Last week I got a phone call that I have dreaded. On the morning of 1/28/2009 we lost our first Morrigan baby. Shelley Smith lost her beloved Lane. Even after more than a week I am having a hard time writing this because it makes it very real that our dogs are middle aged in Mastiff years.

When Lane was born I knew I was going to keep a male puppy from this litter but I was afraid to choose. I had a really hard time choosing between Lane and Trojan and I kept Lane at the house until he was nine months old. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to keep both when I got a call from a lady that was looking for a male mastiff. Our conversation continued and I was reasonably convinced that this person would do very well as an owner for one of my dogs BUT at the time I still wasn't convinced that I wanted to part with Lane. Then I found out that she literally lived across the pasture from me! I did choose Trojan over Lane mostly because Trojan was James' dog while Lane was considered mine. I figured if I ever needed Lane he was pretty accessible!

So Shelly got Lane and they were perfect for one another. Lane may have been the most socialized of all our Mastiffs. Shelley took him EVERYWHERE. Lane probably met more school children than most teachers! Shelley eventually opened a petting zoo with a friend of hers and Lane was the star attraction right up to the end.

Lane, Trojan and Lilly

One day about a year ago, Lane and his friend, a female Rottweiler managed to escape. They made their up to a main road where the girl was unfortunately hit and killed. The female dog was lying in the center of the westbound lane. I got a call at work (everyone knows about my dogs around here) that there was a mastiff in the road. Needless to say, I was on my way. I got there to find Lane standing in the road facing oncoming traffic. The accident had occurred at the end of an 'S' curve and people were seeing him late and really having to work to avoid him. When I arrived there was a 'crowd' of three. One of the men asked me if he was my dog. I said I bred him. He said to be careful because he wasn't letting anyone near the Rottweiler. I walked over to Lane, Kneeled down and said, "Lane, I am so sorry." The dog sighed, walked over to me and buried his head in my chest. If a dog can cry, Lane was blubbering. I loaded him up into my car and put the girl on the trunk. The same man walked over and said, "you know, he has been here since before 8:00." It was 11:30. Lane was a Mastiff.

Rest in Peace, Morrigan's Cuchulain, Mastiff, Loyal Friend
08/09/2004 - 01/28/2009

Congratulations to me and you, and you and me...

Well, Grammy Lorraine is happy. Lexus did as she was supposed to do and finished her Championship Saturday with her fourth Major. Thank you Grammy.

Lexus is the sixth Morrigan/Ford baby to achieve her championship. Lexus started her journey as the FIRST M/F baby to go into the show ring. I went to pick her up from Susie when she was eleven months old so that I could get her ready for the Atlanta Dog show a couple months later. Morrigan kicked her butt that day and that trend continued for a while. First Morrigan beat Lexus, then Chocolate and then Lilly! By the time her family got out of her way, Lexus had had two litters of puppies and had taken reserve in SEVEN majors including three FIVE pointers. In that time she only lost on two occasions to a bitch that was NOT part of her family and one of those times was about four weeks after her second litter. She was not in good shape then and I shouldn't have taken her, that loss is on me. The only time she won during that span was a two pointer in South Carolina.

BUT, Lexus has held up famously. Her muzzle was once jet black and is now frosted with gray and her ears have lightened considerably but her movement is still tremendous and her attitude is still bubbly. Lexus has only gotten better with age. After she got her first major, the rout was on. She lost one more time in Atlanta were she picked up another reserve (appropriately it was a major) and that was that. In the last two years I have really only shown her at the Atlanta and Newnan shows.

So, everyone who has a Lexus baby or sibling, congratulations. THe family has proven itself once again.

I must admit that when Lexus was picked this Saturday, it was all I could do to keep from blubbering. She will be the last class dog from her breeding and therefore, an era ended on Saturday. All told, six AKC Champions and a Canadian Champion (for added flavor). It was and still is bittersweet.

All hail CH Caledonia Pursuit of Perfection. She really is just that.

One more little detail. Lexus' win qualified Ford for the Mastiff Hall of Fame.

AKC Champion offspring of CH Caledonia's Built To Last WP97650107:

 1 CH MORRIGAN'S TUG O WAR     WS07013902 - Tug
 2 CH MORRIGAN'S CU MAC SHIMIDH     WS07013903 - Oscar
 3 CH CALEDONIA PURSUIT OF PERFECTION   WS07013904 - Lexus
 4 CH MORRIGAN'S HECTOR    WS09874603 - Trojan
 5 CH MORRIGAN'S CELTIC QUEEN OF KIOKEE  WS09874607 - Boudi
 6 CH MORRIGAN'S GODIVA      WS09874611 - Chocolate

 7 CH MAGNUM'S ONE TON SPEEDWAGON  WS04262902
 8 CH CALEDONIA'S VENI VIDI VICI  WR07184503
 9 CH CALEDONIA'S NO BOUNDARIES   WR07184504
10 CH DANDYLION BRISHANES THE ROCK  WS07993205

Congratulations to me and you, and you and me...