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They don't come any better in the German Shepherd Experience, than Lilly
Marlene. She's so amazing, knows what I want, sometimes even before
I tell her. There's so many stories of how she has never heard a
"command" in her life, yet, when I'd ask her, she'd "KNOW" exactly what I
wanted. Not only that, she has always given her 110% effort in
accomplishing whatever it is I wanted... From the Show ring, to the
Herding arena, to raising the "Bad Kitty's" to being a mom ... always
110%. My only disappointment, was that she had so many difficulties
in conceiving and carrying a litter of puppies, and to that end, only 4 of
her progeny will ever be able to pass on her legacy.
However, based upon the quality
her son has produced so far, I'm hoping that her daughters will be able to
pass on Lilly Marlene's many qualities of motion, structure, and
personality. |
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Lilly's Story:
The bulk of this was written before
and shortly after she was chosen 1996 United States Grand Victrix.
"Lilly Marlene" is the
product of the combination of a litter we had planned
before either of her parents were ever born. I could tell
from birth that she was very special! Lilly Marlene's
began showing signs of her potential early on and only
kept getting better and better with each passing week. At
4 months of age there was no denying the fact that she
was an incredible puppy. We planned on her debut to be at
the South Pacific Futurity Weekend, April, 1995. The
first show that weekend was judged by Mr. Robert Eaton,
where a barely 7 month old Lilly Marlene charmed her way
to a 4 point Major Reserve (the first Major Reserve Mr.
Eaton had ever given to a puppy!) and BEST PUPPY!
Needless to say I was ecstatic! The next day she gave a
decent performance and was awarded 1st in her class. The
final show of the weekend was the Futurity show, judged
by Mrs. Helen Franklin. Being a Junior Bitch, she was in
the first class. It was one of the largest classes of the
day and after a lot of gaiting, Mrs. Franklin awarded
Lilly Marlene 1st in her class! She then had to go into
the Winners Class. To my complete surprise and incredible
delight,
Lilly Marlene
was awarded BEST OPPOSITE in FUTURITY!
The next major accomplishment in Lilly Marlene's
portfolio was BEST OPPOSITE in FUTURITY at the Canadian
Western Regional Futurity, judged by Mrs. Jean Whalen.
She was shown one more time before turning a year old and
was awarded 1st Novice Bitch by Dr. C. Kruger at a local
all breed show. Lilly turned 1 year old on September 11,
1995. We left for the Canadian Nationals on the 12th. Her
first class was the Canadian Futurity Finals on the 13th,
where she was placed a disappointing 2nd by Mrs. Pearl
Wieselman. The same day saw Lilly Marlene competing in a
tough 12-18 Class where Mr. Walter Falk awarded her 1st
place. I was very happy with that, since Lilly Marlene
really was just a baby still. The next day while getting
Lilly ready for the Winner's Class, I thought to myself,
why am I even bothering, since there was extremely stiff
competition from the older classes. So into the Winner's
Class Lilly went. Mr. Falk, started gaiting the bitches
and pretty soon, to my excitement, Lilly was in
contention with the Open bitch and the Canadian Bred
Bitch. When he moved Lilly to the front of the line, I
nearly fainted. In front of the line, Lilly Marlene put
her exceptional structure into full flight and made
several breath-taking laps. When Mr. Falk pointed at
Lilly Marlene, it was as thrilling and blissful as when
her uncle was awarded Canadian Grand Victor the year
before. I just couldn't believe it!! In competition with
the Specials Bitch Class the next day, Mrs. Pearl
Wieselmann gave her an additional look and gave her the
Select #5 rating. We found out later, that Lilly Marlene
was the youngest bitch to be awarded Winners Bitch and
Select in Canadian Nationals history. Lilly Marlene was
placed 2nd in the US Nationals Futurity Finals, to the
bitch that was also awarded Select #2 that year.
We decided to make the Midwest Triangle in February,
1996, Lilly Marlene's debut weekend as an adult. Entered
in the American Bred Class and only 17 months old, Lilly
Marlene gaited her way into infamy as one of only a
handful of animals to complete their American
Championship in one weekend. Not to mention the fact that
this particular Midwest Triangle weekend boasted an entry
of over 175 German Shepherd Dogs for all three Shows.
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Day 1:
Judge Mr. Jack Budd, Winners Bitch, Best of Winners 5
points
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Day 2:
Judge Mrs. Janice Staley, Winners Bitch, Best of Winners,
5 points
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Day 3:
Judge Mrs. Helen Franklin, Winners Bitch 5 points and
New Champion!!
Lilly Marlene has since finished her Canadian
Championship, making total of 3 shows (including the 1995
Canadian National) to finish up there. She was a Maturity
Class placer in the US and BEST IN MATURITY in
the Midwest Region of Canada in 1996.
She has also been awarded BEST OF BREED or
BEST OF OPPOSITE SEX 2 out of the 3 times shown
as a Special.We are extremely proud of her and are
looking forward to her promotion from show dog to brood
bitch. We are hoping that Lilly Marlene will continue
thrilling us in ways we never dreamed of!! (This portion
was written 11/01/96)11/12/96 - Well, what can we
say!!!!!!!! We are just back from the 1996 GSDCA National
Specialty held in Lexington, KY. The National Specialty
is such an exciting event every year. The animals that
win it each year will be the crowned King and Queen for
the entire year and will have their names listed in the
annals of German Shepherd Dogdom for the rest of History.
That is what the GSDCA Nationals is and always has been.
Lilly Marlene was entered in this show. It was to be her
last before we bred her and hopefully raised a litter of
puppies. Whether or not she ever entered the ring again
as a competitor was not in question since we were so
looking forward to her moving on to being a Mom.The
Bartley's had Lilly Marlene since August of 1996. She was
there for conditioning so that by the US Nationals she
would look and be in condition for the rigors of this
show. All we can say is THANK YOU to them! She was
in such excellent shape! It was my duty to get her in a
good mood. I guess her full body massage at 4:00am did it
(although her ice cold bath in that morning didn't make
her very happy!). When she entered the ring at 8:00am,
she looked and you could tell she felt Stunning! To be
quite honest, the remainder of that show is quite a blur.
She was in the 5th group to be judged. When Mr. Roberts
move her to the front of that line, I was overcome with
joy. She was moving so gracefully yet powerfully, that
she gave me goosebumps! Cindy and Lilly Marlene got in
front of the whole group, then Cindy put her at her best
speed - Slow. This is the correct speed and at this pace,
there was no denying her. I think Lilly Marlene knew it
too, because even when I was out of position in her
doubling, she went right on by me, head up and letting
her beautiful body work it's magic. When Mr. Roberts went
over to Cindy and said, "My little lady, You have
won!", then everyone started congratulating her, I
just couldn't believe it!! My sweetest little baby Lilly
Marlene was now the 1996 Grand Victrix. The complete and utter joy at
that moment literally brought me to my knees. So many people deserve our
Thanks! The whole Bartley Team, Cindy, Bart, Alex and Candice for
getting her ready. To Mr. Roberts who judged her then gave her an
extreme honor by saying she is a complete and total package. For
everyone who has loved her in the past and at that show, our gratitude
for your support knows no bounds
Email:
inflight@concentric.net |
