Ch Trilby Lulu Bear HT HSCs HSAs Select USA 2004

Bigtree-Cacharel's Own Yankee HIC (imp USA) x Ch Trilby Notre Nocturne HIC

'Lulu' - bred by Irena Schneider (Trilby Briards) owned in Australia by Cacharel Briards and  in the USA by Cacharel Briards, Irena Schneider, Ian Rasmussen and Barbe Lynch

Lulu's Story
Her story started when we at Cacharel leased Allis back to her breeder, Irena Schneider at Trilby Briards for her second litter. It was also Yank's second litter, his first litter was the highly successful Trilby 'Z' litter to Allis's dam Aust Ch Narbrisse Miss Muffet - 'Trixie'.

The result was 10 pups born on 7th October 2001 - Lulu was one of two fawn girls - the other her sister, was called 'Tic Tac' who is now in New Zealand  and is now a New Zealand Champion. Lulu had been reserved by a USA breeder, but unfortunately the events of 9/11 put an end to that, so shortly before Christmas she and her sister came to live at Cacharel. On New Year's Eve, tragedy struck at Trilby - parvo virus was diagnosed in a puppy. Lulu & Tic Tac, who were with us, one fawn boy who had already left for Japan and two black puppies were the only survivors of this litter. Irena also lost the main boy of her kennels , Aust Ch Trilby Notre Normand - Allis's litter brother, and the sire of the  fabulous Cacharel 'P' litter.
We soon found that Lulu thought that dog shows had been invented for her. In her first show out as a baby she won Best Baby Puppy in group - going in to the ring straight after her kennel mate JJ had won Best in Group - Group 1. Lulu delighted in finding everything of interest in the ring, be it a butterfly, a grasshopper, or on one well remembered time when she nearly tore my arm off trying to chase a bird. And she just loved judges - especially those who wore hats - she tasted more than one . . At 9 mths of age, she had a weeks camping with Ian Rasmussen and came back as a very polished showgirl, although still with that impish expression and sense of excitement that made Lulu so special.

At 9 mths of age, something else entered Lulu's world - sheep!!!! Now all her energy could finally be channelled into something that she loved more than anything else. She earned her Australian HT at the tender age of 11mths, becoming one of the first Australian Briards with a herding title. Sheep herding didn't slow down her progress in the show ring, she achieved her Championship very easily, along the way becoming the first bitch to beat our boy Bruno - a feat only two other girls (both ours) have achieved. She seemed to be always the youngest in the bitch line up, however this did not stop judges from giving her the bitch CC over the older competition. Her beautiful free flowing movement, her ear placement, her coat texture & colour and her over all soundness was rarely overlooked. However, Lulu being Lulu did manage to lose a few times when something else going on outside the ring happened to be more exciting than the show ring . . . but then that's our Lulu.

LULU & The USA
It wasn't in our plans to send her over to the USA, it started off as a joke question to Mary Weir - and snowballed from there. Once we realised that her trip could become a reality, panic set in, did we really want her to go? However, everything seemed to fall in to place so easily (and quickly!!!!). The first step was making sure she could travel back with a friend, then finding someone to take care of her when she arrived and before going to the Nationals. We also had to have her hips done before the final decision was made. The hip x-rays went off without a hitch, she came back with an excellent score of 9, the plane trip was booked, Ann Witte would take her to Brisbane to Sydney, Irena would look after her in Sydney and do all the export stuff and provide the export crate, and she would travel with Ann from Sydney to Omaha, Nebraska. Liz Kenitz kindly offered to take care of her until she left for the Nationals. Mary Weir picked her up on her way to the Nationals and would also have a few days to train her prior to Lulu going in the herding events at the National. It is a credit to Lulu's temperament that she withstood all these changes in her life - the first few days in the USA were pretty hard on her, plus the trip over was very turbulent.

Two days later she finally met her permanent host in the USA - the breeder of her dad, Barbe Lynch of Bigtree Briards. Lulu had a couple more challenges ahead of her, one was the Rassemblement, she was the 4th Australian bred Briard to be presented at Rass level and the only fawn to be presented - we were thrilled when she went Select, and especially thrilled with the very favourable comments given by both judges - especially the comments on her super movement - vindicating our decision to send her over and what we here at Cacharel & Trilby already knew about her. She also placed a creditable 3rd in a competitive open fawn bitch class at the National.

Lulu's next big adventure was to Ohio - and a meeting with her husband to be Am Ch Dante Bohemia Elite Select USA 2004 (imp Czech) - and the following photos are the results :-))v Born on Valentine's Day 2005, her pups in the USA were bred under the Bigtree - ACT kennel name ACT being an an acronym for Ahmadi (Ian Rasmussen) Cacharel (Mitchell) and Trilby (Irena Schneider)

Lulu arrived back home in Qld 29th October 2007 - thanks to everyone in the USA, especially Mary Weir and Jim & Theresa Buzzard for their help during the last year. Lulu will continue her herding career and make the occasional foray into the show ring.

Am Ch Bigtree ACT Apple Blossom USA Select OFA Good 'Blossom' owned by Molly Gardner Can Ch Bigtree ACT Aviator at Pooka 'Harvey' owned by Suzette Mousseau & Marsha Clamp Bigtree ACT Attilla d'Eiledon 'Attila' owned by Karen Westerholm   Am Ch Bigtree-ACT All About Love Pre Select OFA Good 'Valentine' owned by Nancy Sistek, Mike & Liz Green Bigtree-ACT Augustus Canis OFA Good 'Auggie' owned by Barbe Lynch Bigtree-ACT Amazing Grace 'Kylie' owned by Jennifer Twombley