Remembering The First Lady of the Anahar Cockers

"Life is what you celebrate. All of it. Even it's end."

~Joanne Harris

On June 22, 2014, the dog world - especially those who have been involved in Cocker Field Trials - lost one of the first ladies of the sport, Dorothy Douglas. Dorothy and husband Denis have long been involved with Field Trials in Scotland and England - their passion and dedication to the "wee dogs" has garnered them well deserved recognition within the sporting dog circuit - I was privileged to call her my friend.

Denis and Dorothy began trialing dogs in the mid-1950's. Denis began with Springer Spaniels, his kennel affix, Denhead, combined his ancestral home with his name. He was most proud of his two Field Trail Champions (F.T.Ch.) Denhead Warrior - Sire F.T.Ch. Markdown Muffin, Dam Denhead Scamper and F.T.Ch. Spioncop Havoc - Sire F.T.Ch. Hobbins Harrier, Dam Gorsty Gussie. Both Springer's received Diplomas at the AV Championships and in addition, Warrior as the winner of the Game Fair.

A Scottish Champion, Gus was one of the last Denhead Springers

Denis fondly recalled attending a trial at Corsewall, Stranraer with a Mrs. Nicholson of Glenbervie and her "keeper" who handled her spaniels in trials and another friend, John McIntyre. While exercising their dogs they discovered that a "rather nice looking black and white cocker bitch had joined them" eventually identified as belonging to the hostess Mrs. Buchanan. Mrs. Nicholson purchased it and in due course, the little cocker became F.T.Ch. Whisper of Corsewall. She was mated with F.T.Ch. Jimmy of Elan, owned by Lady Auckland of Cromlix, Dunblane. Due to the death of John McIntyre, Denis acquired one of the pups who became F.T.Ch. Carswell Zero. By now, F.T.Ch. Jimmy of Elan had won the Cocker Championship and upon the death of its owner, Lady Auckland, Jimmy came to Denis and Dorothy.

Carswell Zero became the foundation for the Anahar line, which was Dorothy's kennel affix named for one of the hills outside of Laurencekirk. Denis and Dorothy had very strong views about how cockers should progress. Denis often noted that there were a few cockers who "obviously had a touch of springer." Sitting in their family room on several occasions, enjoying a glass of sherry, the electric fireplace glowing and surrounded by drawings of the long line of Anahar Field Trial Champions, they shared their view that springer traits in cockers did not benefit the breed - they both agreed cockers should "be kept pure."

Three generations of Anahar cockers have won the trophy for gaining the most points from field trial placing in a single season (as allocated by The Cocker Club): F.T.Ch. Tayburn Valentina of Anahar, F.T.Ch. Anahar Bawbee and F.T.Ch. Anahar Tippet. This is a remarkable achievement and I believe may be a record.

All of the Anahar cockers were born at Denis & Dorothy's home. Together, Denis and Dorothy contributed significantly to the development of the breed.

I fondly recall one visit when I requested a photograph of all the cockers sitting on the lawn. Denis let them out of the run and as often happens, pandemonium erupted. 

Not one of the dogs were paying attention to Denis let alone obeying his commands (or the whistle). From the window, I could see Dorothy watching the madness of five Anahar's running around like children who have had far too much sugar. Dorothy could be seen shaking her head and briefly disappeared only to reappear outside next to the Land Rover parked near the front door. She opened up the back which resulted in all of the dogs focusing their attention on Dorothy. Thinking they must be going for a run "on the hill," the dogs made a beeline to the vehicle and in an attempt to get into the back at the same time, became a barking tail wiggling mass of black and white. Dorothy slammed the back hatch, exchanging a look with Denis who turned to me and said with that lovely Scottish burr ... "horrid little dogs."

Denis served during WWII; their memories of life during the 1930's and 1940's renews my faith in the strength of good people faced with adversity. Their home is filled with photographs of family and friends - including several with the Queen Mum and HRH Queen Elizabeth in attendance at field trials (Dorothy: "...she wearing a coat I wouldn't be seen out in my kennels in.") Dorothy once drove one of the cockers to the Queen's estate at Sandringham during a torrential rain storm in order to breed with one of the Queen's cockers, proudly adding Sandringham Mango to the Anahar line.

