We have to admit that this year was an awfully busy one! We’ll have to do our best to recall all of the ups and downs that made 2009 a memorable one… We started off the year with an ambitious plan to have litters out of both Dazzle (MSBIS AmCan Ch Summit All That Glitters) and Bella (SBIS Nat’l AOM AmCan Ch Summit La Signora Cristabel) at the same time. As it was time to add to the family and the girls were now retired from the showring. By mid-January, Dazzle was off to Phoenix, Arizona to be bred to ”Jasper” (Am Ch Chelsea Chalcedony) and Bella was off to Atlanta, Georgia to be bred to “Kurt” (Am Ch Ableaim Barchet Kurt Russell SC).

The kids from our 2007 Remington x Cybil litter (AmCan Ch Camelot Nerves of Steel x Am Ch Summit Moonlight Becomes Her) also began to have their careers really take off! Caden (BPISS Can Ch Summit Ironwood Decadence) started with a reserve to a major in Portland, followed by his sister Ducky (AmCan Ch Summit Ironwood Just Ducky) being the first to finish from the litter. Littermate Emily (Am Ch Summit Ironwood Crème Brulee) picked up her second major and went on to finish her AKC championship in the fall, as sister Penny (Am Ch Summit Ironwood Orange Marmalade). Other highlights for these kids this year was having Emily place in the huge Bred-By bitch class at the AWC National specialty, Caden going BOS at the LMWA Show & Go for his debut as a Special, and Ducky coming up for a visit from California to finish her Canadian championship, which she did undefeated with a group placement on Jennifer’s birthday. :)

Ducky ended up surprising us all at the end of 2009 by demonstrating her talent on the coursing field (she was not a very coordinated puppy!) and ended up earning up two 5 point majors towards her AKC Field Championship and a BIF her first two weekends running!

This spring our Matriarch “Annie” AmCan Ch Summit Some Day Are Diamonds had her 7th champion finish their AKC championship (“Sum-Sum” - Am Ch Summit Ironwood Quite The Lady), which qualified her for her much-deserved ROM. We’re so proud of this accomplishment! Adding to this, Jennifer’s daughter Mira handled Sum-Sum’s sire (Ch Whipmark Summit Meant To Be “Tobias”) at the Cascade Hound Specialty in June leading to a BOS win from his debut in the veteran class.

Our two litters of puppies were born in March three days apart. There were certain advantages having them at the same time (raised at different households), but both girls had large litters resulting in a combined total of 15 puppies… 9 boys and 6 girls! It was a lot of work, but we’re thrilled with the results.

From our Dazzle x Jasper litter, Summit Ironwood Kingston “Kingston” and Summit Ironwood Brier “Molly” stayed at Ironwood. Summit Ironwood Everett went to Arizona, Summit Ironwood Astoria went to the Okanogan and Summit Ironwood Blaine went to Summit Whippets in California. From our Bella x Kurt litter, Summit Ironwood Fawn Connery “Preston” and Summit Ironwood Other Sutherland “Kiefer” stayed at Ironwood while Summit Ironwood Farrahst Of Them All went to Summit to accompany her cousin Blaine.

We didn’t hit the ring in earnest until October when the puppies finally turned 6 months old, and both the Ironwood and Summit teams had a spectacular debut their first weekend out! Over the course of the weekend Kingston was WD/BOW/BOB/BP and made the cut in the group, Molly was WB/BOW/BOB/BP/Hound Group 2/BPIG (5 points!), Kiefer was WD/BOS and WD/BOW/BOB/BP and both Farrah and Blaine were reserves to majors at Del Valle in California.

Canada’s largest dogshow in Abbotsford, was a particularly memorable weekend for us in 2009. The first day at the Hound Specialty, Molly went WB and Kiefer was WD/BOW/BOS/BP. The second day Kiefer won the puppy hound group. The third day, both Molly and Kingston finished their Canadian Championships and Kingston won the puppy hound group for both that day and the following. What a thrill, especially considering it was only their second weekend in the ring!

Unfortunately, the year came to a close on a sad note… we lost our Annie after a long battle with cancer that was devastating for us all, especially Mira who was her constant companion. She was a unique character and a cornerstone foundation at Ironwood and will be very much missed.

We are eagerly anticipating 2010 and looking forward to making our mark with our next generation. We know these Annie grandchildren of ours will make us proud… they certainly make us smile!

Jennifer McEachern & Shawna McKay Ironwood Whippets http://www.ironwoodwhippets.com

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