Rangeaire Airedales - the 1960's

Ben Nevis with my daughterAs soon as I knew 'Ch Old Farm Boy (Imp UK)' I became besotted by Airedales. In the 1950's as a child, I used to travel to dog shows by a bus which collected exhibitors and dropped them off at Shows. When 'Old Farm Boy' got on the bus, he immediately took control. I remember holding my Sealyham Terrier very firmly as this dog postulated at all the other dogs when May Platts walked him down the middle aisle to the back seat. Such was the presence he commanded.

Ch Strongfort Stromboli

Shortly after my husband and I moved into our home not only was our first child born, but also our first Airedale became part of our family. This was a bitch was called 'Boli'. Born in October 1964, she was from the first litter ever produced by Gisela Lesh who established Strongfort Kennels when she lived in Melbourne. When she imported Ch Siccawei Remus (imp UK), I fell in love with him from the first moment Gish took me out to quarantine to trim him. So when he was mated to 'Sheba', I watched the litter grow and chose 'Boli'.

On her mother's side, 'Boli' was the daughter of Ch Moylarg Sheba from Exmoor breeding. As was typical of Exmoor, Sheba was sired by 'Ch Krescent Admiral (imp UK)', her grandfather was 'Ch Augustus of Murlite (Imp (UK)' and her great grandfather was 'Ch Old Farm Boy (Imp UK)' who I had so much admired. This provided 'Boli' with a mix of the character of Old Farm Boy with the breed type of the Siccawei Kennels I aimed to produce. So Strongfort Stromboli ideal to mate to Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis C.D.

'Sheba' and 'Remus'Stromboli with my son, RickJane Exhibiting Ben Nevis

Ch Strongfort Stromboli Produced

Ch Rangeaire Rangitaiki our first Champion which she qualified for 4 times over and also won 2 'Royal' Challenges. She in turn was mated to Tremorne Here's Ben and produced Ch Rangeaire Rising Sun owned by Robert Bone and NZ Ch Rangeaire Ben Dayle owned by Bryce Woods in New Zealand
Ch Rangeaire Sheba the first Champion and foundation bitch for Lily Howlett of Clesha' Kennels,
Ch Rangeaire Rani the first Champion and foundation bitch for Jan and Peter Hatton's Bushvelt Kennels,
Ch Rangeaire Rustler, all-breeds Best Exhibit in Show winner, owned by Carol Morser
Ch Rangeaire Barbie Jane owned by Jim Derham NSW
Ch Rangeaire Angus owned by Ted Farthing
Ch Rangeaire Unser Rudolf owned by Horst Kirsch
Ch Rangeaire Benjamin owned by Mr P Parker in Tasmania
Ch Rangeaire Ascot Renown owned by Peg Brown, the foundation stud dog for Padaway Kennels
Rangeaire Ragamuffin owned by Ross and Eve Brennan, foundation bitch for Kellington Kennels and produced their first Champion, Ch Kellington Kings Own

Ch Rangeaire RangitaikiCh Rangeaire AngusCh R.RustlerCh Rangeaire Rani

Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD

'Ben' became first of a long line of my famous stud dogs and was the son of 'Ch Chancellor of Siccawei (imp UK)' and Ch Siccawei Tyffany (imp UK). His kennel sibling 'Ch Brentleigh Barbarell' was the daughter of 'Ch Siccawei Sunday (imp UK)' and 'Ch Siccawei Tyffany (imp UK)'. So together with Victorian owned 'Ch Siccawei Remus (imp UK) the father of 'Boli', my line breeding programme was becoming a reality.

'Ben' was also my first big wining dog. Selected for me by an old terrier man Jimmy Salt, from the beginning 'Ben' displayed the compact body, straight topline, high tail set and beautiful harsh coat that I admired so much in the dogs I had seen from the Siccawei kennels, setting the breed type I was seeking. As he won 1,541 Challenge points 3 consecutive Royal Melbourne Show Challenge Certificates, 23 Best Terrier Exhibits, 21 Best Opposites Sex, and 2 Best Opposite Sex in Show, he would have easily qualified for 'Supreme Champion' had this title been available when he was alive.

Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD produced

Ch Rangeaire Rangitaiki (above) our first Champion
Ch Rangeaire Sheba (below) the first Champion and foundation bitch for Lily Howlett of Clesha Kennels,
Ch Rangeaire Rani (above) first Champion and foundation bitch for Jan and Peter Hatton's Bushvelt Kennels,
Ch Rangeaire Rustler (above) owned by Carol Morser all breeds Best Exhibit in Show winner
Ch Rangeaire Angus (above) owned by Ted Farthing (pictured above)
Ch Rangeaire Unser Rudolf (below) owned by Horst Kirsch
Ch Rangeaire Benjamin owned by Mr P Parker in Tasmania
Ch Rangeaire Ascot Renown (below) owned by Peg Brown the foundation stud dog for Padaway Kennels

Ch Rangeaire ShebaCh Rangeaire Unser RudolfCh Ascot Renown

Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD's other progeny:

Ch Rangeaire Pirate Pete (from Ch Brentleigh Barbarell)
Ch Rangeaire Reno (below- from Ch Brentleigh Barbarell owned by Carol Morser)
Ch Rangeaire Rebecca (from Ch Brentleigh Barbarell owned by Doff Netherton)
Ch Rangeaire Rascoe CDX (below-from Ch Brentleigh Barbarell owned and trained by Horst and Greta Herter)
Ch Rangeaire Raggity Anne (from Ch Brentleigh Barbarell)
Ch Rangeaire Ringo Starr from Ch Rangeaire Rangitaiki)
Ch Tjuringa Ben's Diana (from Ch Strongfort Samantha Jo)
Ch Tjuringa Fair Dinkum (from Ch Strongfort Samantha Jo)
Ch Tjuringa Tradition (from Ch Strongfort Samantha Jo)
Ch Tjuringa Paul (from Ch Strongfort Samantha Jo)

The last 4 dogs were from the first two litters for the Tjuringa Kennels of Keith and Trish Lovell. Unfortunately 'Ben' died from cancer at only 7 years of age. However, fortunately this was not before he had produced my next major stud dog, Ch Rangeaire Ringo Starr.

Ch Brentleigh Barbarell

Although I had been very successful and fairly happy with my Ben-Boli litters, I had the opportunity to purchase another bitch from Dot Netherton in Adelaide, this time sired by another Siccawei import, Ch Siccawei Sunday. Although this meant having 4 Airedales plus 3 children on a suburban block, we added Barbarell to our Airedale family so line breeding to Siccawei lines could become a reality. So the picture below features our first four Airedales pictured below. These are from left to right: Ch Rangeaire Rangitaiki, Ch Brentleight Ben Nevis CD, Ch Strongfort Stromboli, Ch Brentleigh Barbarell held by our daughter, Linda.

Despite Barbarell being difficult to show, she amassed 303 Challenge points, 5 Best Puppy in Group and one Best Puppy in Show. She was also Reserve Challenge at the Airedale Association of NSW Ch Show 1970 under the famous Pat McCaughy.

But her first litter to Ben Nevis was very disappointing producing 'sheep coats' as well as entropion throughout almost the entire litter. So amid great trepidation, I repeated the mating and not only got a litter almost free of entropion, it also produced Ch Rangeaire Raggity Anne who was entropion free and had great quality as both a showdog and producer, so laying the solid foundation for Rangeaire for generations.

Ch Brentleigh Barbarell Produced

Ch Rangeaire Pirate Pete (from Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD)
Ch Rangeaire Reno owned by Carol Morser (Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD)
Ch Rangeaire Rebecca owned by Dot Netherton in South Australia (from Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD)
Ch Rangeaire Rascoe CDX owned and trained by Horst and Greta Herter (from Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD)
Ch Rangeaire Raggity Anne (from Ch Brentleigh Ben Nevis CD)
Ch and NZ Ch Rangeaire Ring a Bell (from Ch Rangeaire Ringo Starr)
Ch Rangeaire Ramsey (from Ch Rangeaire Ringo Starr) owned by Alan Owens but shown by myself with great success with 46 Challenges totalling some 1049 Challenge points, 24 Best Exhibit in the Terrier Group including 3 'Royal Show' Best in Groups and 5 all-breeds Best Exhibit in Show as well as Best Exhibit in Show at the Sporting Terrier Club of Victoria. Had the title 'Supreme Champion' been available at that time, Ramsey would have easily qualified.

Our first four AiredalesCh Rangeaire RenoCh Rangeaire Rascoe CDX