30th Annual Specialty Judges - Peter & Pat Pask
Baronglen Irish Wolfhounds, England
Having spent our young lives surrounded by animals, ( Peter’s family had dachshunds and terriers , Pat’s family had horses ) it was inevitable when we married this love of animals would continue. Peter had fallen in love with Irish Wolfhounds as a child but the family did not have a property suitable to house such a large dog. Pat had always wanted a Yorkshire terrier but was told she could have one when the cat “passed away” but when she left home to get married the black cat “Sooty” was still going strong and lived to 23 years of age!!
Following our marriage and after rescuing a sickly Afghan who only lived for 2 years the opportunity arose for us to consider having a wolfhound.
We visited Ruth and Leslie Jenkins ( Eaglescrag ) and after spending the day with such lovely hounds as Ch Eaglescrag Caio, Ch Eaglescrag Fintan and Ch Eaglescrag Toby and all the beautiful girls we decided a wolfhound was the dog for us. We went to see a lovely litter bred by Rhiannon Evans from Carrokeel Annwn and Ch Fintan of Eaglescrag and chose a puppy dog. He was Gwernyfed Llemenig ( aka Wellington ) and was the litter brother to Gwernyfed Lleigus who was owned by Elizabeth Murphy and became the mascot for the Irish Olympic team in 1980.
We quickly became besotted with the breed and over the next year spent a lot of time watching our boy “ Wellington” grow and learning about the breed from Ruth and Leslie. They were very kind about our lad but we soon learnt he was not show quality though his character was so typical of the breed it is thanks to him that we continued.
In 1976 “Wellington ” was joined by Buckhurst Keren from Alan and Molly Hyett. She was a Ch Eaglescrag Toby granddaughter and a good sound quality bitch to use to start breeding.
In 1979 our breeding programme started and Ch Eaglescrag Toby and Keren produced four lovely offspring.
The prefix “ Baronglen ” was also granted in 1979 and we chose the name because we wanted something which sounded old , regal and reminiscent of past times but also reflected the hills and valleys of Wales.
In 1983 we mated Baronglen Abbey from our first litter to Eaglescrag Curamos and she produced 7 puppies. We kept two bitches Bridie and Beckie but they were also lightly shown due to work commitments and moving to a new home
1985 saw us mating Bridie with Ch Marumac Cedric of Telgar to produce eight puppies one of which Baronglen Craigie stayed at home. His litter sister Baronglen Charity went to the Tebbuts and became their first CC winner ( Judge Helen Baird ). She was a beautiful bitch but unfortunately died young with heart problems. Baronglen Carrie, one of the other puppies, became the foundation bitch for Sue Cahill (now Neal) and her Cahmega line.
In 1986 we moved to the farm which although we knew was the place we wanted to live with our dogs for the rest of our days was extremely derelict and needed much attention. We therefore took a break from dog showing and concentrated our efforts on getting the farm in shape.
When the work was completed we decided to breed from either Bridie or Beckie but sadly by now they were both nearly six and neither of them were successful and at this point the Baronglen line came to an end. To our rescue came Shirley Sharpe and we acquired Telgar Saffron a two year old bitch. She was a quality girl and we were very honoured to have her. She was mated to Ch Eaglescrag Justin in 1989. This litter produced Baronglen the Deacon and Baronglen Dilys.
Dilys was mated to Blakeskerra Branagan in 1995 and produced five pups. Three of these pups were notable and quite exciting for us namely Baronglen the Forester, Baronglen Miss Fiona and Baronglen Miss Florence.
The Forester showed much promise winning BIS at the IW Club show in 1997 ( Judge Don Weiden ) and Baronglen Miss Fiona won 10 CC’s and Best Bitch at the Irish Wolfhound Club of Ireland show ( Judge Sorcha Wilde ). Her sister Baronglen Miss Florence was never shown but following a mating to Marumac Feril produced the stunning Ch Fearnhead Apollo of Baronglen. He also had a very successful show career winning 5CC’s and BIS at the IW Society Championship Show ( Judge Rosemary Follett), the Irish Wolfhound Club of NI Championship Show ( Judge Louise Nowell) and the Irish wolfhound Club of Ireland ( Judge Espen Engh).
