens I became entranced with flatcoats.
I bought Gemma my first flatcoat in 1988. Bitterwell Black Chiffon of Castlerock. Although Gemma never reached any dizzy heights in the ring, she did qualify for Crufts every year of her life. She produced some very nice pups and I became hooked on the showring and also on the working side. Gemma was quite a good working dog but definitely had a mind of her own and once she was introduced to game she was no longer interested in dummies. I used to work Gemma and her son Poacher together on a local shoot every season and they loved it. I then opened a boarding kennels and was not able to continue with the working side but did manage to carry on with showing them as most shows were on Sundays.
Poacher won a 1st place in Junior Dog at his first Crufts - an
achievement of which I was very proud. I bought in a bitch in 2001
called Gayplume Classic Design at Castlerock and had reasonable success
in the showring with Kai. Again she had the wonderful flatcoat
temperament and everyone loved her. I mated her to The Sorcerer’s
Apprentice from Jaeva in 2004 and she had 7 beautiful pups. I kept a
bitch who became Sh.Ch.Castlerock Magic Moment JW. And another 4 of
Magic’s siblings gained their stud book numbers with one of them winning
a RCC. Kai had a further litter to Lakemere Moonlight Shadow JW.ShCM
and that produced Bb “Castlerock Stormy Song JW”. Bb won 2 RCC's and her
litter brother Storm “Castlerock Stormy Night over Heatheridge JW”
belonging to Sue Pingree has won 3 x CC’s and numerous RCC’s and so is
now called Sh.Ch.Castlerock Stormy Night over Heatheridge JW.ShCM. I
mated Magic to Ch.Rainesgift Seymour and she produced two progeny that
achieved their stud book numbers. On New Year's Day 2010 I mated Magic
to Denver (Ch Calzeat Causa Commotion at Flatcharm) and so the story
continues............See Dublin's page
