BAYSPRING

English Springer Spaniels. Bremer Bay, Western Australia

• Home Page
• Our short story
• Our History
• Photo Gallery
• Puppies
• Puppy photos
• Show Team
• Lola
• Arthur
• Jazzi
• Jed
• Health Testing

Our History

DUKE and KEERA

Gary and I started our love for this wonderful breed in 1987 when we purchased our first ESS from Kevin and Dawn Ferguson in Qld (Oakspur kennels). Duke was a great companion, strong in looks and a great protector of us and the children. He also was adept at climbing palm trees for the extra height to get over the fence to go and play with his Aussie Cattle Dog up the road or just to pop in and  see me at work.... Consequently up went a 7 foot high chain mesh fence, he only cried and cried when we left for work or school. So along came Keera, another beautiful sound dog from Oakspur kennels. She was such a sweet girl and was just loved by Duke and of course us... After a few years we had orders for a couple of puppies so decided to breed these two.  Both were sound, good lines, no heredity diseases to speak of and had just wonderful personalities. The puppies were lovely with 3 going to family members and the rest to loving homes in Canberra, Darwin and Nhulunbuy (NT). Duke and Keera were with us for 12 years and 10 years respectively.

 GUS

Once Duke went over the rainbow bridge, Keera was distraught....So along come another Oakspur boy. Gus was just as handsome, brave, feisty and very glamorous. He fell in love with Keera at first sight.  After a day or so they were firm friends and stayed that way until Keera unfortunately passed away.  Gus had bonded with us from a early age so didn’t seem overly upset to be an only dog.

In 2012 we left our home of 27 years to retire in Western Australia, taking our Gus with us, he just loved the cool weather, the long beach runs and of course helping getting the new gardens up and running. Many days spent under, in or on something we were working on. He was our heart dog. Tragically he died whilst in boarding kennels when we were on a short holiday.  We were just devastated. On our return from holidays, we picked up his ashes and his collar.

We went back to Bremer Bay with very heavy hearts. It would be the first time in over 35 years that Gary and I did not have a dog.

JED AND ELLIE-MAE - Now both retired from the show ring and enjoying retirement.

We lasted about 5 weeks... Out went the call.

We went to Oakspur, Dawn did not have a litter planned. Tried the Australian registered breeders page on Dogzonline, no litters available at that time.

One WA breeder we contacted, even though they didn’t have any litters on the ground or in the planning, Julie Hiscott of Esspree English and Welsh Springers knew of a breeder who had puppies but had not advertised them as yet. She gave her our number and  from that first call we were fortunate and we picked up our lovely boy from Denise Mosley of Westpring springers. Jed, Grand Champion Westpring the One and Only (AI), came to live with us early in January 2015. It was love all round.

 Jed filled a new part of our hearts, though we felt, now that we were retired, we could extend our fur family so in 2016 we acquired our beautiful  lady, Ch Sabu Princess of the Bay, Ellie-Mae, from the renowned Springer breeder, Steve Warry of Sabu Kennels in WA. Not only is  Ellie-Mae from  American lines she is also a black and white and very sassy and full of herself. She really is the Princess of the Bay...

We had showed all the setters in Darwin for a number of years before leaving to live in the mining town of Nhulunbuy, where we really couldn’t continue showing due to lots of factors, one being we were over 700kms from Darwin without an all weather road out. 

We had  continued seeing Jed’s breeder, who was showing her dogs in Perth, and naturally felt we could go back to this as we both enjoyed showing when younger. Jed had been assessed by his breeder and the green light was given that  if we wanted we could commence showing him. We waited until Ellie-Mae was old enough and their first shows were in February 2016. Jed was 15 months old.  It all came flooding back, we had so much fun, met heaps of lovely and like minded people and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The dogs enjoyed it as well.

Now we do live over 6 hours from Perth, in the lovely fishing hamlet of Bremer Bay, so going to the big smoke to show our dogs takes a bit of organisation and wouldn't be able to do it without  our daughter and son-in-law, and close friends as we can stay at their house for a few weeks at a time with the dogs.

