JANET, DEREK & JORDAN KEATES

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photos by David Paton
JANET & THE MOLE
JORDAN & "THE MOLE"
photo by d. Keates
DEREK & HYMIE
Dogs have always been part of our lives. Derek's family had an assortment which included mongrels a Chow and a Pyrenean Mountain dog and I had grown up with Pembroke Welsh Corgis, my moms cousin bred them so everyone in the family had them, but no one showed. I had always loved Afghans but my family seemed to think they could only be owned by the well to do and you would need to live in a mansion, which we didn't. My first job after leaving school was working with racing Greyhounds and it would have been quite easy to have ended up with a houseful of them as there were so many that ended up needing homes, but my dream was to have an Afghan Hound, my family finally relented after seeing one in the flesh and were so taken aback by its stunning beauty they agreed we should have one, but I would have to pay for it myself.
That's me on the bench. with Peter the Chow
In 1968 Naz came into our lives, she cost 26 guineas, I felt I had been saving up forever and in the end I had sold my guitar because I couldn't wait any longer! In the mean time I had started to go to shows and look around, I was so fascinated by all this that I decided that showing was for me. Like so many other people our first Afghan wasn't to be the champion we thought she was, at six months while out running free she broke her front leg, not put off by this we carried on and at least managed to get her fit and enter her for shows but she……..hated it and these were the boom years with 70+ in a class you seemed to stand around for hours so this didn't go down at all well for Naz she had better ways of spending her time, so it was time for a re-think.
I had changed my job and was working as a canine beautician I was working for a lovely lady who told me later that I only got the job because I owned an Afghan, she owned and showed Toy Poodles but in the 50s she had owned an Afghan who was a Three Streams, I am so grateful to her as she taught my so much about the world of show dogs, she had been treasurer and was secretary of her local Poodle breed club so would pass on all the ins and outs of running a show and her knowledge of dogs and grooming was inspirational, oh and of course there was all the gossip, I could write a book and all this has helped and shaped the way I think now.
Derek with Monty
Janet with Tina & Dusty
Derek had joined the Army at sixteen and had spent most of his time in Germany not an ideal life for showing dogs and for us this has meant we could never own lots of dogs or breed as we would have liked to.
1970 was to be the year of our second Afghan enter Sally ( Khanabad Dhulia ) she was Derek's favourite and my dads too she was very good at getting her own way in anything and everything, she did quite well but unfortunately was too fond of her belly and it was always a job to keep her weight down.
In 1971 we decided to mate Naz,
from this litter we kept Arry he was to become my best friend of all time and my constant shadow we would go everywhere together and he kept my spirits up when Derek was away. Although this litter was the making of Naz she became more confident and mature in mind and body it was fraught with hard work and sadness, she had the litter with no problems but after two weeks the puppies started to fade and we lost 3 of them, never again we thought! This litter was to bring into our lives Jeff and Carol Addis who bought a dog from us, they were the founder members who set up with me The Birmingham Afghan Hound Training Club, they are still to this day my best friends and the most genuine and spiritual people I know.
Naz's pups
Carol Addis with Coke, Samantha & Golly
Arry was the easiest dog to train and show and I know he was an "old soul" he seemed to know so much and he became part of The Birmingham Afghan Hound obedience display team we were so proud of him, the down side of the 70s was there was still prejudice regarding colour and as he was a black brindle it didn't always go in his favour but he still did us proud.
In 1973 we decided to have a litter from Sally we wanted to use Ch Khanabad Diablo of Whodeanie but he refused to mate her so we ended up using his litter brother Khanabad Dolphin the sire of our first litter, I didn't mind as I always preferred him and we had been pleased with Naz's puppies. From this litter we kept Steve he was considered the runt of the litter and the vet wanted to put him down but he was such a pretty colour that we were going to fight to keep him going, in the end we narrowed it down to him and Jeremy a lovely all black boy, but with the colour thing going on we decided to keep Steve he had the colour markings of a blue point cat, blue mask, saddle and legs and silver topknot and body coat. Steve was a personality plus dog he could light up a whole room with his presence, he did quite well for us at shows but his love was racing and in his day was very fast, he too was good at obedience and was part of the display team but above all he was Derek's best buddy and when he was stationed over here he would take Steve to camp and on duty with him. There was so much to Steve I could fill a book about him, when he died part of us died too, the pain of losing him was too much to bear but he opened up a whole new spiritual way of thinking for me and I know he is still with us in spirit.
