| The "Philippshof"
Story The very beginning
of the Philippshof-Kennel can be traced back to the early
eighties after we have had a Groenendael-bitch from a
German kennel before, who had been suffering from
pyometria and passed away when she was four years old.
At that time existed two opposing Clubs in Belgium, the
Royal Groenendael Club and the Royal Berger Belge Club.
Neither one being much inclined to co-operate with the
other party. So we thought that these circumstances might
offer a most favourable opportunity for beginners like us
and we decided to acquire a puppy from each of these
clubs in trying to merge the efforts of both.
At the Royal Berger Belge Club we happened to find a most
outstanding kennel with a highly intelligent breeding
philosophy. This was the "Quièvre" kennel
owned by Norman Deschuymere. The Quièvre dogs impressed
us because of the high quality of temperament and style
like demonstrated by Brigand, Ego and Kadour de la Quièvre.
So we decided to choose a puppy from there which was our Inschallah
de la Quièvre (Brigand de la Quièvre x Gitane
de la Quièvre).
Inschallah became exactly what we were after, strong
character, very balanced with lots of style. And she gave
it all through to her offspring although she had not been
inbreed to a great degree. So when talking about
Philippshof this means pretty much to think of the very
strong genetic potential of "de la Quièvre".
At the Royal Groenendael Club we decided to acquire a dog
from the "Domaine de Noirs" kennel, owned by
Serge and Julie Mousty. There we got hooked by Zoupy de
la Baraque de Planches, not so much for his rather
suspicious and not very sociable character but for his
excellent construction and his extremely beautiful type.
We did choose a son of Zoupy which was Indigo du
Domaine des Noirs.
Indigo happenend to win the Belgian Specialty CAC in 1986
when he was less than two years old and made best
Groenendael veteran at the Belgian Specialty when
terminating his show career at the age of ten. Not to
mention the German Specialty which he did win in several
consecutive years. He also passed the character test in
Germany and in Belgium.
A-Litter: For our first litter with
Inschallah de la Quièvre we decided to use Fuego du
Domaine des Noirs because he reminded us most of the
superior attributes which we had seen at Zoupy. We were
very content with what we've got as far as the phenotype
is concerned although in some cases the temperament could
have been better. One male, Abraxas, went to the Domaine
des Noirs kennel and so did his sister, Allegra. Abraxas
was widely used in Germany, in Belgium and Italy. His
brother, Aramis, who made Champion at the age 18 months,
was also quite frequently used in Germany and Hungary.
B-Litter: As we still wanted to improve
on the character side without loosing too much on the
phenotype we did choose Hector du Domaine des Noirs for
our second litter. Out of this litter which proved to
have a most convincing temperament three dogs were used
for breeding. One is Brigand, a male with good bones and
voluminous coat, another is Beverly who unfortunately
disappeared after divorce of the owners. And last but not
least there's Brujo who had to compensate for some
stressful circumstances after his owners separated. The
more it is impressing that this did not affect his
excellent, outgoing and extremely sociable temperament.
Brujo was used for breeding in France at the Perles
Noires kennel and at the Bois d'Acacias kennel and in
Belgium at the Foxie's Farm kennel. Brujo made BOB at the
German Specialty. His brother Bolero succeeded to win
Open Class at the Belgian Specialty.
C-Litter: For our third litter we
finally decided to use our own male Indigo du Domaine des
Noirs on Inschallah de la Quièvre. A son out of this
combination, Chelsea, did win Open Class at the Belgian
Specialty plus CAC at the German Specialty and he also
made best veteran at the age of nine at the German
Specialty.
D- and E-Litter: Last but not least,
there is Indigo's daughter, Sheshere du Domaine
des Noirs, who delivered two litters with a
total of eight puppies. One of them, Eclipse vom
Philippshof stayed with us to further maintain our
Philippshof bloodline. A second one, Elora vom
Philippshof, is also dedicated to take part in breeding
activities. Eclipse and Elora are both offspring from an
intervariety combination after the Reproducteur d'Élite
s.r. Pavot van de Hoge Laer a most famous Tervueren Sire.
In 1999 we decided to acquire a
Groenendael puppy from Finland. Her name is Echinoidea
Aurinko (Valkohampaan Decameron and Jelfene du
Mas de la Galandie).
During the last decades when Finnish breeders were
restricted by the existing quarantine regulations a most
impressive Groenendael population has developed in
Finland. After the quarantine restrictions had been
lifted we wanted to benefit from some of this Finnish
genetic potential before it would be increasingly diluted
by the excessively used bloodlines from Central Europe.
We are totally delighted by what we've got. Aurinko has a
simply fabulous personality and her most athletic
structure is combined with classic type and lots of style.
She has the potential to finally replace what we've lost
with our incomparable Inschallah de la Quièvre.
Aurinko's X-ray result on hip-displasure (HD) is A2.
Aurinko has also passed the character test and is
certified for breeding by the German Club for Belgian
Shepherds (DKBS).
F-Litter: On august 22, 2002 Aurinko delivered her
first litter by the Italian Champion and sujet recommandé GOAL
de Iamara with three boys and one girl - Fandango, Fellini, Fuego and
Fosca.
G-Litter: On december
28, 2005 Aurinko delivered her second and last litter, sired by the Italian
Champion and sujet recommandé SCUDO di Torre d’Arese with
three boys and four girls – Giacomo, Gerro, Geronimo and G’Nyani,
Gioa, Gitane, Godiva.
This litter will hopefully carry on all the passion, joy and pride which
we invested in what has been and still is our vision and endeavour :
the athletic elegance and unique style of the Belgian Shepherd dog.
Lessons Learned
The longer we were involved in breeding the more we realised that
first and above all nursing a litter has to be understood as a
matter
of almost unbearable responsibility and intense emotional
relation between fellow-beings. After twenty years of severe suffering
from
most miserable feelings every time we had to let one
of our puppies leave, we finally had to face the fact that our
emotional profile
does not fit the requirements of breeding business.
Our ultimate conclusion is that enough is enough and we better
leave breeding to those whose
personality is best tailored to the mission.
Looking back on twenty years of breeding we are most grateful to
all the human companions of our dogs for their indefatigable passion and
effort which they invested through the years in trying to provide a worthwhile
living to all our beloved "black souls". It is the passion of
every single member of our great Philippshof Community which lets contentment
and good memories prevail on our part when we are now drawing a bottom
line under 25 years of breeding at Philippshof – hoping that the
indelible brand of what we consider to be a most distinguished Groenendael
will prosper and sustain.
|
