Page 50 - ShowSight - April 2020

FINDING
INSPIRATION
BY DAN SAYERS
The cancellation of dog shows in response to the COV- ID-19 outbreak has forced the dog community in the U.S. and around the world to retreat. In many communities, businesses have been shuttered indefi-
nitely, with boarding kennels, training facilities and grooming shops operating with strict limitations or closed altogether. The uncertainty of the present has many fanciers searching for hope and inspiration, wherever it can be found. For purebred dog breeders, encouragement during times of troubles can be found by revisiting the lives of breeders of yore who managed to endure despite the odds stacked against them. One such breeder—who managed to prevent an old breed from becom- ing extinct—was Miss Joy Scholefield (later Mrs. Freer) of Fourclovers Sussex Spaniels.
In her thoughtful and thoroughly researched book titled, The Sussex Spaniel, author, judge and Spaniel specialist Peggy Grayson introduces readers to a woman whose unfailing devotion to her breed actually saved it. “Miss Scholefield was truly a breeder of the old school,” the author notes. “She did not clutter herself up with a lot of stock but kept only the best in her kennel, selling off the rest.” Grayson indicates that this selectiveness allowed the lady to develop a family of Sussex that were “the envy of all and the despair of those who met her in the rings!” The author’s in-depth research reveals that Miss Scholefield always had a plan, beginning with two care- fully chosen brood bitches. According to Grayson, “If you study the breeding of the Fourclovers for the pre-Second World War period, it is easy to see what she intended and, indeed, how carefully she planned every mating.” The story of the Fourclovers Sussex should prove an inspiration for all preservation breeders today. >
48 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2020
SUSSEX SPANIEL SURVIVES THANKS TO ONE BREEDER’S DEVOTION