Both dogs have acquitted themselves well in the small amount of shows we attend, with Jed having a Best in Speciality Show, numerous Best In Groups and  Runner up in Group wins,  He has had so many classes in group and in show and speciality in show awards and has had some really nice big breed wins. He achieved his Grand Championship early in 2022 with back to back Best In Groups. He is now retired and spending time in Perth with his other owners who love nothing more than to have him captain their boat on the Swan River. He really found the best retirement home. We thank them sincerely for loving and caring for Jed in his twilight years.

Ellie-Mae achieved numerous class in groups and in show as well and did exceptionally well against her peers. She also  had an  extensive fan club and loved the limelight and the many cuddles she got. Ellie was halfway to her Grand Championship  title when she had a break to carry out  mother duties for her breeder. She had a lovely, healthy litter with the puppies finding wonderful homes in Perth.

Ellie has been retired and now lives the life of a real princess with our daughter, son-in-law and our 4 grandgirls in the Perth hills.

LOLA 

Our journey continues with Lola, Ch Olbah Duchess of the Dunes. Thanks  OLBAH kennels, WA for this stunning young girl. She has exceeded all expectations and we are thrilled to confirm she will be our foundation bitch for Bayspring English Springer Spaniels.

Lola gained her Australian Championship title at 14 months old against strong competition in Perth Metropolitan shows. She is maturing nicely, and we will  continue to show her with Gary taking over as her handler in the ring as she just loves him and performs really well for him.

The finalisation of breed specific health testing was completed in 2022. Her hip and elbow scores are 2:2 (A1) and elbows 0:0 (perfect). Other health testing were all clear. 

In 2022  she had a trouble free pregnancy, easy whelping and has bounced back really well. She is a great mum and loved her babies. She had another trouble free pregnancy and whelped 5 beautiful babies in 2023 using Arthur again. All babies found fantastic families and are loved and cherished by their new owners. We couldn't be happier.

ARTHUR - Australian Grand Champion Maketawa I'm Your Man

2024   - (current as 1/11/2024)   #1 English Springer Spaniel Show Dog and Breed Winner in Western Australia,  
 # 1 Breed Winner in Australia, #9ESS Show Dog in Australia and #5 Gundog winner in Western Australia (Dogzonline point score)

2023   -   #1 English Springer Spaniel Show Dog and Breed Winner in Western Australia,    #2 Breed Winner in Australia, #7 ESS Show Dog in Australia and #5 Gundog winner in Western Australia (Dogzonline point score)

#1 English Springer Spaniel Australia and #1 Gundog Group in Western Australia (Top dog Australia point score)

Arthur achieved his Gramd Champion title at 3 years old with another Best in Show. He only requires one more Best In Show or 2 Best in Gundog Groups to obtain his Supreme Championship title.

He continues to display so much potential for such a young dog and is consistently in the winners circle and such a good dad. Exciting times ahead as he matures.

He is  already a multi Best in Show winner, has multiple class in Show, and multiple Best in Groups and a multiple Runner-up in Group wins and he has taken many high point Best of Breeds against quality and finished dogs in WA and in the NT.

 He is still a youngster at just over 3 and we are confident he will continue to mature into a classic to standard and sound springer and do his breeders proud. He is handled with pride in the show ring by Gary.

He is also the best gardener we have ever had, a real joy to have him in our family. Looking forward to the journey we will have with this good looking young man. He is such a funny dog, makes us laugh all the time.

He has super health results. The finalisation of breed specific health testing was completed in 2022. His hip and elbow scores are 3:4 A1) and elbows 0:0 (perfect). Other DNA health and eye testing were all clear of known breed specific conditions.

JAZZI - Australian Champion Maketawa Mystique at Sandicam

Jazz joined us late in 2022, she is just a joy to be around. Classical springer looks with a soft willing to please attitude.  We have been campaigning her during 2023 and she is a already a multi RUBIG, multi class in group and class in show winner. A real classical springer with that soft melting expression.

Love this girl and look forward to her having mother duties late in 2024. She has super health results. The finalisation of breed specific health testing was completed in 2024. Her hip and elbow scores are 3:3 A1) and elbows 0:0 (perfect). Other DNA health and eye testing were all clear of known breed specific conditions.

 

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Updated November 2024