A One's Cocker Spaniels
DOGS ... 

 
1959. Look at those Bling-Bling legs, they could run.
But more than anything they could JUMP. And long too.
Long enough for the gold medal. Year after year.
Am I a competitive kind of person?

... were always closer to my heart than humans (excluding six loved ones!). No matter what those beasts looked like -
they were my best friends. As early as in the 50s mixtures of no longer recognizable breeds were my favourite playmates
keeping a watchful eye on my doings; farmdogs, back-yard dogs, watchdogs, gun dogs, you name them, I had them!
Then came a New Foundland, a Foxterrier, West Highlands, Great Danes, a Bedlington and a Vorsteh.

Left: My parents bought the house in Linnegatan 38, Kumla, in 1959, my father renovated it and we moved in in 1960.
Right: Engelbrektsvägen 24 (grandparents' place & Ann's birthplace) in 1967, Kumla

Like a revelation I was literally called upon to go out and find myself a COCKER SPANIEL.
And so, on December 22, 1979, Josåfin - April Fire (by Kavora Night Patrol out of Finnwin April Love) -
was handed over to me by Anita Ängdal at a petrol station half way between Malmö and Jönköping.
This red lady never met a living creature who did not fall in love with her on the spot!

Östangård, Östanväg 104, Limhamn, my own family's first house, where the first A One's litter was born.

Disaster struck one summer day in late June 1985.
Whilst weeding among the roses on the front I heard a scream from my sister at the back of the house.
Nicke, our neighbour´s stuck-up poodle, had spotted our beloved Josåfin at the carpet-beating-stand,
where she was tied - just in case ... If I had owned a gun, Nicke´s owner would not have lived to see that evening.
Guess what he said when I brought Nicke´s doings to that constipated man´s face?
"You cannot blame ME for the hole in YOUR hedge!"
Out of that very first litter one dog, Nisse, lived until November 8, 2002 - 18 years old.
His ashes were spread on the garden path where he had played as a pup and trotted about in his old age,
dutifully fetching the Nerikes Allehanda from the letter box. Immensely missed by his mom and dad, my parents.

Amadéus, Goldilocks, Dom Perignon & My Fair Lady

Josåfin was sad when Nisse left to live with my parents. Accordingly she and I agreed to go and see a real English gentleman born and bred - Quettadene Insignia - the year after, to have a "purebred" litter. Josåfin had four puppies, two of which lived until the autumn of 2001. Another disaster occurred when, at the age of 8 weeks, the black bitch pup (My Fair Lady) from that litter bit off a flex and hovered between life and death for a week. Internal bleedings sealed her fate. The mating was repeated and Boogie (A One´s Little Queeny) was born, just as sweet as her mother.

Snäckvägen 7, Äppelviken

I applied at the Swedish Kennel Club for the name Beauchamp (from the French word "beau" = beautiful and "champ" = field, but no doggy persons think of fields when they hear the word "Champ", do they?), from Beauchamp Place in London, where I had spent many a jolly good evening. Unfortunately this name was rejected by the FCI. Someone already used that name. My second choice was A One´s, a name that I never really liked. It was taken from Lloyd´s classification register of ships. The letters indicate sizes, I think, and the figures equipment, or vice versa. Anyway, in the English language the expression A1 had developed into meaning TOP QUALITY. Somewhat laboured, I am quite aware of that fact.

However, many years later I had to admit I had failed in maintaining the Josåfin/Boogie
temperament and soundness in my breeding program.

Åsbacken 8, Ålsten

That was when I spotted DECH VDHCH LUXCH DT BSG 93 94 EU SG 94 Blue Pearl Vom Rauhen Holz ...

... and you know the rest.

Ann