Jester's son 'Deegan' (Tumbleweed Ramsgate Suncatcher) has just turned 2 years old. Deegan is an Irish word meaning "black-haired Chief" and he is definitely the mother-hen of everyone here at Ramsgate. I think he has some herding instinct in him! See Deegan's Photo Album.  

My adventure in Curlies began in 2002 when I was walking through my living room and glanced at the television to see a Pedigree dog food commercial. There, in all their glory, were 2 of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen. They were dripping wet, sitting on the dock next to a lake. I gasped out loud! What were they I wondered, some type of water spaniel?

About 6 months later I was watching a dog show on Animal Planet and saw the water spaniels. Nope, that wasn't it. Another 3 months went by before I was watching yet another televised dog show and there at last was the dog I had seen in the commercial - a Curly-Coated Retriever! I rushed to the computer for an internet search to learn more about the CCR. It's hard to believe today, but at that time almost no one was breeding Curly puppies or even had any future litters planned. So instead, I made plans to attend the upcoming Curly National Specialty at Purina Farms hoping to meet people that might know where I could find a Curly pup.

Soon after I had made my hotel reservation for the Specialty however, I got word that I was being transfered from Ohio to Florida for work. That put the puppy search on hold and I never did make it to that Specialty at Purina Farms. Several months after the move when the dust had settled, I resumed my search. It was in early February 2004 when I received an invitation from Ann Shinkle at Charmstar and Mary Veitch at Blackbarc to come watch a hunt test being held only 10 minutes from my house. As soon as I drove up and saw a man giving whistle and hand signals to his Lab swimming in the pond, I knew I wanted my Curly to do that too!!

I put my name on a breeders puppy list but when that breeding didn't take, Ann suggested I contact Carol Kail at Aarowag who had a litter that she had co-bred with Casey Cantrell at Clarion. In late April 2004, my very own 8-week-old Curly puppy 'Jester' was put on the red-eye flight at LAX one Saturday night. I picked him up at the Orlando airport Sunday morning and my life hasn't been the same since that day.  

Jester is unlike any dog I've ever known! Keenly intelligent, a very happy fellow, full of energy, and into everything, he seemed to take over the whole house from the first day. We quickly became involved in field work, conformation showing, and the new sport of Rally. Our future interests include tracking, upland hunting, and obedience competitions. Gotta love it that Curlies are truly a versatile breed comfortable going from the field or waterfowl hunting, to the show ring, and back home again to snuggle on the couch - all in the same day!