SWAGGER'S PAGE

Redcap Cardinal Punch At Canowindra

Pedigree

At the first show that I took Pip to, I met Michelle Kingsland and her happy crew of beagles of different colours.  At this point I had not seen a broken Tricolour beagle and was immediately smitten by Sheriff, (Redcap Renaissance).  I tried to find out more about these lovely beagles – and browsed the beagle web sites, only to find that on the Redcap site was a picture of ‘the new kid on the block’ – Swagger (Redcap Cardinal Punch) - half brother to both Redcap Renaissance (Sheriff) and Redcap Rhinestone Cowboy (Cowboy).  I eagerly awaited his appearance at the 3 Counties champ Show and when I saw him, I fell for him totally.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think he could be mine, but less than six months later, Swagger came to live at Canowindra, where he is the undisputed boss dog and my adored favourite. (Shh, don’t tell Pip!)

Swagger did well in the show-ring as a puppy, narrowly missing his Junior Warrant.  His first show ten days after he came out of the junior class was Crufts. Handled by Michelle Kingsland he won 1st place in Yearling dog (beagles) under breed specialist Barbara Roderick. 

Not long after Swagger came to live with us, Pedro and I started drag-hunting with the working section of the Beagle Club. Drag-hunting involves the laying of an artificial trail around a designated area, usually a field or woodland and releasing the hounds as a pack and observing how well they follow the trail.  More details can be found on the working section page of The Beagle Club’s website. Swagger demonstrated a natural talent for this pursuit and in only his second year out hunting gained one of the coveted Working Certificates.  We were all very proud of him especially his breeder Michelle Kingsland (Redcap Beagles) who tells me that his mother ‘Pebbles’ was a great drag-hunter as well.  Swagger is the first Redcap or Canowindra Beagle to win a working certificate.

Swagger now has an additional accomplishment – he has been to Crufts® 2009 and won bronze in junior handling with his co-owner, Charlotte. 

We have decided to retire Swags for a while to allow us to concentrate on his son, Bryn who is showing great promise both in the ring and out of it.  He may be back as a veteran if he wants to, but I suspect he will enjoy being a pet and boss of his little pack (really Pip is boss but he enjoys the status)