Our line has done very well in the conformation and obedience rings
over the years, and we have produced several National Specialty winners, both here in the
US and in Canada, as well. The Aragorn line began with the linebred Swansea tri-color
bitch, DUSTY (AM.CAN.CH. ARAGORN'S SWANSEA GALADRIEL,CDX, ROM, born Jan 26 1976) who was a Swansea bred bitch; her
pedigree is an old one and reveals such top producers of the breed: Ch.Swansea Good Nite,
Ch.Swansea Lord of Rhydowen, CD and Ch.Swansea Blue Jeans of Cambria (the first
blue merle to place in the Working Group). Dusty was a fun outgoing pup, with the inherent
Cardigan trait of wanting to please. This made her rather easy to train and she soon
developed that show dog attitude making her hard to dismiss. As a youngster, Dusty was
Winners Bitch and BOS in Sweepstakes at the '77 CWCCA National Specialty, was WB and BOS
over Canadian specials at the '79 Canadian National Booster, finishing her Canadian title
that day, returning in '80 to win Best of Breed. Dusty was the #1 Cardigan in Canada for
1980.
Our
girl returned to the '84 Specialty as a veteran, and earned Best of Opposite Sex and Best
Veteran over top dogs in the history of the breed. Dusty was a good foundation for us; and
her progeny have carried on the winning and producing tradition.
Dusty was Aragorn's first C.D.X title. She gave 100% of herself in the obedience ring as well. She was High in Match be being the ony one who stayed for the five minutes in pouring rain, with her dark eyes watching to where she saw me go out of sight. At a trial, running off to get her dumbbell, she would pause, glance about to be sure she had an audience, pick it up and retrieve her prize proudly.
Dusty was a great foundation for us; and her progeny have carried on the winning and producing tradition she started. Her traits were carried through and the results are seen in the breeding and showing records of her daughter, Okie, and her sons, Hawkeye and Colonel, and again to the generations which followed. These traits were not only breed characteristics, but obedience, herding and agility excellence as well.
We bred Dusty to DDRAIG (CH.GLENJOY'S DDRAIG GLAS CD), a Winsdown-bred dog, and a grandson of still another top producer, Winsdown Brymore Carbon Blue. Ddraig was the #1 blue merle in the country for 1979. This breeding crosses the lines of the old Swansea and Winsdown stock, with many of the top quality dogs in the history of the breed.
The
resulting Ddraig X Dusty outcross (of two solidly linebred dogs) gave us the hybrid OKIE
(CH. ARAGORN'S OKLAHOMA BLUE ELF, CD, ROMSilver; born 6/77). We took Okie back to a
half-sibling on her mother's side, HAWKEYE (CH. SANDON
LITTLE BIG MAN ARAGORN, CD,ROM), himself purely Swansea. (SEE THIS PEDIGREE)This introduced the part of the Winsdown we liked (blue merle
coloring, with vivid copper pointing areas, plus heavier bone, strong fronts & rears
and big round ears) to the sound part of the Swansea strain we originally started with;
having more length of back, better toplines, pretty typey heads, and high trainability.
Hawkeye, a Swansea Blue Champagne son ,was a tri-color like his mother, Dusty, with typical white flashings and light tan points. Hawkeye was an important member of our stud force and we have stored his semen at a Cryobank facility. We bred Okie to Hawkeye (his half-sister; the result being 3/4 Swansea and 1/4 Winsdown) for three litters & we got some stunning results. The first breeding (6/79) gave us Aggie (AM.CAN.CH. ARAGORN'S OUT OF THE BLUE, CD) and Happy (CH. ARAGORN'S TRIUMPH OF FOXFYRE). Horace (CH. ARAGORN'S SARUM BLUE BISHOP) was from the second breeding (9/81), and Okie's last breeding (10/86) gave us Buddy (CH. ARAGORN BARR'S SIX-PACK).
AGGIE, (AM.CAN.CH. ARAGORN'S OUT OF THE BLUE, CD) went on
to become the #2 blue merle in the U.S. for 1982 with limited showing, and was BOW/WB at
the Canadian Specialty in 1980. She earned her titles quickly; her championship with 3
majors; her C.D. obedience title also earned with no hesitation & with top scores.
Aggie finished her Canadian Championship, earning a Herding Group placing as well, all at
the age of 9, and was rated #2 in Canada for 1988.
