About Isengard Belgians

History

I purchased my first Belgian in 1977, Ch Brenna v Siegestor UDT TT WD-C ROM, from the Siegestor kennel in Southern California. Brenna was the foundation of all my early breedings. Early in 2003 we lost a great granddaughter of hers who was a good friend and who produced many outstanding offspring, Ch Greenfields Zibelle OA NAJ CGC TDI Select '96. Her grand-daughter, Tali, is with us today.

In 1995 I reserved a puppy bitch from Dennette Cockley of SumerWynd Belgians in New Hampshire as the start of a new breeding program. I had changed careers, married, and started a family and, at the time, did not have any bitches that went back to my old lines, Zibelle had not come into my life at that time. I wanted to find the right pup to provide a new start and that would be fun show and train.This little girl has exceeded all my expectations. Dana became, Am/Can/UKC multi BISS CH SumerWynd's Dana of Isengard CDX HX MX MXJ TD TT Conformation HOF Herding HOF Agility HOF WDC-X WD-H ROM.

I could not have found a better dog to provide a foundation for what I strive to acheive in breeding and training, a versatile Belgian that is sound in temperament, sound in structure and that has lovely breed type. Dana is a 3 time BSCA Versatility Award winner in performance events, a 5 time BSCA Select in conformation, she was IT in Herding at the BSCA '98 National Specialty and won the Top 10 in conformation at the 1999 BSCA National Specialty under a panel of breeder judges, and at the 2000 and 2002 National Specialties, she was Best of Breed under respected breeder judges Marcy Spalding and Barbara Swisher. At 8 years old she won the Veterans Class at the 2004 National Specialty and went on to go Best of Opposite Sex to her son, Ch Isengard's Joe Cool RE CGC HIC HOF. At this show another son, Justin, was HIT at both Herding trials and also won the BSCA Versatility Award. Jax, from Dana's N Litter, won HIT in Agility. At over nine years she went to the Canadian National and was again BOS from Veterans. A top winner and a top producer, Dana was truly a once in a lifetime dog.

Since I attended my first BSCA National Specialty in 1979 I have attended 26 BSCA National Specialties, several Canadian Belgian Specialties, 2 French Specialties, a Dutch Specialty and a Swedish Specialty. I have been privileged to visit breeders and their dogs in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Finland, England, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia. I still feel I have a great deal to learn about the breed and indeed learn something new with each dog I own and train and each litter I raise.

About my kennel name.... I had read the Lord of the Rings one summer in college. It was a good book but I never was as into it's lore it as some. That fall I was playing with kennel names that would work for both Dobermans and Belgians. While looking through the glossary of LOTRs I came across 'Isengard'. I liked the sound and didn't recall too much about the nature of the place and thought no more about it until the movies came out.....not exactly the 'image' I was going for! I did resist my son's suggestion to name one of the O litter Isengard's Orc!

Brenna

Zibelle

Dana

Tali

Lavender

Yum

Breeding Philosophy

I breed for stable and biddable temperaments and strive to combine European type with sound structure and movement.

Health is extremely important and all my breeding stock is OFA normal hips and elbows. Eyes are checked annually and CERF'd. I post the results of health checks openly on my website, good and bad. Check out my health information page below.

In considering a potential breeding I try and balance health, temperament, structure and type considerations not only in the parents but in their close family.

I've used stud dogs representing top bloodlines from around the US and the world. Belgians are are all related, we have a fairly small gene pool, and there are always pros and cons to each and every breeding which have to be weighed once you have researched a pedigree throughly looking at siblings and their offspring, aunts and uncles and half siblings and grandparents, the whole family, or as many as you can find information on. Most health problems are recessive and skip generations or are due to the interaction of many genes possibly with environmental influences. Thankfully Belgians have a far lower incidence of health problems than many of the more popular breeds and we want to keep it that way.

I hope if anyone ever has a sincere question about one of my dogs and a health issue then contact me directly and just ask!

I occasionally have used an outstanding and proven stud dog from a country where all health checks are not routinely done but it is only after extensive research into what the stud dog has actually produced in his litters. I called breeders in over 8 different countries before while researching one stud dog and emailed breeders in even more countries prior to breeding my female to him.

I have worked and titled my dogs in agility and herding, tracking and obedience. Currently my focus is on agility. Training and competing with my dogs gives me a much better understanding of their performance capabilities and drives as a breeder. Plus I just plain enjoy training dogs, that is why I selected Belgians in the first place, they enjoy being trained! I have always wanted to be able to 'do it all' with my dogs. I've never been satisfied just doing conformation or just performance. It is certainly a challenge, but I am committed to developing a line that consistently produces dogs that are fun to train in agility, herding, obedience, and tracking and that you can live with, as well as can compete successfully in the conformation ring. I have been very fortunate in the homes my puppies have gone into.

Not all puppies turn out exactly like their parents, or as planned, so I temperament test each litter using the Puppy Apptitude Test to help me evaluate what type of home will be the best fit. I try to be as honest and objective as possible in evaluating dogs I am breeding and have bred. I learn something new with each litter!

My first litter in 1979 produced three champions, all finished easily owner or breeder handled. One placed in the Top Ten Obedience Belgians and another of the champions went on to become a working police dog for the Tucson Sheriffs Department. A major pointed half brother from my second litter joined him soon after. This was a great start to breeding dogs that could perform and were also lovely breed representitives.

Since 1979 we have bred, or co-bred, a total of 31 litters under the Isengard kennel name, and I have co-bred 3 litters with Bonnie Leonard under the Bonntyme kennel name including the Bonntyme K litter that has produced 3 Group placers. I have produced 52 conformation champions under the Isengard kennel name, 5 MACHs and many others with agility, herding, obedience and tracking titles.

Isengard bred, or owned, Belgians have won Best of Breed at the BSCA National Specialty five times as well as BSCA High in Trials in Herding, Obedience and Agility. We have earned the BSCA Versatility Award 5 times and multiple Selects. Isengard bred dogs have been Best in Show and Group winners as well as Westminster and Eukanuba Invitational Best of Breed winners and top ranked Agility, Obedience and conformation dogs. Isengard Belgians have met the criteria for the BSCA HOF in Conformation, Agility, Herding and Obedience. Please check out the link to my BSCA Hall of Fame page below.

I'm very proud of the dogs I have bred and co-bred, and especially the owners who have accomplished so much with their dogs.

We live on several acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I have been a member of the Belgian Sheepdog Club of America since 1977 and a founding member and officer of both the Barbary Coast Belgian Sheepdog Club in California and the Northwest Belgian Sheepdog Club in Washington.

All of my breeding stock are OFA clear of Hip and Elbow Dysplasia, eyes are CERF'd annually and are OFA Thyroid Normal.

Health Information in Isengard Litters

Isengard BSCA HOF recipients.

Thank You James!

My husband loves my dogs and has supported me in all my activities. None of my current success would be possible without him.