Hidden among the artwork on the staircase are two small watercolors painted by the Prince of Wales, even their dining room table has a close connection with the Queen. On a trip to Edinburgh when Sean Connery was knighted at the Palace of Holyrood, we visited with Denis & Dorothy later on in the week - Dorothy talked of being in "the city" on Tuesday ... we asked, "wasn't that the day Sean Connery was knighted?" Dorothy inquired,  "have you been?" "Ah ... no ... we weren't invited but wait ... you and Denis were there?" "Yes," Dorothy replied, "but we didn't want to stay (overnight) we wanted to get home to the dogs."

Even with their friends in high places, Denis and Dorothy were never pretentious. From the time we stepped off the train at Montrose until the time we had one last toast of sherry - Dorothy raising her glass, "hasten ye back" - and Denis waving at us from the platform until we pulled out of sight, we were treated like royalty.

When I think of Dorothy I think of strawberry rhubarb crumble, her quick smile and light-hearted laugh recalling stories of every cocker who graced their home and whose stones lovingly mark the spot where they now lay along the garden wall. When my mother asked Dorothy to explain the workings of the Aga, lunch was temporarily interrupted while Dorothy happily talked about the wonders of the Aga. 

As Dorothy's health declined and her rheumatoid arthritis progressed, visits to Frogfield no longer included lasagna with peas and crumble with clotted cream in the cozy kitchen but rather car rides around the countryside with lunch at a favorite restaurant, always ending with Dorothy's favorite: Baked Alaska.

All though they both have retired from the trialing circuit, it was fitting that Dorothy would live to see one of her Anahar cockers center stage. 

Photo Source: channel24.co.za

Dorothy was 90-years old and I know, had a wonderful life. She died in the arms of her son, surrounded by her family. The funeral and interment were at Fettercairn and I was told Dorothy "would have been proud of her day." Denis is "being very brave" and now is getting use to life without his beloved Dorothy.

I imagine Dorothy received a wonderfully noisy welcome in heaven with all of her lovely Anahar's on their best behavior and madly wagging tails. Her equal will never be among us again ...

Cha bhithidh a leithid ami riamh

With the exception of the photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Joanne Harris quote

Text and photographs copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. 2014

I Promise I Will Always Listen To You

I promise that I will always ALWAYS listen to you. I will come when you call my name. I will sit when you tell me "hup" because I love it when you tell me I am a good boy. I will never do anything bad. When you are sad, I am sad. I promise to always listen to you.

What did you just say?

"I promise I will Always Listen To You." Digital Image. October 1, 2011.

Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

Happiness and Loss: Lessons My Dog Has Taught Me

Life's like that sometimes... Now and then for no good reason a man can figure out, life will just haul off and knock him flat ...  But it's not all like that.  A lot of it's mighty fine, and you can't afford to waste the good part frettin' about the bad.  That makes it all bad.... Sure, I know - sayin' it's one thing and feelin' it's another.  But I'll tell you a trick that's sometimes a big help.  When you start lookin' around for something good to take the place of the bad, as a general rule you can find it.  ~From the movie Old Yeller


It's fitting to begin this post with the quote from the movie Old Yeller which is without a doubt, hands down, the saddest book and movie to have ever graced the silver screen.

Ever since man invited the first canine to share his dwelling, dogs have been an integral part of our lives - some more than others. Not everyone is a 'dog person' - I've even met a few and they remained an acquaintance. My friends are those you might call 'dog people' who understand the special relationship that exists between my dogs and I.


Over 20 years ago I became acquainted with my first field bred English cocker spaniel. A client who was the owner of a direct mail veterinary supply company came to review a catalog proof when Al and I owned our advertising agency and brought along Ivy, an 8-week old black and white English cocker spaniel. To say it was love at first sight is an understatement. I had never seen an English cocker, or rather, never really paid attention to them and certainly never was aware there was such a thing as a field bred cocker. My opinion of cocker spaniels was they were nervous little dogs with a lot of hair, prone to ear and skin infections - and they barked a lot. I could not quite believe that this bright, wiggly, adorable little dog was a cocker spaniel. 

It didn't take long before I knew that I had to have one and as fate would have it, there was a litter mate to Ivy, now 4 months old, still available. The only obstacle that stood in the way was Al but since he was outnumbered four to one (all three of our boys had come over the side of the English cocker spaniel) it was only a matter of time before he reluctantly gave in.


Chris and I headed off to the kennel to pick up Casey as soon as we could make arrangements. Intrigued with the thought of upland bird hunting I began reading about bird training and seeking out the kennel owner for advice. Before long Chris and I were attending training seminars with Casey, building a working relationship resulting in many wonderful adventures out in the field with her. 