When we researched for the right dog to breed to Aggie, we found Ch. Foxfire Black Domino and we were thrilled with not only the dog, but what his pedigree revealed, bringing together common ancestors. By using Black Domino (1/2 Swansea & 1/2 Winsdown) to Aggie (3/4 Swansea & 1/4 Winsdown) things meshed together nicely (see pedigree).
Aggie produced a lovely litter which included CH. ARAGORN'S SILVER STREAK (WB and Honorable Mention to BOB at the '82 Independent Specialty), CH.ARAGORN APPRAXIN SILVER FOX (her blue merle son, CH. ARAGORN APPRAXIN BLUE MERLYN, multi-group placer & was BOS at Westminster and her daughter, Ebony, and CH. ARAGORN LORD OF THE RINGS, U.D. , our first Ch. U.D. titled Cardigan.
Aggie, multiple group placer, was chosen to represent the Cardigan Welsh Corgi in the Harper & Row publication, Illustrated Book of Dogs, edited by Roger Caras. At the 1986 Westminster KC show, Aggie was Best of Breed over top specials, and her grandson, Merlyn was Best of Opposite Sex, under Pembroke breeder-judge Michael Suave. This was the second year in a row that Aragorn dogs went BOB and BOS at the prestigious Garden show, judged by breed specialists. Aggie was the only blue merle to receive an Honorable Mention to BOB at the '86 CWCCA National Specialty.
Aggie's winning litter-sister HAPPY, (CH. ARAGORN'S
TRIUMPH OF FOXFYRE),,
a flashy tri-color
similar to Dusty, was RWB at the 1980 CWCCA National Specialty, and was BOB at several
National Club supported shows, and also received an Honorable Mention at the '86 National
Specialty. Happy was bred to Horace and produced Merry (CH. ARAGORN'S
MERRY MONROE OF BARR, multi-group placer) who, in Nov. 1984, was Best Of Breed at the
AKC Centennial Specialty, was BOS to her sire at the AKC Centennial Dog Show, and was BOB
at 1985 Westminster K.C.
Happy's 2 daughters, sired by Ch. Aragorn
Appraxin Blue Merlyn, finished their championships at early ages. Ffaegyn, (AM.CAN.CH.
ARAGORN'S SILVER SORCERESS) her blue daughter, finished her championship in grande style,
by sweeping the "Triple Crown" of Cardi shows. 
At Old
Dominion, April 1988, a CWCCA supported
entry, Ffaegyn
was BOW for a 5 point major, under
Cardigan breeder judge, Andrea Ternus. The following weekend, at the Del Val CWCA 5th
Specialty, under Corgi specialist, Howard Mickelson, she was again awarded BOW and 5
points with 76 bitches competing. (We won Winners at Del Val Specialties five years in a
row!) The next day, at our CWCCA National Specialty (total entry 200), Ffaegyn earned her
third major and BOW with 81 bitches and 44 dogs competing in the classes - 15 points in 3
straight shows! This very special win retired the Blue Jeans Winners Bitch Memorial Trophy
first offered in 1977 when it was won by our foundation bitch, Dusty. Ffaegyn brought the
silver bowl home to stay. Ffaegyn finished her Canadian Championship in 4 straight shows
in the 1988. In 1994, Ffaegyn competed for the first time as a Veteran at our National and
earned the top Veteran Bitch award.
The
next breeding of Hawkeye X Okie produced HORACE, (CH. ARAGORN'S
SARUM BLUE BISHOP,Am.Can.CD,ROM), our first group placing Cardi. At the 1982 CWCCA
Independent Nat'l Specialty under Max Riddle Horace was Best Bred-by Exhibitor and also
BOS in Sweepstakes (under Doris Slaboda), finished his title on the Tar Heel Circuit in NC
gathering 14 points on the circuit alone. Horace was Best Of Breed at the AKC's Centennial
Dog Show in 1984 under Cardigan specialist Dr. Ed McGough, who pulled 5 dogs for the final
BOB consideration, 4 of those were ARAGORN (the other 3 were: his daughter, Merry who went
BOS; DUSTY, our foundation bitch from the Veterans class, and HAPPY) Horace was BOS to his
daughter, Merry, at Westminster under Pembroke breeder/judge Mary Gay Sargent. At the age
of 9, Horace earned his CD titles both in the U.S. and Canada. with his new owner Barb
Miller.