Janet & Arry
Dave McCann & Khanabad Dolphin of Whodeanie
Steve & Arry
In 1975 we lost the last of our Corgis, Sandy, we had bred her ourselves and she was 15 when she died, so I had spent my life growing up with her, its strange because Derek was now stationed over here and we had decided to get married, it was as if she knew her time of looking after me was over and Derek was now going to be here all the time. Goodbye my darling angel, I look forward to us being together again.
Arry & Steve on patrol
Sandy
The 80s had arrived Derek had decided to leave the Army in 1978 so we could live a normal live and now concentrate on our hobby, showing dogs, we had wanted a pup from Sandra Miles breeding but as Derek was still in the Army in wasn't practical but we kept a close eye on the litter and booked a pup from Irene Smiths Sanas Enchanting Star long before she decided to mate her, it seemed we had been waiting forever then when the time came we were disappointed in the choice of stud dog, what should we do? That year at Crufts we had seen and fell in love with Ch Montravia Dun-Dun v Bornia State, his movement was stunning and we wanted a dog that would move like that, as luck would have it Irene had a change of mind too and decided to use him instead, it seemed like a dream come true for us and it certainly was. Jim-Bob came to live with us Christmas 1980 the best present we could ever have! He was everything we had wanted and he never let us down, he was the perfect showman and I would always get a thrill watching his fabulous movement, he did so much winning for us even in to old age but he never gained his title, why? To this day we will never understand why he didn't!!!! a perfect gentleman to the end and even though he destroyed everything in the house and every car we had and became the greatest escape artist of all time bringing us some heart stopping moments, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Jim-Bob the Gods have given you the crown you deserve, you were and always will be perfect to us.
Kalisuku Khalgani
Sanas Enchanting Star
1982 our son Jordan was born, this didn't stop us showing we still carried on as normal he just came along with us as he still does. Jordan has been through a lot in his life, most of his early life was spent in or visiting hospital. He has Aspergers Syndrome (Autism) with severe learning difficulties and there are other problems that go with it, alongside this he has a sight problem (Optic Nerve Hypolasia) and he has undergone operations to correct his spine even with all this he is a happy soul and he does enjoy meeting all the other doggie folk at the shows most of which show him a lot of kindness and understanding, this means an awful lot to us, as people can be so cruel and hurtful with things they don't understand. Autism and Afghans is a very special kind of love!
Jordan
In1983 Saxon (read his story) joined the family, thankfully he lived out his life with much love and devotion which had cruelly been denied him in his early life.
Derek & Saxon

After many years without a Corgi I decided I could no longer live without one, Derek took a bit of persuading but I usually get my own way. So the search was on, this time we wanted a show dog, it didn't take us long to decide what bloodlines we liked and in 1986 Walter entered our lives, named after the Danny Kaye character in "The Secret Live Life of Walter Mitty" we had decided on this name long before we had him and the night we brought him home the film was on TV so we knew it was a good omen! And he was as funny, he was convinced he was an Afghan, we would take him to shows and I couldn't help but notice how different in personality he was to the other Corgis he was definitely something special and like Jim-Bob was a great showman we won so much with him, he had many admirers his black mask and huge ears made him stand out in a crowed. For me Walters passing long before his time aged nine was a terrible shock, I still haven't come to terms with, I expected him to live out his life into old age cuddled up on my lap a grand old man, little was I to know then that history would repeat itself in a cruel way!
Walter
Late in 1986 we decided to add another Afghan to the family we wanted another dog like Jim-Bob with similar breeding, earlier in 1987 we had seen a litter advertised that we were interested in but hadn't made any inquiries as we thought they would cost the earth. At Crufts that year we met Dan James (Jahadi) breeder of that same litter, above his bench he was advertising "A black masked red dog for sale" I knew straight away that this dog had waited for me, fate had decreed that he would be mine! Victor was here at last! I had decided on the name, we noticed after that, every film or TV show we watched that had a baddie they were called Victor. Anyone who knows me, knows the deep love I had for him, it's hard to explain but I had an instant bond with him it was as if I had known him from a previous life he was the love of my life and in my eyes never did anything wrong. A psychic friend of mine calls him "The Red Knight" who would protect me at all times and I know he still does. We had quite a bit of success with him but we both feel he was before his time and if he was around now things would be different. Mind you that wouldn't alter the fact that dog shows were not his idea of a good time he was another one who preferred racing and above all his own home. When he passed away I thought life had ended and it was the moment Derek had dreaded, knowing how much he meant to me.