When Casey was a couple of years old we received a call from our trainer/breeder friend informing us that he had a litter of puppies and would we be interested. I was reluctant but Al jumped at the chance to have another cocker to our family. Just like children, Emma's personality was entirely different from Casey: she had all the traits you look for in a good upland bird dog including being too smart for her own good. The adage that every dog should have a job was our mantra for Emma. In spite of her trainer, Emma was the ultimate bird dog. Emma never failed to find and return a bird that no one else, man or dog, could locate.

Our relationship with our trainer/breeder and his wife evolved into a friendship, at the heart of which was our love of the Anahar line of English cocker spaniels. Emma was bred with one of the kennel males giving the family four beautiful dogs: Bear, Spencer, Lucy and Angus. Eight years ago Lucy had two puppies: Riley and our Jinny.


A few weeks ago Jinny was delivered of her own litter, two females and a male, via C-section, avoiding a repeat of the heartache we experienced last year when Jinny was unable to deliver her two puppy litter and we lost both puppies.


Having had to say good-bye to our beloved Angus in early July, the puppies helped ease the sorrow. But as Agnes Turnbull said, "Dogs' lives are too short - their only fault..." we lost one of the female puppies to an unknown defect when she was 10-days old. I would have never guessed that another loss was yet to come - and that being the end of our friendship with the kennel owners.

You hear it all the time - especially if you have ever tuned into Judge Judy or The People's Court: always get it in writing. We had assumed that the gentleman's agreement from the time of our first litter with Emma would stand with this litter. When asked what my plans were for the litter I expressed that I had hoped for three puppies: one for our son and daughter, one for the kennel as stud fee and one for Al and I. I was told not to worry about him as "any dog (he) would take would only be another kennel dog." Of course we were always happy to allow our dogs to be part of the kennel breeding program to further the Anahar line. It was a joy to have Jinny deliver the two puppies seen on the x-ray but then to find a bonus puppy. That joy was cut short when we had to put to sleep the little girl that had Emma's markings and was the first to do everything, so like Emma.


The first inkling of trouble came with the email indicating that the kennel would be taking the female puppy and would co-own the remaining male puppy. There had never been any earlier mention or discussion about co-owning any dogs prior to the breeding. If there had, we would have certainly discussed sharing of the medical expenses; once there were puppies on the ground it was too late to discuss the$2,400 in veterinary bills we incurred with this litter. Rather than give the kennel a dog that we had $1,200 invested in and owning only half of the remaining dog, we offered to pay twice the normal stud fee for an unproven dog which was rejected. During a telephone conversation we were told the kennel would not be sending the AKC information on the sire so we could register the litter nor would they accept our offer to have the kennel register the litter and provide us with a Limited Registration of the puppies. "You have two beautiful dogs ...." 

There is no doubt that this is a result of an effort to correct a situation that they felt could result in a risk to their business if they continued to offer us Full Registration of the dogs. A number of years ago they changed their policy of offering only Limited Registration to anyone purchasing a dog from their kennel leaving us as the only customers who had Full Registration which apparently left them feeling vulnerable. I would have understood and agreed had I known that is what they wanted and would have been happy with Limited.  Apparently this feeling that their business was open to exposure led to anger and feelings of resentment, all of which came out during a telephone conversation. In the end, no amount of talking could bridge the gap.


As a self-proclaimed writer I find it soothing to my injured feelings to write the story where I am the innocent victim and have the story end where it all comes out in my favor. However, to retreat to that place would deny me the chance to come away a better, if not wiser, person. Taking time to allow the heat of hurt and anger to subside would have allowed for cooler conversation. The second lesson: to get it in writing.  But the best lesson I have come away from this loss has to do with the responsibility of friendship: we owe it to our friends to speak even when it means telling them a harsh truth. When you know better, you do better.


And last but certainly not least ....Charles Schulz was right: Happiness is a warm puppy.

Wordless Wednesday: If I Kept That Puppy I'd Name Him Angus

"Angus at 8 weeks." Digital Image. November 1997. Original privately held by

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. Copyright (c) 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Welcoming the Newest Additions to the Anahar ECS Family Tree

"Anahar's Flower of Scotland; Call name Jinny and her puppies." Digital Image.

Copyright (c) 2011 Al Scherwinski.

Wordless Wednesday: Anahar's Rhumel de Thump

A tribute to Anahar's Rhumel de Thump, call name Rum. Beloved pet of Denis & Dorothy Douglas who crossed the Rainbow Bridge. One less merry little cocker at Frogfield outside Laurencekirk.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Riley Boy

Copyright © 2009 by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski