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Left is Carol with two of Lafford Toy Dog's stars Left: Am Can Gib Esp NL GB Int Champion Lafford Hershey's Kisses Sh CM. (Hershey) Right: Am Gib GB Champion Divine's I'm A Phantasy at Lafford Sh CM. (Gabe) | ||||
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Lafford Toy Dogs was founded at the end of the 1970's. I began to show a male Yorkie called Charlie Boy who was my first show dog although a Yorkie had been in our family as a pet since 1968 when Brian, my husband, bought me a "Lilactime" Yorkie as a wedding present. I award CC's in Yorkies, Maltese and Lowchens. Brian has also been bitten by the show bug, he enjoys handling (when I let him) and he also awards CC's in Yorkies. One of our first home bred showdogs was 'Lafford Army Dreamer' (Stanley), named after the Kate Bush song, he won several Best Puppy awards along with a few Best of Breeds and we had lots of fun with him before exporting him to the USA. Lafford Toy Dogs have been sent to various overseas owners to become champions in their new home. We acquired our first Maltese "Lamsgrove Viceroy" (Vince) in the early 80's from Eva and Tom Lamb, 'Lamsgrove'. The Lamsgrove still features in the bloodlines of our current Maltese, along with several other early well known kennel names. Our current showdog owes his name to a visit to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the AMA Specialty in 1998. The nearby chocolate manufacturer inspired the name of "Lafford Hershey's Kisses". The Löwchens came along in the late 80's simply because they are such a lovely breed to live with. Some successes were had with "Lafford Chip off the Block" (Woody) but sadly we lost him to parvovirus at an early age. We later whelped a litter from the Sholeen kennel and were rewarded with a beautiful boy "Sholeen Show Time for Lafford" (Elliott) who became our first champion in the UK. We have always done very well with our Löwchens, although not campaigned as often as the yorkies, our first ever Crufts first prize was with a Löwchen in the 80's. More recently new bloodlines have been introduced from the USA to combat the decreasing gene pool in the UK and this is showing benefits with our first import Maltese 'Gabe' - Ch Am Gib Ch Divines I'm A Phantasy to Lafford brought in from top breeders Angie and Larry Stanberry of Louisianna. At Crufts 2005 he took Best of Breed and was placed 4th in the Group. He has a son doing well in the show ring and has some very promising puppies waiting in the wings. Feel free to browse through the our pages to see the Lafford Toy Dogs relaxing at home and looking proud in the show ring. | |
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On the left, unfortunately not a good quality picture but, whilst staying in Spain with Hershey, Carol handled her friend Vicki's Shih Tzu Shiawandi Desiderata to a Group 9 (Toy and Companion) win in Alicante. | |||
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Right is Brian after judging the first Championship Show of the Millennium The Deutscher Yorkshire Terrier Club e. V. Best in Show Ch. Bloomsbury Blue Jeans | |||||
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