A great tragedy for us was losing the Forester at two with a twisted small intestine.
Also during these years we had acquired two Eaglescrag Bitches. In 1980 Eaglescrag Aimee out of Eaglescrag Catrin and Fitzarran Yankee and in 1989 Eaglescrag Kylin from Ch Eaglescrag Iceflo and Telgar Hadlee. We attempted to breed from both these bitches but without success which of course was a bitter disappointment to both us and Ruth and Leslie.
In 1995 we acquired Ainsea Spellbinder.She was mated to Ch Bokra Scenario and produced Baronglen the Guardsman. He was only lightly shown as he always lived in the shadow of Apollo but with Ch Baronglen Miss Fiona he produced Baronglen Miss Isobel and Baronglen the Intrepid. Miss Isobel with Apollo’s son Ch Cefni Eurig of Baronglen in turn produced Ch Baronglen the Jaywalker, Baronglen the Journyman and Ch Baronglen Miss Jif.They are now six years of age and enjoying life to the full. Ch Baronglen the Jaywalker, who won RBIS at the IW Club Championship show ( Judge Jean Malley ),has been mated to some beautiful bitches which has allowed us to have some lovely puppies join the other Baronglens namely Solstrand Yorick and Solstrand Yelena ( from the Jaywalker and Solstrand Unity ), Ainsea Madoc ( the Jaywalker and Clhannworthy Briege via Ainsea ) and Dunewalker Miss Behaving ( the Jaywalker and Braehead Orianna) . All these have been lightly shown and Yorick has won a CC ( Judge Ann Harpwood and Madoc has won a RCC ( Judge Graham Hill).
Our last litter 18 months ago from Ch Baronglen Esther and Solstrand Yorick of Baronglen produced Baronglen the Knightwalker and Baronglen Miss Kavanaugh. The Knightwalker has already started his show career and won Best Puppy in show at the IW Club Limited show in 2009 ( Judge Hazel Barnes ) as well as Best Puppy in Breed at Welsh Kennel Club show 2009 ( Judge Espen Engh).At that show he also qualified for the final of the Pup of the Year.( Judge Michael Quinney).
When we look back at our breeding programme there has been some heartache for the hounds we have lost at a young age but others like Ellie and Dilys lived to 11 and 10 respectively while Toby , Jacob and Georgia lived to 9 and 10 respectively. Throughout it all the joy for us has not been the wins or the number of champions but the temperament and character of each of the dogs and pleasure we obtain from living with them.
Both of us are great believers in trying to give back to something you enjoy and we have both been involved in the administration of the Irish Wolfhound Club for a very long time.
Peter has served on the Irish Wolfhound committee from1985 to 1987. He has stewarded at the club shows from 1977 along with for a time Barton Howson and David Nagle and later Keith Pursglove and he continued with this until he became Chairman of the club in 2002. He is also the club archivist, chairman of the Irish Wolfhound Health group and a driving force with the arranging and running of club judging seminars after attending the first one run by Ron Baird in 1980.
Pat became treasurer of the Irish Wolfhound club in1994 a post she still holds today. She is also heavily involved in organizing the seminars and can be seen at all Irish Wolfhound club events busily working to make each event a success.
Both of us judge our breed at Championship level and other hounds at Open show level. Peter has been passed to award CC’s, Green Stars and CACIB’s. So far the highlight of his judging career has been Crufts in 2002 , The Irish wolfhound club of Ireland show in 2008 and the Irish Wolfhound Championship show in 2009.
Pat awards CC’s and Green Stars and both of us are looking forward to our judging appointments in America in October.
Providing we are fit and healthy we would like to continue breeding, showing and judging in the future as the breed’s general character coupled with its appearance are what holds our attention. Their individuality both as a breed and pack members never ceases to amaze us. Living with 9 Irish Wolfhounds in a rural environment convinces us that they are just as capable today in doing the job they were bred for in the past. We often have dead rabbits deposited on our doorstep with a look from one of the dogs as if to say “ here is a present for you ”.
We are totally besotted with the breed and always will be. We can appreciate other hounds but would only ever want to live with Wolfhounds.
Pat is so glad her cat lived to 23!!!