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Silken Windhounds of California - Events-History-Activities-Breeders of the Silken Windhound
ISWS Regional Specialty Boofest 2008
ISWS show Judge : Helen Brettell , Lost Creek Borzoi and Whippets
AKC Licenced to judge Borzoi, Whippets, and Greyhounds
.Dave Mills Canine Photography Sat / Sun
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2008 ISWS Show Results
Best of Breed
ISWS Rarities/NAKC Int Ch Talisman of Maia Mudita Kumbaya " Dita "
Breeder : Talisman Hounds , Joyce Chin
Owners : Kumbaya Silkens , Kent Jones & Jay Cusker
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Best of Breed Opposite Sex
Best of Winners
Winners Dog
Best Bred By
ISWS Rarities/NAKC IABCA Int Ch Talisman's Byzantine Empire " Ronan "
Breeder/Owner : Talisman Hounds , Joyce Chin
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Winner's Bitch
Puppy Bitch 9 to 12 months
Kumbaya Sandy Beach "Sandy"
Breeders / Owners : Kumbaya Silkens , Kent Jones & Jay Cusker
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Reserve Winners Dog
Rarities/NAKC IABCA Int Ch Talisman's Viking Kumbaya "Loki "
Breeder : Talisman Hounds , Joyce Chin
Owners : Kumbaya Silkens, Kent Jones & Jay Cusker
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Reserve Winners Bitch
Rarities/NAKC IABCA Int Ch Kristull Daiquiri "Daiquiri"
Breeder : Kristull Silken Windhounds, Francie Stull
Owners: Cyndi Dell & Bill Hemby
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Best Puppy in Show
Rubia Moon Reflection
"Lili "
Breeder/Owner : Rubia Hounds Karen Fink
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Best Puppy in Show Opposite Sex
Talisman of Beaux-Arts " Blaze "
Breeder : Talisman Hounds , Joyce Chin
Owners: Morgandell Borzoi and Silkens, Cyndi Dell & Bill Hemby
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DOGS
6-9 1st Elessar’s Silver Surfer “Surfer” Treadwell, Sinclair & Silvestri
2nd Talisman Renaissance Osmium “Oz” Chin
9-12 1st Talisman of Beaux-Arts “Blaze” Dell & Hemby (handled by Audrey Hsia)
2nd Kumabya Smoke Signal “Smokey” Hopperstad
3rd Talisman of Merovingian “ Dresden ” Chin
12-18 Abs – IABCA Int Ch Allagante Ka-Nee-Ta “ Keno " Sinclair, Treadwell, Sanders
Novice 1st – Scirocco’s Dakar “ Dakar ” Smith
Abs Kristull Tumultuous “Tazo” Krozak
Am. Bred 1st Rarities IABCA Int Ch Talisman’s Light of Helios “Helios” Chin
2nd Kristull Czar Kismet “Kismet” Richardson
Bred By Exhibitor
1st Rarities IABCA JHA Int Ch Talisman’s Byzantine Empire “ Ronan” Chin
2nd Scirocco’s Rarities Int Ch Blue Djinn - “Djinn” Steele
Open Dog
1st Rarities IABCA UCICB Ch Talisman’s Viking Kumbaya “Loki” Jones and Cusker
2nd IABCA Int ChAllagante Galahad Scirocco “Wiley” Steele
3rd Rarities Ch Allagante Aragorn Elessar “Strider” Silvestri (handled by D.Colbath)
4th Kohana’s Pardon My Dust “Dusty” Chin & Dell
Winners Dog Rarities IABCA UCICB Int. Ch. Talisman’s Byzantine Empire “Ronan”
Reserve Winners Rarities IABCA UCICB Ch. Talisman’s Viking Kumbaya “Loki”
Non Regular
3-6 1st Rubia Ladder to the Moon “Jacob” Wolpin
Companion Dog 1st Cool Run Secret of Angels “Mikenator” Cullison
2nd Gentle Winds Cinnabar " Cinnibar " Hopperstad
BITCHES
6-9 1st Elessar’s Jean Grey “Marvel” –
2nd Talisman’s Renaissance Platinum “Maya” Hopperstad
3rd Silvestri Elessar’s Marvel Storm “Storm” – Silvestri
4th Evening Wind’s Mariah “Mariah” Godfrey
9-12 1st Kumbaya Sandy Beach “Sandy” Jones & Cusker
2nd Kumbaya Kilauea Morgandell “Pele” Dell, Hemby
Absent Talisman of Art Noveau “Ilsa” Chin
Novice 1st Shelikof de Omega “Meggie” Cullison
Am Bred 1st Rarities IABCA Ch. Allagante Evening Wind “Shadow” Godfrey
2nd Kristull Viakeenuway “Keenu” Franklin
Open 1st Rarities IABCA UCICB Ch. Kristull Daiquiri " Daiquiri " Dell , Hemby