That brings us to our tri-color sired by
Horace, COLONEL, CH. ARAGORN'S ORIGINAL RECIPE, CD,
who was Winners Dog
for a 5 point major at the AKC Centennial Specialty (also the Delaware Valley CWCA
Specialty), was BOW/WD for his second 5 point major (2nd Delaware Valley CWCA Specialty)
and finished with a third major. He earned his CD title in 4 shows with his owner, our
vet, who had never done that sort of thing before!
Colonel sired 36 pups from 6 litters the spring of '85, averaging 6 pups in a litter. Six Colonel kids finished their championship titles in 1986 and most of them as puppies and three went on to be group placers. A son, Ch. Aragorn's The Lone Ranger, CD, was BOB at Westminster and earned a Herding Certificate before the age of two. In 1986, the CWCCA awarded the Bole Cup to Colonel as the Top Stud Dog and Aragorn was rated #1 Cardigan Breeder in the country (CQ rating). In 1987, Colonel was awarded the Ch. Swansea Good Nite Memorial Trophy by the CWCCA for being the sire of the most Champions during the year (having produced 6 champions, 2 CD titles and 1 CDX title). Many other Cardigan lines go back to Colonel.
Colonel was bred back to his half-sib, Okie (needless to say, Okie was a fantastic producer for us!); and we gave us the blue merle boy, CH. ARAGORN'S SILVER SPIRIT,CD, who was RWD at the '86 National Specialty, and BOW/WD at the Del Val Cardigan Specialty in 1987, and finished his CD obedience title in 3 straight shows . We were WD at that Specialty 4 years in a row! Colonel, twice; and the two Colonel sons, Perk and Jesse. Twice Best of Winners).
Advancing further along our line, we bred our homozygous merle bitch, ARAGORN'S WHITE LIGHTNING ("Ebony", despite her name, was white), to Colonel. Ebony is a Horace X Patch (Ch.Aragorn Appraxin Silver Fox, an Aggie daughter) daughter. Ebony was a lovely bitch, white with merle patches, solid like Aggie & Happy, with level topline, and smooth flowing movement.
The breeding of Ebony to a tri sire produced only blue merles. Ebony had two champions from her first litter, Ch. Aragorn's Blue Moonshiner and Ch. Aragorn's Silver Belle of Barr, both of which have produced champions themselves.
Horace has proved his worth not only in the
show ring, but like his sire, proved his value as a very important part our breeding
program. His progeny all placed at the 1984 National Specialty. Horace's blue son, CH. ARAGORN APPRAXIN BLUE MERLY,ROM, multi-group placer,
started his career as another generation of blue studs. He was used on 3 direct
generations of bitches, HAPPY, MERRY and JOLLY. Merlyn is a good size dog, with level
topline, over a long back, with great angulation and driving movement. 
Three Old Men...................
(photo right: Horace, shown at 12 yrs; his son, Merlyn at 9; Merlyn's son, Magic, at 7 yrs)
Merlyn’s kids, Ffaegyn, Chelsea, Magic, and Annie have also proven their outstanding qualities at an early age. You’ve already met Ffaegyn in the discussion on her mother, Happy. Annie is one of the top agility/obedience Cardis in the country and recently at the age of 10 years, she earned her AKC Agility Excellent title.
Brandy (Ch. Foxfyre Aragorn
Brandywine) a red brindle bitch, was acquired from Marge Riccardi and she was bred to
Colonel to give us the tri-color champions, Perk, a male, and Lynx,
a bitch. Lynx earned her championship at 10 mos. with 4 majors and 2 months later she
earned her CD in 3 straight shows with a Dog World Award and finished her CDX in both the
US and Canada and was rated among the top 1- obedience Cardigans. When we bred Lynx to
Merlyn, it gave us the blue,
AM.CAN.CH. ARAGORN'S SILVER WIZARD, CD
("Magic") who finished both his American and
Canadian championship titles by 10 mos of age. Shown in 7 Canadian shows, awarded BEST
PUPPY at every one, was he was Reserve Winners at the CCCC Specialty, Best of Breed over
Group placing adult champion competition rated #5 in Canada in limited showing and has
been pulled out in herding group competition Recently, Magic came out of retirement, and
at the age of 9, earned his Companion Dog title at the CWCCA National Specialty trials
with scores of 186.5 and 187.5. In 1998, he competed in Veterans obedience, earned 189 and
193, with second places both trials to his half-sister, Annie.