Victor aged 5 months
Victor at Intertrack
After losing Walter so suddenly we were left with only Victor, we wouldn't normally do this but that weekend we went to a Corgi show to see if we could get another puppy, fate again played a part, Walter had only ever been used at stud once, there was a litter due and we couldn't believe these would be his great grandchildren we booked one then and there, there was only one problem Victor, he hated other dogs how would he take to one coming into his house? It was quite a worry for us and for it to be another male, it would be like waving a red flag at a bull! We had been a "little boy's house" for awhile but things were about to change, the breeder had decided to keep the dog we were having and let us have the only bitch in the litter, most unusual as Corgi bitches were like gold dust, so what was going on? Like a world wind Grace came into our lives, an all dancing, singing I'm going to entertain you for the rest of my life bundle of fun!!! We called her Grace after my grandmother and although the name suited her she was a real tomboy and she wasn't going to let a spoilt rotten Victor get the better of her, she soon worked her way around him and to show she wasn't frightened of him she put her head into his mouth! He soon realised she was a force to be reckoned with and her girly ways got the better of him. We decided to put a bit more of an effort into showing her and we were thrilled that she got her Junior Warrant. I thought it would be nice to have a litter from her to carry on the lines but Derek wasn't to keen, she was his little girl after all, but once again I got my way. In 1999 she had nine healthy pups by ceasarian this was our first litter for 26 years!! But what a delight. Grace never once in her life let us down, I found it fascinating that she could change her facial expressions and she could worm her way into the hardest of hearts and even while asleep never failed to amuse us with her snoring, so at ten years of age to have her diagnosed with a tumour was heartbreaking, in true Grace fashion she fought on until her tummy became so big she couldn't eat anymore. At eleven years we had lost the light of our lives and like Steve before her our house seemed empty without her she had filled it with her presence and her larger than life personality.
In 1996 we thought as Victor had taken so well to Grace we might add another little girl to the family but an Afghan this time, so Ethel came to live with us. Ethel is so like Jim-Bob in looks and personality, gentle and loving, beautiful nature but like any true diva very demanding, unfortunately due to my dancing commitments we never really campaigned her as we should have but she has done well for us. Our biggest disappointment is we never managed to mate her, not for the want of trying but obviously it was not meant to be and she had to be content to be a maiden aunt to Grace's pups instead.
When Grace had her litter in 1999 our intention was to keep a dog and one that would be like Walter as much as possible as he had been such a lovely show off. From the 4 dogs in the litter one seemed to stand out a lovely rich red with matching white socks and a head as beautiful as Walter, we would keep him and call him Albert, the only problem was a cheeky little tri colour called Troy whom everyone seemed to love and want, my sister and her partner seemed the ideal home and my friend and her partner also wanted him which could prove difficult we didn't want to upset anyone and Grace's breeder came up with what she thought would be the perfect home, it all became too much for us as we realised there was no way we could part with him we loved him too much, he had inherited Grace's way of worming his way into your heart.
photo by David Paton
So the family was up to four but we still felt we needed to have one more Afghan as Ethel had been unlucky not to have pups. In 2003 we took the decision to buy what we thought would be our last Afghan as we were getting older now and lots of thing had to be taken into consideration. I had picked the name Ira quite some time ago thinking it would have been one of Ethel's babies, the name was picked for its spiritual meaning and also belonged to one of the great songwriters Ira Gershwin. It had seemed such a long wait for this special soul to arrive but in December 2003 he was the best birthday present I have ever had, like Victor before him I had an instant bond with him and like Jim-Bob was a destruction machine, Grace soon took him under her wing and raised him as her own and Ethel fell in love with him, he had a gentle and loving nature but the biggest change was in Jordan for the first time he had a dog and friend of his own, life we thought was perfect at long last after all we had been through……..alas no, darling Ira was cruelly taken from us at just 11 months, we will never know why, the pain we have been through has been hard to bear, but he has left us blessed for being able to know him. The Star Man will shine over us always, guide us Ira forever our guardian angel.
Ira & Jordan
Leo with Ira
All our dogs to us have been special and have made us who we are and we are thankful to have been blessed by their presence in our lives.
To our two Afghan boys Giacomo (The Mole) and Hymie may the Gods bless you for choosing to spend your lives with us.
Hymie
The Mole