Page 74 - ShowSight Express, June 8, 2020

TERRY MILLER, DEJA VU BRIARDS
Am Can Ch. Deja Vu In Like Flynn CD PT winning the stud dog class at Atlantic States Briard Club/Briard Club of America specialty 2004 under judge Cindy Meyers. He is accompanied by daughter Am Can Ch. Deja Vu Ruffles Have Ridges PT (top-winning bitch of all time) and Ch. Deja Vu Up Close & Personal (who finished this day and went on to become a multiple specialty winner, Westminster and Best in Show winner, and top sire).
were serendipitous when they came to live with me as adults. I merged their get, kept and bred from their sons and daughters and in general, got tremendously lucky for what they had to give. One or two or all three of them are behind every single Deja Vu/Popsakadoo Briard today. They all had beautiful fronts, extraordinary side movement, beautiful body substance and rib cages, wonderful tail shape and car- riage, and irreplaceable, biddable temperaments. All three lived to old age and the general good health of our dogs surely can be attributed to what those three gave to us.
A dog that I have always considered to be one of my best, Ch. Deja Vu Grand Jury, was a dog about whom I would have changed nothing. Shown and co-owned by Gerard Nash and Art Tingley, Mejo’s breed type and movement were extraordinary in pretty much every way. The dog was used as a sire a few times and never really produced himself, close to himself or anything of great value. It was an early disappointment for me. We have had 16 Best in Show dogs, won Best of Breed at 13 National Specialties and had Winners or BOS at Nationals with 20 Briards. We are home to the top sire and dam of all time. We have placed in the Group at West- minster five times.
The most well known to most is Am. Can. Ch. Deja Vu In Like Flynn CD PT ROMPX. Flynn is still today, the top-winning Briard of all time as well as the top sire of all time. Shown by Davin McAteer and Larry Cornelius, Flynn won four National Specialties under such illustrious names as Jane Forsyth, Dee Hutchinson, James Reynolds, and Edeltraud Laurin. He was 11 years old when he won his last National Specialty. Flynn placed in the Group at Westminster under Anne Rogers Clark and won BOB there four times.
Flynn was probably best known for his joie de vivre...code for wild and irrepressible. In Flynn’s mind, he was the king. He was a big, tawny dog with big movement, big presence, big ego and gor- geous breed type which included his tremendous movement and all the breed details. Flynn lived to the ripe old age of 14. In his life he was also High In Trial in obedience at the National Specialty and had a Herding title.
Flynn produced a BIS son (Ch. Deja Vu Up Close & Personal) and BIS daughter (Ch. Deja Vu Ruffles Have Ridges PT), who is the top-winning Briard bitch of all time, was a National Specialty winner (j. John Connelly) and a Westminster Group placer (j. Lester Mapes). Sassy produced a daughter, Ch. Eastbay Deja Vu Enjoy the Ride, who went Best in Show (j. Etta Orenstein) from the Puppy Class.
Flynn’s dam, Ch. Deja Vu Four Leaf Clover ROM (a Tinsel daughter), was WB at a National, but most notably is the top-pro- ducing dam of all time. She produced two Westminster Group plac- ers (Ch. Deja Vu In Like Flynn CD PT and Ch. Deja Vu House On Fire) that were also multiple Best in Show dogs.
In the litter Flynn came from were four notable brothers. Ch. Deja Vu Instant Success was a multiple Group winner, sire of several Group winners and the great Ch. Deja Vu Purple People Eater that won a National Specialty from the classes (j. Jack Ireland), was BOS at another National and broke the all-time BIS record for bitches which had stood for over 20 years. Another brother of Flynn and Instant Success was Ch. Deja Vu Intrepid, a multiple Group winner and Winners Dog at a National Specialty (j. Judith Goodin), and the fourth brother was Ch. Deja Vu Ipso Facto that was a multiple Group winner and significant sire. Besides Flynn, our most notable sire was Ch. Deja Vu Up Close & Personal ROMX. Udo was a Flynn son, multiple specialty winner, Westminster BOB winner (j. Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine) and a Best in Show dog. Udo was a dog widely used by diverse breeders in the breed and outcrossed several times to unrelated bitches. He was an extraordinary moving dog with a beautiful head and crochet tail, beautiful breed type and substance, and a less-than-perfect topline which sometimes did not help him. But as a sire he was prepotent for his sweetness, excellent health, gorgeous pigment and fantastic movement even when bred to bitches who were often less talented in the movement depart- ment. Udo sired three Best in Show get (litter brothers Ch. Deja Vu Cool As A Cucumber, Ch. Deja Vu Mia Chain of Fools, and Ch. Deja Vu Popsakadoo It Is What It Is), and two National Specialty winners (Ch. Deja Vu Cool As A Cucumber and Ch. Deja Vu It Is What It Is, twice).
The two bitches, Ch. Deja Vu Purple People Eater (Violet) and Ch. Deja Vu Ruffles Have Ridges PT (Sassy), came one after the other in the campaign ring. They were both National Specialty win- ners and multiple Best in Show dogs. Sassy also won a National and placed in the Group at Westminster. Violet was sired by Instant Success (Flynn brother) out of Ch. Apropos Deja Vu Moon Unit, a Flynn daughter (diagonal ladder breeding). She was the first to break the longstanding bitch BIS record, then came home to the life of a pet and a brood bitch. Sassy was sired by Flynn, both were shown by Regina and, after Purple People Eater broke the all-time BIS record for bitches, Sassy came along and bested that record.
More recently, our top achievers have been Ch. Deja Vu Cool As A Cucumber and the black bitch Ch. Deja Vu Popsakadoo It Is What It Is. Both sired by Ch. Deja Vu Up Close & Personal, both multiple Best in Show dogs, both National Specialty winners, both #1 All Systems and both top 5 Herding Group dogs.
Cool As A Cucumber (Dill) was Best of Breed at the National (j. John Studebaker), was #1 All Systems, a top 5 Herding Group dog and a multiple Best in Show dog. He spent his youth leased to Briard fanciers in Mexico where he was #1 Herding dog and #3 All Breeds with 15 Best in Shows there. Once back home, Dill was shown by Regina Keiter, having great success upon return to the States for his supple movement, wonderful proportions and most gorgeous head and tail. I would have changed his size. He was too tall. He had tremendous length of neck and very long, high-set ears which accentuated his lofty presence.
Ch. Deja Vu Popsakadoo It Is What It Is (Izzie), shown by Dominique and a few times by Regina, was WB at the National (j. Margaret Shappard), Best of Breed at two Nationals (j. Thora Brown, j. William Shelton), Best of Breed at Westminster (j. Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine) and a multiple Best in Show dog. Izzie’s silhou- ette, strong topline, gorgeous strong head, high-set ears and perfect