TINA:

American Champion Darwyn's Tina Bossypants

* Joe x Paisa daughter *

Tina: March 2014
Photo taken at home with Michael & Larisa Hotchin

Sire: MBIS & MBISS Am GCh & Can Ch Darwyn's I'm Not Arguing That (Joe)
Dam: MBIS American & Canadian Champion Sanherpinc Paisa (Paisa)

Litter Brother: American Ch Darwyn Here for a Good Time (Trooper)

Click here for Tina's Pedigree

Click here for Tina's public OFFA DNA and Health Tests:
PLL DNA (Normal / Clear); DM DNA (Normal / Clear); Patella (Normal); Cardiac/Heart (Normal); HIPS (Good); Elbows (Normal); Thyroid (Normal); Full Dentition

Tina came from a litter of 5 of which 2 were shown in the US to their AKC championship titles, the other 3 puppies went to lovely companion pet homes (one with young children and Griffin has fit in very well with that family - yeah!).

Click here to see a YouTube video of Tina and her brother Trooper as puppies playing together in our dining room.

Tina was conditioned and presented by Ernesto Lara in the Pennsylvania area, and shown at a variety of the states on the East Coast of the US. She received one of her *majors* at the November 2013 benched shows of the Philadelphia Kennel Club, awarded by a terrier-breeder-judge, Mr. Neville Hodgkins of Australia. She received another *major* in Orlando Florida on the same show circuit which hosts the AKC National (Eukanuba) huge show, the following month (Dec/13).

We decided not to show Tina in Canada because of how long it took in the US -- though no fault of her own! We ran into 2 main issues - the first being that either there was no competition entered, and on some weekends, competition entered did not show up. And, in the US, you need competition within the breed in order to get points towards the championship title. That was very frustrating indeed! I don't know how many entries, but it was 40 or 50+ entries where she was entered but not shown. The next issue was getting her home. Typically it is an easy flight to arrange, with the only hassles being a drop off in PA really early in the morning and on our side, a drive to/from Seattle for pick-up. Doable. But, you need the flight. Tina ended up being stuck in the East for about 2 months extra due to the worst winter in record history happening -- many tens of thousands of flights cancelled! So we decided once she got home, to let her enjoy some home life, have some puppies and then she will go to a wonderful couple in Victoria as her forever home. She deserves it.

Tina eventually made it home, was in excellent spirits and looked great! Michael and I were happy to have her home.

After all of this, I decided that her gaining the American AKC Champion title was good enough - she has more than proved her worthiness for the breed, and all of her various tests show that she is nice and healthy. She could stay home now, play in our yards and hang out inside with us.

We are looking forward to her having some beautiful puppies!

We are hoping that Tina will have a litter sometime during 2014. It is a very exciting combination for me -- the sire is beautiful and has a truly lovely temperament, both for the show ring as well as in his family home now that he is retired from the show ring and has a foster family that he calls his own! Wish us (and her) luck!

Tina and Terrier Instinct Prey Drive

It is well known that Welsh Terriers were selectively bred to do a job, and this primary job was to kill vermin. When you watch 5 week old puppies shaking a squeaky toy, it is obvious this aspect of their personalities is instinctual and seems to be hard-wired into them. When you watch an adult go from seemingly fast asleep to bolting at top speed after what they think is a rodent, it is amazing. Their minds are quick and finely tuned and focused. However, from everything that we have observed of our own dogs, this reaction is definitely instinctual.

A friend of mine who has a very well-trained Welsh Terrier as her companion pet, authors a well-written and informative blog. One of her articles is specifically about "Prey Drive" and specifically as she understands it for the Welsh Terrier breed. I think this is a very well-written article. Please click here to go to this article.

Back to Tina .... Tina has a very strong prey drive. We see it in the house if a squeaky toy is brought out. But, we also see it when we go exploring. During the Fall 2012, when Tina was just

over 1 year old, Michael and I explored a local lake with our small boat, and Tina joined us (with her life vest on - of course!).

After we had been on the boat for a few hours that afternoon, Tina got very interested in the shoreline, which was easily over 50 feet away. We didn't really pay much attention, other than she was looking cute - so I grabbed the camera. I am glad that I did!

We discovered what Tina saw -- we could barely make it out on the shore. A mink! It was very difficult to see as it seemed to blend into the shoreline and without Tina's focus and our camera's zoom lens, we most likely would not have seen it.

A few minutes later Tina jumped off the side of the boat and was swimming exuberantly towards the shore! This was Tina's first time on a boat and her first time in water. And, it was cold water at that! It was a very deep lake. After getting the boat more towards the shore and continuing to call her, we brought out the "big guns" ... yup, a squeaky toy! (Note: we always have on hand for emergencies like this ... just in case :) ). We eventually got Tina back into the boat and she was able to dry with the sunshine that afternoon.

It confirmed in our minds that prey drive is instinctual and very motivating for this breed. Tina has never seen a mink before - but her gut told her to get it and she wasn't going to let the water between the boat and the shore stop her!

The best part is that I got pictures of this! Not my best pictures ever, but good enough to help remember that afternoon's excitement by! Here are a few of them.

I'll try to update this page once Tina has puppies.