Haylee The first one of our dogs to ever make a big splash in the show ring... this beautiful red & white girl is now a champion show dog!

 
Haylee after one of her two five-point major wins in Portland, Oregon, in January 2010

Haylee is our very first champion show dog!  She came to us in April of 2009 from Bryon and Marie Santos of Sherwood Cockers, an extremely well-respected kennel in the Cocker show world.  I've seen Bryon and Marie in action in the show ring several times (including once at the biggest show in the Cocker world, the ASC nationals) and it is an amazing honor that they would place a pup with us!

Haylee comes from a very successful line of champion show dogs.
Take a look at Haylee's pedigree.

Meet Haylee's mother and father:

Haylee's father has been extremely successful in the show ring.
Under the direction of handler Stephanie Kaul, Bentley beat 35 outstanding parti colored Cockers
to win Best Of Variety at the 2007 American Spaniel Club national specialty show.
Bentley's registered name is Champion Windsor 18K Rolls Royce

Haylee's mom, Venus, is a champion show dog, too.
Her registered name is Champion Superior's Watch Me Shine

Haylee's breeders, Bryon & Marie Santos of Sherwood Cockers

Haylee and her siblings Rion, Aries, and Cassie
(at three months old) at the Santos' house.
 Haylee is the one relaxing in the lower right.
About a year later...  Rion, Aries and Haylee were all champion show dogs!

Haylee made her debut in the show ring on January 20th, 2010, at a series of dog shows in Portland, Oregon.  She was shown by Bryon Santos, and he helped her get off to a great start in the show world!  To become a champion, a dog needs to earn fifteen points and win at least two "majors".  On her very first day, she won five points and a major.  Two days later, another five points and another major win.  Here are some pictures of Haylee (and Bryon) in action at the shows in Portland...

Bryon stacks Haylee as the judge looks on

Prior to the show...  Haylee (on the right) with her brother, Rion

The breed standard says Cockers should be merry, and Haylee certainly is

You can tell from the body language (especially the upright tail) that Haylee enjoyed the show ring

Bryon definitely brought the best out of Haylee in Portland!
She came home with two major wins, 10 points towards her championship, 11 ribbons, and one medal.

Haylee's next show was the Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club show in San Jose, California.

Shown by Marie Santos, Haylee won "Winners Bitch" and "Best of Opposite Sex" on Sunday
and "Winners Bitch", "Best Of Winners", and "Best Of Opposite Sex" on Monday.
That gave her two additional points...  for a total of twelve.

Kellyn shows Haylee the biggest ribbon she has won, so far

Haylee's next show was the weekend of February 26th in San Diego, California.

I was there and I thought she showed very well, but she didn't manage to get
 those final three points she needed to become a champion!

Finally, on March 19, 2009, at the San Diego Cocker Spaniel Club's specialty show
Haylee did very well and won "Winner's Bitch" and "Best Of Winners" in the morning show
and then came back in the afternoon show and won those same two awards again (from a different judge).
It earned her four points...  and that was more than enough to officially make Haylee a champion.

A few weeks later, the official certificate arrived in the mail...

We were really looking forward to making some great puppies in 2011 with our first champion show dog, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Just a few short months after all those wins in the show ring, Haylee was nearly blind with cataracts in both eyes.  Even though both of her parents passed CERF tests and are completely free of cataracts, Haylee somehow ended up with cataracts that developed incredibly quickly.  Two weeks from the day I first noticed a little cloudiness in one eye, she had lost 90% of the vision in that eye and 50% of the vision in the other.

Needless to say...  we won't be breeding Haylee, since the last thing we would want to do is pass along cataracts to a litter of puppies.  So, Haylee will be going through two surgeries in the second half of 2010...  one to remove the cataracts and restore her vision, and a spay surgery to make sure she never has any puppies.  It's such a disappointment...  because we had such high hopes of making great puppies with this beautiful girl.

The Haylee Photo Gallery

Here's a collection of some of my favorite photos of Haylee...

The first photo I shot of Haylee after she came back home
from her "quest for a championship tour" with Bryon & Marie

To me, she looks so much more mature and confident now
than she did when she left (see the photo below)

The last photo I shot of Haylee before she went off with Bryon & Marie
to get ready for her debut in the show ring

Haylee stacked by Jim Zim  -  October 2009  -  9 months old

Haylee stacked by Marie Santos at 11 months old - December 2009

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Looking all grown up at nine months old

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Haylee at 8 months old

Haylee starting to look like a show dog, at 7 months old

One of the cutest pictures I've taken of Haylee

June 2009 - Haylee at five months old

Four and a half months old

May 2009 photo - 15 weeks old

Haylee is one of those Cockers that loves retrieving tennis balls

Posing for a portrait, at 13 weeks old

Haylee made an easy transition to our family...  she fit right in!  Here she is playing with Meg.

Self-stacking, in our back yard.

Popping her head out of her crate

Kellyn was VERY happy to visit Haylee!

Haylee having some fun at three months old

Haylee and her siblings at six weeks old.
Haylee is the 2nd from the left...  looking straight forward.
(photo by Bryon Santos)

I took this photo the first time we met Haylee and her siblings.
They were three weeks old here.

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