We met with continued success when
we bred, Magic to his half-sister, CH. ARAGORN’S CORAZON , both Merlyn kids, to
produce the blue bitch, CH. ARAGORN'S ENCHANTED CRYSTAL and the black male AM.CAN. CH. ARAGORN LORD ALDEN. Alden, a black and white with
brindle points, was Best of Breed at Westminster in 1994, and for 1995 was the #1 Cardigan
male and #2 Cardigan in the nation. He was chosen by Purina to represent the Cardigan in
their recent ad campaign. Alden lives in Greenwich Village, NYC with Tom Adamski, Cardi
Ch. Aragorn's Lady Edna of Cardach and Hailey the Doberman.
Crystal was bred to Ch. Aragorn's Gwindor of Draehook, a Merlyn son, to produce our tri-color, Windy, (CH. ARAGORN'S DUST IN THE WIND) . Windy was bred back to Magic to produce the two blue show kids, Taylor and Daphne. Daphne (CH. ARAGORN'S SILVER SEQUEL) finished her championship within a very short period of time, and earned a Group 4 her first weekend out as a special and a Group 2 Placing at Valley Forge KC on Sept. 20th, under judge Patrick Doniere.
We acquired Lola,
CH. SISTERWOOD ARAGORN STARLET (Ch. Pecan Valley Spellbound X Ch. Sisterwood's
Stark'n Dark) from Sisterwood Kennels. Breeders have consistently recognized Lola's
qualities. She earned Best in Sweeps under Joyce Murray as well as BOW (4pt.) with Chuck
Murray (Nat'l supported entry), and Best in Sweeps at DVCWCA specialty with Leah James.
She earned her title with another 4 pt. major and BOW under Pem specialist T. Rutledge
Parker. At our recent CWCCA National Specialty,
English breeder/judge Peter Clifton awarded Lola an Award of Merit among a field of over
150 specials - she was the lone blue merle amid a sea of brindles in the final round for
Best of Breed consideration. Also, at the Megan competition, (basically champions only, classes divided by color,
judged by 3 breeders), Lola was #1 blue bitch. Two weeks later, Lola earned Best of Breed
under breeder/judge Andrea Ternus-Georgi, as well as a Group 3 under judge C.Siever Smith.
At Palisades KC, (10/97) Pembroke breeder/judge Pat Hess
awarded Lola a Group 4, AND a Group 3 to our red merle Aussie, AKC/ASCA Ch. Bouncing
Ball's Christmas Music.
Lola's paternal pedigree is Aragorn-bred and in the fall of
1997, she was bred to the Magic son, Am.Can. Ch. Aragorn's Lord Alden. (1995 #1 male, #2
CWC and BOB Westminster). Six puppies were born Nov. 12th, and
they are now being shown. This litter produced our blues brothers, Jake (Ch.Aragorn's
Joliet Jake Blues) and Elwood (Ch. Aragorn's Elwood Blues), and their blues sister, Zoe. (Ch. Aragorn's Zoe of Banraigh). (View Pedigree).
Elwood has turned many heads in around the group ring; at the young
age of 20 months, he has been
shown in Best of Breed Competiton 44 times and has earned: 35 Best of Breed wins, 20 group
placings, 6 Herding Group Wins, 3 Group 2's, 5 Group 3's, and 6 Group 4's.
In 1999 he finished #5 Cardigan, and #1 Owner/Breeder Handled Cardigan.
In developing our Aragorn line, we believe in consistent quality breeding, by starting off with a quality sound line-bred bitch. We crossed her with another, but different solidly-linebred stud; a stud who also demonstrates to us what closely resembles the "ideal Cardigan" in our eyes. Over the years, we have tried to "mix the pot" by gradually adding "outside ingredients" to our recipe, blending with care and scrutiny. We hope to improve on the recipe, but never abandoning the sureness of the main ingredient from which we originally started.
In 2001, we acquired the black and white bitch, TWINROC AFTER MIDNIGHT from Paul and Doris Slaboda to add to our breeding program. Raven will be bred to Elwood in the future.
Recently, Elwood sired his first litter from Sharon Wilson's bitch, Legacy's Some Bunny Special of Legacy Cardigans. There were 6 puppies and some will be in the show ring in the summer of '05.
Effective July 1, 1997, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America amended their Code of Ethics to allow the breeding of blue merles to any color other than black. We personally feel this was a good thing for the breed, but then the club revoted and reverted to breeding blues only to blacks. The original vote eliminated the color barriers, and opened up the gene pool, and breeders of any color would have benefited from using other lines of proven sound dogs in order to produce more correct sound Cardigans, regardless of color. However, the re-vote, in our opinion was a step backwards and not beneficial to the breed as a whole.
See ya ringside!
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