I have been nominated by Nancy Colson to tell the story of my kennel name. I have to go back a bit in time. My Mom showed dogs when she was a teenager. She had Boston Terriers. Later she had a full littermate to the great English Bulldog CH Vardons Frosty Snowman. When Mom met and married (in 6 weeks time) my Dad, the dogs all stayed home with Moms parents when she went to Rattlesnake Bomber base in Pyote TX to marry him and live there. My Dad didnt really like the Bostons and they didnt particularly care for him. When they were stationed in Germany, Mom was just bereft without a dog. Shed NEVER been without one. This was somewhere around 1949-1950 or so. My Dad said that if she HAD to have a dog, he guessed that he could put up with a Dachshund. My mother was APPALLED. A Dachshund? Only someone with a warped sense of humor would want a Dachshund. Yup..........those were her exact words which I later needlepointed onto a pillow for her. She decided that a Dachshund was better than no dog at all. They bought Doxie in Germany. She was a smooth who was as I remember about 16 pounds. She was called dead leaf color by the breeder. Mom trained Doxie in obedience but could not get AKC papers on her once they got back to the US because they found out shed been sold to them with forged papers. Doxie was to this day the smartest dog Ive ever known. The second tour of duty in Europe brought us our smooth minis from Holland. They were purchased from Frau Gretta Powe Neumann (I think Ive butchered that spelling). For being the 1950s, the head on those minis was phenomenal and they had such pretty bodies. They could compete in any ring today. HOWEVER. The weight limit then was 9 pounds (or was it 8?) and these girls were about 11-12 pounds and the only place Mom could show them was in open mini. They were just SO different from the apple headed, buggy eyed mini smooths of that time. I wish I had them today. They were smart and pretty. Trena was a GREAT obedience dog. Mom got a 199.5 under Blanche Saunders! Mom bred them to the top smooth stud of the day. I wont name names but there were temperament issues from him and the other minis were just so ugly so they werent bred again. Ahhhh..........breeding. Kennel name. Soooo..............Dad was VERY German. His grandparents were German immigrants. His parents had intended to send back to the old country for a bride for him. They were NOT happy when he brought home this Irish red head with a mind of her own and announced that he was going to marry her. And..........they were pretty ugly to Mom. Uncle Herman told Mom that she was marrying into titled German aristocracy and therefore should be properly impressed. The name was Von Schaafmeister but the immigrating family Americanized it to Shaffmaster. Uncle Herman told Mom that Dad COULD claim the title AND the castle that was still in Germany. Moms response to him was, Good. With that and a nickel he can get a cup of coffee. So to FURTHER rub it in, she used Von Schaafmeister as the kennel name for the dogs. One of our dogs was even named THE Baron Von Schaafmeister. LOL And even at 90, Mom can still be a bit of a stinker at times. When I struck out on my own, I thought Id change the name because its TOO MANY DANG LETTERS!!!! But when I told Mom I was going to come up with something else, she didnt say anything but she had a little sad puppy dog face so I never used anything else. Sometimes, if I have a theme and want to use something and dont have enough room for the whole thing, Ill put VS....................which in my mind stands for Very Special. I nominate Michelle Randall & Jennifer Megginson Abersold to tell us the story of how they obtained their kennel name.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 03:53:57 +0000
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