Ronsard me Celebrait (or Willow as we know her) is our first homebred champion. We were thrilled when she became a Show Champion in 2010, and this year, to become Labrador Best of Breed at Crufts was an achievement most people only dream of.

Willow was whelped in our kitchen and like all labradors she has a great fondness for food . Despite her illustrious career she is still basically a pet, and shares our house with her grandmother (Ballad), mother (Hope), uncle (Guinness), and her litter brother (Priddle). Better not to ask how he got that name.

She was born on 2nd April 2006 and first went to Crufts in 2008 where she won a VHC in a class of which three bitches later became champions. In 2010 she won the bitch Limit class and this year went one better by winninga very good Open class, which included twentysix British and International champions, then being awarded the Bitch CC, and Best of Breed. She now has four Challenge Certificates and two Reserve Challenge Certificates. Her first RCC was gained in 2008 under an Australian judge, Guy Spagnolo, and after one more RCC gained her title with three C.C s in 2010.

Like all good things, Willow matured slowly. She worked her way up the ladder accumulating 26 first places at Championship shows on the way. Like so many owners, showing is our hobby not our livelihood. We have only bred five litters and always keep a puppy (or two) for ourselves. If they don’t make it in the ring so what? Like the owners who have our puppies, we are more concerned in them being happy, healthy and of good temperament. Showing can be exhilarating and we have made so many good friends. The response to her win at Crufts this year was overwhelming; it proved that you can live your dream. Willow’s show name turned out to be so appropriate, as we are still celebrating.

Since changing to Pero’s special Labrador Life food in October , we have found her general appearance and coat has changed for the better and the special blend of ingredients with a low oil percentage suits the specific requirements of the breed, especially Willow.

For the curious: Our affix ‘ Ronsard ‘ is made up from a rearrangement of letters from our Christian names; we later found out that Ronsard was a French Brandy and a French poet and ‘ Me Celebrait, is taken from a line of a poem written by Pierre de Ronsard in the 16th Century. The line roughly translates as ‘When you are very old, sitting by the fire, remember Ronsard used to celebrate me in the days when I was beautiful.’ Our family of dogs are now aged 12, 8 and four . We remember all the dogs who have slept in front of our fire since 1966 – naturally, everyone of them was beautiful to us.

Keep in Touch

• Facebook
• Twitter