Tribute to the handsome

CH ELLISTINE A STAR IS BORN

Photo by Ronald Clifford

23-12-83  06-06-97

13 CCs 6 RCCs 11 BOBs

'CARLO'

Owners Ronald and Peggy Clifford

Pedigree

When asked to write about CH ELLISTINE A STAR IS BORN 'Carlo' to friends, one never knows where to start. When we first saw him we never realised how true his kennel name was going to be. Born two days before Christmas we could not have asked for a better Christmas present. Carlo was born on the 23rd December 1983

Christine and Ron Morgan who are good friends bred him and we shall be forever grateful to them for all the help they gave us. His sire was CH ISFAHAN FEISAL IBN SADIQ OF KUSHBUDAR, the first male all black champion, and his dam was SHULLIMAR MAYBELLYNE OF ELLISTINE better known as 'Mad Mabel'

We went to see the litter when they were six days old and watched six bundles of energy working their way around like mad hatters. Nevertheless at seven weeks old it was make your mind up time, Carlo was not our first choice but at seven weeks old Ronald fell in love with the little black bundle with a spot of white on his chest. He grew up to be a real roly poly, a delightful and well behaved puppy and he respected our other two Affies we had at the time

We went to training classes to prepare him for the "BIG TIME" we also used to take him with us when we went shopping, in fact virtually anywhere we went Carlo went too! Always alert and interested and never showing the slightest fear of people or crowds, one of his favourite trips was to the annual Neath Fair, the more people patted him the more he liked it. As you all know Afghans draw people's attention more than children do

Carlo did very well in the ring as a youngster, winning Best Puppy in Show awards at Open and Championship level and gained his junior warrant at the tender age of 11months. In June 1986 at Three Counties Carlo went on to gain his first CC under breed specialist Isobel Dyke, this was something one dreams of but finds it hard to take in when it actually happens. His second CC was awarded by Nina Thorpe (who sadly is no longer with us) at Midland Counties 1986 and his third and crowning CC was from Olive Thomas at Three Counties 1987 and exactly 12 months after his first, as you can imagine we were on cloud nine for days afterwards

In 1991 and 1992 Carlo qualified for the Pedigree Chum Veteran Stakes finals which were held at the Metropol Hotel in Birmingham. Carlo and I along with many other finalists went through our paces and we were thrilled to get pulled out to the last eight for the final line up. For anybody who has never entered the Pedigree Chum Stakes classes whether it being puppy, champion or veteran all I can say is do enter and if you are lucky enough to win you will enjoy every minute of it. It was a wonderful weekend and one we will always remember

Also in 1991 we were invited with Carlo to attend the East of England Afghan Hound 'May Ball Supermatch', Carlo was the oldest contestant at eight and a half. The judges were Don Munroe and Ann Tomlinson and to our delight he became the 1991 'Supermatch Winner' what a day to remember! Carlo achieved 13 CCs, 11 with BOB AND 6 RCCs

Carlo was a delight to own and live with, Ronald, my husband always showed him but when he became ill it was my turn to do the handling, I had never been in the show ring with Carlo until then. It was hard for Ronald to watch from the ringside and of course (like all men) he was very critical of my showing techniques! Handling Carlo was a wonderful experience and most of all an absolute pleasure! When Ron was fit and well it was my turn to be critical from the ringside. At home Carlo always enjoyed the quiet life although with a young son around life for him was never that quiet and even up to the age of 13 Carlo did his best to keep his young energetic son occupied, but was always the first to fall slumped on the sofa after about five minutes! When I said that Carlo enjoyed the quiet life he always let his wicked side shine though on occasion, he would pinch the food from the worktops and then when caught you would get that look "it wasn't me mum honestly"

Carlo sired one litter and out of this litter came two Champions, CH Calamayor Glyndwr (Mylo) and CH Calamayor Thor (Indi) these two boys proved to be chips off the old block! Carlo was a very special dog indeed, to us there was only one Carlo and we were very proud of him and cherished him dearly

A 'Star' you were to us, a very special 'Star' Thank you Carlo for all the joy and happiness you gave to us over the years, always in our thoughts

Peggy and Ronald Clifford
 

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Updated 14 -11-05