Shelties are our best friends. Truly, their lives are all too short. Which of us does not long to touch the velvet face of a dear one long gone? Which of us would not give anything to lengthen the life of the only kind of friend that gives everything and asks nothing? This page is dedicated to Shelties of the past. I invite you to remember them with me.

Last year I had a relatively new Sheltie breeder tell me, "There's no such thing as just a brood bitch. If a bitch is not a show bitch, shown to finish, she shouldn't be bred." I, personally, don't think that this would be best for our breed, or even good for our breed. And, in fact, the breeder who uttered those words would have no Shelties of her own breeding if the developers of the line she founded upon hadn't bred from supremely valuable brood-only bitches. In this vein, I'd like to present to the fancy one of my all-time favorites, Banchory Bright Lights, or "Taffy," as she was known to those who loved her.

Taffy was a brood bitch, and didn't get out much after she finished her CDX. Since I knew Taffy so well and she is not as well-known as the Shelties I have featured before her, I am going to describe her more fully than usual. Taffy was born in May 1969 and died in December 1978, so there are few still in Shelties who remember seeing this lovely sable, but Taffy's descendants are still part of the active fancy today. If you have one, consider yourself lucky. Taffy was quite a girl.

Taffy was the foundation bitch for Maramet Shelties. She came from Banchory to Maureen Metzger's Maramet, in Tucson, Arizona, when she was just over a year old. Taffy was a clear, bright-red sable, and she was pure for sable. She had a very nice head, natural ears, and outstanding eyeset and expression. She was a very feminine bitch. In fact, Taffy always looked to me as if she had just put on exquisitely applied eyeliner of velvety black. She matured to stand about 15 ¼". Many pieces of the correct-Sheltie puzzle were present in Taffy. She had neck and bone, correct bite, full dentition, and a long, down-carried tail. She showed like a glowing statue. Most importantly, Taffy had superior angulation and moved extremely well, with outstanding reach, drive, and tracking.

Taffy was sired by Ch. Banchory Royal Heritage, CD. Royal, a shaded sable, was a well-balanced fellow with a lovely head and wonderful, dignified temperament. He was sired by Ch. Thistlerose Arcwood Aladdin x a Banchory bitch of old Timberidge lineage, Banchory Bit of Gold. Taffy's dam was a beautiful and sound red sable, Ch. Carmylie Lady Fair. Lady Fair had two gloriously balanced and sound parents. Lady Fair's dam was the elegant Ch. Vanity Fair of Carmylie. Her sire was Ch. Katie-J's Ronny, a Sheltie movement legend. Taffy's pedigree was a blend of Aladdin and Sea Isle, not far distant from the blend that produced Am/Can Ch. Cherden Sock It To 'Em. As you will later see, putting these similar blends together was very productive!

Maureen and Taffy hit it off at once. Taffy became Maureen's constant companion, child-supervisor, and chief couch potato. I didn't know Lady Fair very well, but Taffy had Royal's fine temperament and then some. She was calm and bright, showy but not aggressive, and unflappable, having more common sense than many people. Maureen began showing her in breed and training her in obedience. Taffy showed like a dream, but never grew enough coat to be competitive in open, so was soon retired from the show ring. She did very well in obedience, however, completing her CD and CDX easily with good scores. She was a happy, precise worker in obedience. I watched her work many times, often telling myself, "Stop looking at how Taffy moves and how stunning that red color looks against the green grass, and watch her working!"

But the brood box is where Taffy really shone. She was an easy breeder, easy whelper, and good mother. Taffy was bred to Pow, Am/Can Ch. Cherden Sock It To 'Em, CD, ROM, for her first litter, which was at Banchory. This produced the puppy flier Ch. Banchory Brig O' Dune Sundown. Sundown, or "Honeybun" as she was called, finished very quickly, to become Pow's first American Champion. A littermate to Honeybun, Banchory-Southcrest Hidee, had 12 points, 1 major when tragically lost. A third littermate, Banchory Taste of Honey, bred to High Born, produced Banchory High Power, an elegant, sound tri boy that lived with us for a couple of years. High Power (whose inelegant nickname was "Porky") sired Ch. Cando's Silver Bobbles, Ch. Banchory the Black Panther UD, and other good ones, and has descendents here and at Maramet, Logan Isle, and elsewhere.

Maureen bred Taffy to Pow, producing the dark shaded sable littermates Ch. Maramet Bright Heritage CD ("Andy"), and Am/Can Ch. Maramet Bright Promise CD ("Teena").

Another Pow x Taffy child, Maramet Song of Summer, "Lily," bred to Banchory High Power (doubling on Taffy close up), produced Balmora Piper's October Topaz. Gwen Piper bred Topaz to Banchory Reflection ROM, resulting in Ch. Piper's Strolling Minstrel, a deep red sable who sired several champions, including Am/Can Ch. Banchory Burning Embers (with descendants at Royal Oaks, Dunvegan, and elsewhere), Ch. Banchory Legendary Heir, Ch. Banchory Bermuda Rose (who has descendents at Cedarhope), and others of influence, including Banchory Solid Gold, sire of Ch. Apple Acres Hi Fashion Model ROM. Ch. Maramet Bright Promise, bred to Banchory Reflection ROM, produced the lovely, feminine sable bitch Ch. Maramet Summer Rain. Another descendant of Bright Promise was the elegant tri fellow, Ch. Maramet Dark Gentry. There are a number of Taffy's descendents in the fancy at present, some of them found in unexpected places (our Merlin and Ebony, for example).

I'll bet you have a Sheltie that goes back to Taffy. Yes, I mean it! Hmmmm. Let's see. Think about recent National Specialty winners, including the millennium BISS gal, Ch. Hannalore Improvisation. Or how about Ch. Kell Night On the Bayou? Ch. Carloway Scarlet Angel, perhaps. Yes, all of these are descended from Taffy. For a female Sheltie (and one who did not produce numerous puppies at that), Taffy is astonishingly well-represented in pedigrees of the best dogs of dedicated breeders. She is behind such diverse good ones as: Ch. Lochlyn Las Vegas, Ch. Carmylie Keltic Blacksmith, Ch. Skyecrest Play It Again, Ch. Kismet's Arielle, Ch. Dundee Hullston Jambalaya ROM, Ch. Cub Hill Steel Wheels, Ch. Macdega Marrakech, Ch. Apple Acres Odyssey Armani, Ch. SumerSong Impact, Ch. Kensil's Cracker Jax, Ch. Canami Blue Fire and Ice, and Ch. Shadow Hill's Rio Grande. Taffy's descendents come in every color of the Sheltie rainbow. It's interesting to me to see how many of the sables have names including the words "scarlet," "red," "crimson," and "fire." For a list of Taffy's American Champion descendents with names beginning from A through K, click here. For a list of Taffy's American Champion descendents with names beginning with L through Z, click here. There are too many to list on a single page! Many thanks to Lisa Porch of Coldstream Shelties for this list, which she provided from her powerful and meticulously researched Sheltie database. Please visit Coldstream by clicking on the button below, and learn more!

I am most pleased to write this long-overdue salute to Taffy, just a brood bitch!

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