There are some lovely breed books around. Some are very informative but unpersonal  and some have it all. I don't have all the great books, not even those that have been written about my 'own' breed, the Labrador, but I am pretty content with the collection that I do have.

Most books that come into my posession don't look very beautiful after a couple of years. I am amazed at how some people are able to keep their books in such good condition as they look as though they've never been opened. My books don't look like that at all. I don't have Harold Clayton's pedigree books from 1972 and 1977 but the rest I do have. But what condition goes...well, they have certainly been used! For a number of years the 1982 and 1987 books were my constant night companions and after a while that shows. If I myself had written or produced something that had really looked used I think I would have felt flattered even if the money value obviously drops a bit.

Some books just take you, don't they. They lead you somewhere else and you can fairly easily and instantly picture what the author is telling you, be it a show, breeding plans or whatever. To me a really good book is about a story, you and the author are sitting down by the kitchen table and you listen to what the author has to say. If it's interesting and the story grabs you time stops to exist, if it's not time does exist and just a few minutes of reading make you feel you have been doing it for far too long and your mind is back on all the daily duties that constantly sorround us .

I have many favourite books and could go on writing about them for ever but since time for some reason feels limited - maybe because Christmas is waiting round the corner? - I've picked just a few.

Before I go on to the Labrador books I thought I would start with two about Terriers. The first is Elsie William's lovely book 'The Fox Terrier, wire and smooth' first published in 1965. The late Mrs Williams used to breed and show wires under the Penda affix, known world wide for its excellent specimens. I will not go into details but Mrs William's story certainly got me 'hooked' and even though I have read it several times, some chapters in particular, I still enjoy re-reading it from time to time.

The next on Terriers is 'The Skye Terrier' by Sine Threlfall. Again a very well written book with more photos than the one above and a bit more modern, being printed in 1995. Since we have Skyes, my partner breeds them, I've seen some of the dogs in the book myself (and lived with some of them) and have an insight that I for obvious reasons lack about the wires and smooths. Sine do not breed any more but used to under the world famous Acheo affix which has produced winners 'here, there and everywhere' and has also judged the breed at Cruft's on no less than three occassions if I am not mistaken.

There are quite a few books on the Labrador but since I love to learn about 'kennel history' nothing  compares to Richard Edward's masterpieces;

'The show Labrador Retriever in Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1945-1995" volume one and two, and  'Sandylands'. Richard must have put down his whole soul into these books, and I certainly wouldn't like to be without any of them.

I particularily remember when the volume two book arrived, it was hard to concentrate. I started to read about Follytower, but soon got curious about what had been written about other kennels and read a little here and a little there until I finally could settle down and read it from start to finish.

Also love the Sandylands book, who doesn't?? It's marvellous and you 'get to know' dogs way back that have all played their part in getting Sandylands to its present position. I was asked by the Labrador Club of Östergötland to hold a book club about the Sandylands book. We, 7 people (see photo above), met 6 or 7 evenings during the autumn of 2005. I sort of hold lessons chapter by chapter so had to be properly prepared, We discussed various issues that came to the fore as we progressed through the book. It was most interesting and I think we all learned alot.  All thanks to Richard Edwards.

 

Hanna

19 december 2008 20:16

Hi,
I would also like to add M R-W's wonderful books Advanced Labrador Breeding and The Dual-Purpose Labrador. I can't tell how many times I have read Advanced Labrador Breeding. Every time I seem to find something new in it! But I agree, Richard Edwards' books are fantastic. I treasure them.

http://www.buckwheaters.net

Från
    Kom ihåg mig
URL

Säkerhetskod
     

Kommentar

This evening is lovely and we decided to take advantage of it and take some photos. The pups (by Annuals Trendsetter x Thornbreaker's Bit of Class) are now 4 months and a week old and are coming on well.        ...

Two years ago, I recieved an invitation from The Skye Terrier Club to judge at their open show in Gretna, just outside Glasgow, Scotland. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement and ever since that day I had been looking forward to go to Gre...

     On January 3rd, 2010 my yellow bitch Thornbreaker's Bit of Class (Carpenny Hurricane x Thornbreaker's Wee Bit of Style) gave birth to 10 lovely puppies, 1 boy and 9 girls!! They have grown on well and some of them have moved to new home, but we...

   On Tuesday 9th of this month I had to take my precious black Labrador dog Knockie (Thornbreaker's Postman's Knock), aged 13 1/2 years, to the vet to be put to sleep. This never gets any easier no matter how many times you've gone through it before...

   I have been very busy during the autumn with my new committment as secretary of the Swedish Terrier Club. At the moment, with it having been Christmas and all that, things have been pretty quiet but expect it will be back to normal pretty soon. ...