(Taken from an interview made to the Danish Sheltie magazine "Sheltiebladet 5/99" - edited)
My name is Annette Dalgaard – former known as Annette Jørgensen. I have had Kennel Ophian since 1986.
Our first dog in the family was a sheltie. It came to the family in a kind of special way: A family should immigrate to USA and would give their dog to a family with a handicapped child. By a coincidence it was our family that were asked first, as my brother is handicapped. My mother - Inge, who all my dog-acquaintance knows so very well - was very afraid of dogs, but the rest of the family had her convinced that she could just come with us to LOOK at the dog. When we arrived, a tricolour sheltie came running towards us, but with only one re-call it returned quickly to the house. It can't be difficult to gueass, that we took Pippi (as she was called) with us home. That was in 1970, where Pippi were ½ year old.
Pippi the first already died in 1978 - and after a few days my mother was VERY hooked on to have a new dog again: It was so empty at home with no dog. We also agreed on a sheltie again, they are so easy to train - and it is such a pretty dog.
We then had DKLCH Shellove Surprice (also called Pippi), which were sold ½ year old because she became too big. We did not care - and I was happy, because we got one of the "brown" shelties that I would like so much. After 7 years I wanted to have a dog of my own. There were no limits for what this dog should learn - it should be trained from puppyhood and become a star. No ambition was too big for this puppy to be mine.
First problem was to persuate my Mum to have a second dog (2 dogs was a bother and maybe they did not get along etc.). But now I knew how to tackle her: Mum, will you go with me to LOOK at this puppy I have arranged for?!
Ho, ho, when we went home from there, we discussed where she should sleep!!
This was the start on this "circus" and end for the concept of free-week-ends:
I got Ofie (DKCH DKLCH SFLCH LP4 DKAGCH SP3 LPDM93 Eikica Odds-On Ofie) in 1984........
This lovely dog show form the foundation for all my future shelties.
The kennel name ”Ophian” is a construction of the names Ofie and Annette – but spellled in a way that should make you want to pronounce it in an English way.
All my succeding
breeding are descendants of Ofie in a straight line. Latest I have made Devin, Enzo
and Eilish, whom are great grand children of Ofie.
I am definitely not a commercial breeder and until now I have only bred puppies, when I wanted one for my own. Therefore not many Ophian puppies has been sold - we have almost kept all of them for us selves.
From my first litter (the A-litter) I kept Aiki: DKLCH INTLP BRGPR DKAGCH DKSPCH AG93 AG95 SAGCH FINACH NOAGCH Ophian Aiki For Agility. She was born 1/11-88 and is unfortunately resently been put to sleep, but she ran agility to the end (she qualified for Danish Championships in 2000 and has been on the Danish national agility team from 1991-1997).
Today the kennel consists of 5 dogs (4 shelties and a smooth collie): Bon Jovi, Celine, Devin and Geena, which are "divided" between my Mum and I.
From my last litter (the E-litter) for the first time I did not keep a puppy for my self - but I made an agreement with the buyer of the bitch – Eilish (LP2 BRGPR Ophian Eye-Catching Eilish), that she must make be a puppy, when Eilish is old enough for it. The father should be Ofie’s søn: DKLCH LP4 LPELIT BRGPR DKAGCH DKSPCH Ophian Bronze Bozo (called Bozo), who she has also bought from me.
In this way we are securing the blood lines, and that we also in the future can breed the kind of dogs we would like ourselves: Breed typical shelties with a good temper and that ADORES to work woth agility and obedience. So in that way you can say that the OPHIAN-breeding is very selfish: I must fulfill our own needs for shelties. But it does not rule out that I am concerned with what I breed on. As a general rule I see no idea in breeding in a sheltie, which is not breed-typical. Ofie was a very beautiful sheltie with a fantastic ability to learn, which I wanted to keep in my next dog. She was also a "soft" dog, so we needed some "here-I-come". It was DKCH INTCH PZSG KBHV83 Poulsgaards Elton John, I chose as a father to Ofies first litter. It was definitely a success - and since then I have basicly tried to find partners to my dogs within his family/descendants, but of course with some new blood in. I have let the big breeders to mix the blood lines, and I have used the result as partners to my bitches. Lager breeders has bigger opportunities to make "experiments" to make puppies with parents from other blood lines. To make puppies I had to take my bitches out of competition for at least a year, so it was not something that I wanted to do again and again.
Eventhough the agility and especially the obedience are very close to my heart, it is a necessity to frequently take part in shows to have our breeding stock evaluated – not at least to "fish" for a new partnerJ My very first show as a competitor was in 1984 - a short while after I bought Ofie (i.e. I had in 1980 been to an unofficial show with Pippi the second). A Puppy show in Holbæk, which had a big "baby class" for shelties. All the babies except 2 (Tina Brigo-Hansen’s Micka and Ofie) had first prizes (very promising puppy). Ofie & Micka was completely wrong in every sense, and even fat, so they had to do with a second prize (promising puppy). Well....this is how it can go - since then Ofie became a champion - and to my knowledge none of the other puppies came as far!
Of course I was very happy when Ofie became a show champion - but it was nothing compared to when my own breeding, Devin (SLP1 BRGPR DKLPCH DKAGCH DKSPCH Ophian Devin the Dare-Devil) became one!! He was even rewarded as "Sheltie of the year 1998" - an honour I had never dreamt of to be able to achieve for my own breeding. But if I should be completely honest, I think the most honourable results my breeding has achieved is some of all the obedience and agility titels, they have obtained. Especially Aiki which were the first dog in the world to become a Nordic Agility Champion, and her contribution for the team world championships in agility in 1996 and 1997 and Devins in 1998.