2nd Kristull Yasu Magic “Yasu” Barb Franklin
3rd Rarities IABACA JHA Int. Talisman’s Phoenix Fire “ Phoenix ” Campbell
4th Kristull Xerox of Renaissance “Xerox” Swilley (Campbell)
Winners Bitch Kumbaya Sandy Beach “ Sandy ”
Reserve Winners Bitch Rarities IABCA UCICB Ch. Kristull Daiquiri “Daiquiri”
Non Regular
3-6 Puppy Bitch
1st Rubia Moon Reflection “Lili “ Fink
2nd Rubia Seeing the Moon “ Eden ” Fink
3rd Rubia White Moon Heart “Whisper“ Fink
Companion 1st Starcastle Hounds Aska “Askaluna” Hopperstad
Absent Talisman of Cassiopea “Cassie” Hallanan
Best of Breed- ISWS Ch. Rarities Ch. Talisman Maia Mudita Kumbaya
Kent Jones and Jay Cusker (Silkenfest Best of Winners this past June)
Best of Winners Rarities IABCA Int. Ch. Talisman’s Byzantine Empire “Ronan” New ISWS Champion !!!
Best of Opposite Sex -Rarities IABCA Int. Ch. Talisman’s Byzantine Empire
Best Bred By Rarities IABCA UCICB Int. Ch. Talisman’s Byzantine Empire “Ronan”
Best Companion Cool Run Secret of Angels “Mikenator” Cullison
BOS Companion Starcastle Hounds Aska “Askaluna” Hopperstad
Best Puppy Rubia Moon Reflection “Lili “ Fink
BOS Best Puppy Talisman of Beaux-Arts “Blaze” Dell & Hemby
(handled by Audrey Hsia)
Best Jr Handler Rachael Haneysmith on "Monk"
JUDGES COMMENTARY
First, I want to say that I totally enjoyed my judging assignment and loved all the Silkens. They were much more consistent as to type than I had expected them to be, though nobody should become complacent about this. They were also quite sound, overall, which I did not necessarily expect. That being said, I want to mention that I was really concerned about type than soundness, though I didn’t ignore that issue. After all, any mutt walking down the street can be sound, what makes a breed is its breed type and adherence to the Standard. I did notice that the rears were incredible for the most part, the Silkens had lovely full extension of the hock and the bottom of the pad was clearly visible from the rear. I would, however, like to see more reach in the front. Even though your Standard does not call for this, I think they should have the long, low, “daisy-clipping” front movement of the ideal Whippet.
Areas that need work are, in my opinion: size, ears, toplines. Some of the males were almost as large as Borzoi. I would like to see a nice rose ear, which meets the description in the standard and is folded back when not in the alert position. In my Best of Breed’s win photo, she was wearing her ears at half-mast. Obviously this was not sufficient to be a big issue to me during the judging process, so I am going to say that I think the photo caught her at a bad moment. Toplines. Oh my Goodness. The Standard calls for a rise over the loin and those rises were frequently everywhere except over the loin. This is my only real objection to these lovely little dogs. The Standard puts a bit of emphasis in this area, probably to get away from those flatter-backed ancestors. However, many of the Silkens had toplines where the highest part of the rise was in the middles of the back, far in front of the loin. This was followed behind by a long steep croup, not at all what the Standard calls for. In Borzoi, I always referred to this as an “English” topline, as the English Borzoi Standard used to call for a topline that started ahead of the loin.
I absolutely loved my Best of Breed bitch. One of the things I wanted to see was how they held their shape on the move. Her profile was perfect. She had lovely extension at both ends and seems that she could have gone all day and never wore out. I felt she was rather more Whippet than Borzoi in type and I understand that the goal is a true combination of both breeds. It seemed like the bitches were Whippets and the dogs were Borzoi, for the most part.
