In 1969 following a case of Rabies in England,
Australia imposed a ban on the importation of dogs from the U.K.,
which in turn prevented the importation of dogs from the U.S.A.
as at that time dogs from that country had to spend twelve months
in England before coming to Australia. This ban remained in force
for over two years. The effect of the ban was to make breeders
stop and assess the breeding stock that was already in the country.
This happened at a time when interest in the breed was expanding.
The result was that breeders started to consolidate on those lines
that were already proving successful. For the first time local
dogs were given access to the quality breeding bitches as breeders
began to assess stud dogs on their potential to produce rather
than deciding which import they should use.
At this stage a number
of factors began to combine to produce the high quality dogs of
the 1970's that made Australian Afghans famous throughout the
world. Firstly, the foundation had been laid with the high quality
of the early imports. Secondly, the 1960's had seen the importation
of a number of significant sires most of which were still available
during this period. Thirdly, the ban on importation provided the
breathing space for breeders to consolidate on the above.
Next, expanding interest
in the breed provided the opportunity for breeders to accelerate
their breeding programs as the progeny in excess of their needs
could readily be sold. Indeed during this period there were kennels
which at times housed up to one hundred dogs. Finally, we saw
a continuous stream of very experienced overseas all rounder judges
who spread the word worldwide about the quality of Australian
dogs. Among these judges were Hans Lehtinen, Bobby James, Bill
Siggers, Joe Braddon, Robert Waters, Reg Gadsden, Anne Rogers
Clark, Lily Turner, Paolo Dondina, Rainer Vourninen, Jean Lanning,
Thelma Gray and Pamela Cross-Stern, to name but a few. And these
judges confirmed their opinions by giving the major awards to
this breed. Indeed during this decade half of the Best in Show
awards at Sydney Royal went to Afghans!
In addition the specialist
breeders and judges came to judge our Specialties and major All-Breeds
shows and they too went away recommending Australian Afghans,
resulting in Australian exports finding their way to numerous
overseas countries. The Specialist Judges of that era included
Molly Sharpe, Kay Finch, Shiela Devitt, Gini Withington, Herman
Fellton, Ed Kauffman, Wally Pede, Margaret Niblock, Gerda Kennedy,
Stephanie Hunt-Crowley ... the list continues on into the
80's and 90's. Today it can fairly be said that nearly everyone
of any standing in this breed has visited or judged in Australia.
The 1970's also saw Barbara Skilton
introduce dogs from the famous Dutch kennel of Eta Pauptit.
The two most important of these were Ch. Badin vdOM and Koem vdOM.
The most significant dog down from these was Ch. El Tazzi Ukoom
a winner of two Specialties in N.S.W. for owner Ray Barter. Ukoom
was a grandson of Koem vdOM and his mother was a double grand-daughter
of Ch. Badin vdOM.
The usual scene when a
breed achieves high popularity is that the quality begins to deteriorate.
In Australian Afghans this did not happen even when entries began
to fall in the late 70's and into the 80's. This was largely due
to the fact that most of the successful breeders of the 60's and
70's remained with the breed. As well as most of those already
mentioned there were the Jentsch Family (now Birgit Ferguson
- Tahkira), Colleen Krause-Sydow (now Khoury - Quom), Pat and
Arthur Batty (Pierhelo), Don Day (Aboukir), Ian and Sherrie Leslie
(Alkhoran) to name a few of the more prominent.
In addition the late 1970's
saw some new names making their presence felt. These included
Paul and Pauline Hewitt (Khandhu), Jim, Mary and Louise Hickie
(Gengala) and Jenny Blunden and daughter Mary (Kalutara). In the
mid-80's the Blundens in conjunction with Calahorra had spectacular
success with Ch. Calahorra Boccaccio winning twenty four Best
in Shows including two Royals. A son of Boccaccio (Ch. Kalutara
Hailselassie) went Best in Show at the 1987 Victorian Specialty.
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