We are a family of dog lovers and my parents, grandparents and great grandparents have had boxer dogs for over 60 years. The first 3 boxers were all rescued but lived long happy lives. In 1988 we welcomed Dollar, a red bitch with black mask ,into the fold.  Following on came a Standard Schnauzer for the next 12 years but our love of the boxer breed introduced  Bumble (Bouncing Bundle) Sire: (Bohmere Boundless Prospect) (IKC)  Dam: (Go Faster Stripe) who's pedigree includes many of the well known champions of the boxer world. Bumble would not have achieved much in the show ring but did well at Agility and together we got our Good Citizens Bronze Award. He is now almost 8 years old but a firm favourite because he is very loving and  so well behaved.

 

On to the show team..... We searched for our first boy for quite a while before finding The Olleyville Kennel. My grandparents took me to see Stanley (Olleyville Stanley Man) who was just 4 weeks old. Four weeks later we collected The light of my life.....And the fun began!  

 

What NOT to do:-  We did it all! 

 

What TO do :- There was so much to learn and so much training to be done. We knew nothing!  So I began by taking Stanley to fun shows where he won waggiest tail (things have never changed) and came home with 3 rosettes and a bag of dog food.  We got the show bug and started to attend ringcraft.

 

Stanley was awarded The Northern Boxer Club  Evelyn Dyson Memorial Trophy in 2017, This came with a cheque for £50. What better to do with our winnings than to invest in a Kennel name. In 2018 we applied for our own Kennel name and chose WHIRLOBOX.  We were then able to add the name to our dogs pedigrees. 

 

Our first championship show saw Stanley in Minor Puppy class turn upside down with feet in the air in the ring. A thank you to Julie Cook (Manic Boxers) who came forward to give advice on how to train him to stand correctly giving us some great tips to work with.  From that day on I was so lucky to have so many of the top handlers and breeders offering advice and help. What a difference that has made to my showing career. Stanley's  first win at a championship show was in Novice Class at The Northern Boxer Club. Jeannine Merrey from the Burnden Kennel gave him his first red rosette.  From there we have had success at both open and championship shows, qualifying for Crufts in 2018, 2019 and 2020.  In 2019 he won his Limit Dog Class gaining his stud book number at Leeds championship show (our thanks to judge Sandra Parle).

 

Teddy (Olleyville James Dean) was next on the scene and did us proud by qulifying for Crufts 2018 on his first appearance at a championship show. He went on to gain 3rd place in his class at Crufts 2018 and  followed the trend taking 3rd place in his class again at Crufts in 2019.  Teddy also did well as a puppy and won the working group puppy class at Matlock all breed open show.  A totally different temperament to Bumble and Stanley but just as appealing. 

 

Then came our first bitch Georgia (Olleyville My Sweet Georgia) who, on arrival made her presence felt. Without doubt she is the boss. She too qualified for Crufts 2020 by getting a 1st in her puppy class at Boston Premier Open Show  She also won Best Puppy In Show at the  Trent Boxer Open Show and was the winner of  the special event at Merseyside Boxer Club open show. 

 

On a personal note I feel privileged to have been asked to go over the puppies at several shows and it will be lovely to see them develop and to compete in the future. 

Due to covid-19 we have all been unable to show our dogs from March 2020.  

 

A special mention:- To Steve Martin and David Parker (Olleyville) Thank you for entrusting us with our 3 puppies Stanley, Teddy and Georgia and for all the support and encouragement you have given us  over the last 5 years. Always at the end of the phone if we need advice or help. 

 

In April 2019 we were invited to be committee members at Trent Boxer Club and now appreciate how much hard work goes into running the dog shows.