My Best of Opposite was the Winners Dog, who won it mainly on how his outline held together when he was on the move. Actually, that outline was better in motion than it was standing still. I would prefer a narrower head with less stop. However, I tried not to put too much emphasis on this because I like both Borzoi and Whippets to have narrower head than many find to be appropriate and I like Borzoi to have no stop at all. Interestingly, the Borzoi and Silken Standards are nearly identical in the head descriptions but Silken heads are definitely not Borzoi heads, for the most part.
However, there was a male in the Best of Breed competition, rather too large I think, who had an amazing head. This would have been a lovely head on a Borzoi, let alone a Silken. Very handsome dog overall and a strong contender for the top awards. You guys need to have Selects.
There was another male in the Specials class that I was quite taken with, as well, he was a proper-sized mostly gold in color, dog. I liked this dog a whole lot, too, but he was longer than the others. If I had been judging Borzoi or Whippets that would have been just fine, but as I understand the Standard prefers a shorter dog.
That Best-of-Breed bitch was my top bitch from the very beginning, so I don’t remember the other bitches all that well in the best of breed classes. However, it seems there was quite a nice mostly white bitch, who appeared to be somewhat larger and more substantial than is ideal.
Winners dog and reserve were littermates. Both very handsome dogs. Winners beat his brother because the brother had some front issues, which I later found out were due to an injury. Hopefully, he will finish in spite of this, as he is very deserving.
In bitches, I had probably at least eight bitches that I could have happily awarded the points. I loved my winners bitch, she was just everything that I wanted. Right length, correct topline, pretty head and neck, well filled out, trained, moved well and used her parts. Very charming little baby bitch. She barely beat her adorable brindle sister in her class, but the brindle was not as well filled out and not as finished-looking on this day. Still, this was a very tough class to judge.
Reserve winners bitch had a big piece of my heart. What a beautiful bitch and why hasn’t she finished long ago? Her age both helped and hurt her with me. I love those old girls but she just wasn’t able to keep up with the younger bitch when it got down to the final choices. Little did I know that it wasn’t her age that hurt her stamina, but those six-week old puppies which she had barely finished nursing. No matter, it’s all about who the dog is on the day and in the moment. Incidentally, I had a nice open bitch class and particularly liked the bitch that I placed second in the class, a hard decision between the two. The second place girl reminded me so much of a sweet and beautiful Borzoi I owned thirty-some years ago.
Every bitch class held lovely Silkens and the line-up for winners was just beautiful. I also want to mention the 6-9 class, which held four perfectly lovely baby girls. The owners of the winner of this class were disappointed that they could not return for the Best Puppy competition. What a beautiful little blue brindle girl. If I had been judging Borzoi or Whippets it is entirely possible that this bitch would have won the points. I tend to like my Borzoi and my Whippets to be rectangular and have noticeable length of loin. As a six-month old puppy, would expect her to become more moderate as she grew up, if she were a Borzoi or Whippet. If she were mine, I would not even care if she stayed that length because I like them that way. However, my understanding of the Silken Standard is that she was not as correct on this day as were some others. However, this lovely Silken child still speaks to me in my dreams. Incidentally, I also liked the others in this class, the beautiful fawn girl, the blue brindle and white sister to the first bitch, and the white girl with the darker markings. Any of these could have won at any time.
I really tried very hard not to be influenced by color or markings. That is difficult because I, like everyone, have preferences. I loved that soft blue brindle. I like the fawn colors. I am not as big a fan of darker brindle, though my BOB was one of those.
The whole business with judging those very young and tiny Silkens, not for the points but for Best Puppy, was quite difficult. They really should not have to compete with the older children, who might have already been awarded points, when they are not eligible for those points. I really liked the baby boy, he was a nice mover and had a very correct outline. However, he lost to his sister because she has a special something, a sense of self that shows when she is not being too silly. At this age, I have no clue as to who will grow to be the better Silken. Also, to be honest, the competition was very close and I liked her color and marking better. The older boy puppy who went BOS Puppy was a very nice dog who wasn’t so noticeable in the winners class with older boys, but really shone in this competition.
I guess I covered it all. Hope I didn’t bore you to death. Thank you again for the opportunity to judge this very cool little breed.
Helen Brettell
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