The first part of the intervew began with Sharon.
How many years have you been in Siberians?

About 29.

How did you get started?

A friend of mine gave me one as a pet. After a couple of years, it needed some company so I got another pet from Pauline Price of Kaila Kennels. That was Ari. Those were my first two, Kristi and Ari.  And that how my kennel name came about.  I put them through Obedience.

How did you get involved in Conformation?

I had quit my job and I got really friendly with the Prices and moved up to their place. Then I started going to some dog shows with them and got interested in Conformation. And they actually gave me a bitch. And I started showing a little bit then. And then Kathleen came out to judge at Santa Barbara one year and I met her and talked to her about getting a dog. She sent one out to me and that was Cinder, which was out of Rogue and Skrimshaw. And that’s how I started.

Did you have a mentor?

Well, my very first mentor for the first couple of years I was in it was Pauline Price. Kathleen met me when she was out in California judging and visiting the Prices. When she got back home she found out she was losing her kennel help and she called Pauline and asked if I would be interested coming back there for six months to work for her. Pauline talked to me and I said I needed to see the place first before I committed to that. So, Pauline and I flew back there together and I just fell in love with the dogs and the family.  We had a great time so my 6 months turned into four years. Kathleen was my true mentor because I spent so many years with her and that’s where I really began breeding dogs and learning about breeding dogs. I only had a couple of litters myself at her place before I moved out but I worked there for fours years and raised all the litters and learned all the history of the dogs.

At that particular time, which breeder influenced you most in type and structure?

Well, that was Innisfree, that was Kathleen. I like the athleticism of the dogs.  I liked the looks of the dogs. It was in my eyes and in my mind what a Siberian should be.

Since Kathleen was your mentor, which was the single most important thing did you learn from her?

I learned how to breed dogs...that to me was the most important thing

Since you were with Innisfree for four years, what did you learn from her that you still implement in your breeding program today?

I like to think I breed a consistently typey and structurally sound dog.

What year did you start Kristari Siberians?

I don't recall the exact year...probably around 1978 or so.
Who was your foundation bitch and what was it about her that you felt could contribute to your breeding program?

My first foundation bitch, that I would consider a true foundation bitch was CH Innisfree Persian Rug. She was gray and white, really, really pretty, great personality, great little show dog, everybody loved her and she was producing some nice puppies for me. She was just overall a really pretty, typey bitch. Real sound, nice moving and I loved her Father Roadster and her mother Marakesh who both oozed with type and I loved both of them a lot for their producing abilities also. So, she was actually my first real foundation bitch.

Currently in your breeding program today, do your dogs still go back to her?

Oh, yeah. Almost everything. I do mostly line breeding. And lots of dogs go back to her.

Was there ever a turning point in your breeding program? Did you ever change directions? Did you ever feel that your breeding program wasn’t going where you wanted it to go.

No, I wouldn’t consider that at anytime I had a turning point.  The only thing I have done is I have looked for an out cross every so often because I line breed so much that I needed something a little different so I wouldn’t get backed into a corner. But the direction has always been the same and always will be.

This part of the interview is with Monica.

How did you come to America and become the partner in one of the most influential kennels in the world?

Sharon: She flew! (laughter from everyone)

Originally I came here to buy dogs. I visited Innisfee and Sharon. I bought a couple of dogs from Innisfree and a bitch and some semen from Sharon. We both liked a lot of the same things in the dogs and sort of kept in touch. I told her I was coming over here and she asked me if I would be interested in helping out with her kennel. She was looking for someone to help her because it was hard doing it on her own with the amount of dogs she had. She had been looking for a long time. She just hadn’t found the right person. I was planning to come over here. Since the last trip we had kept in touch on the computer. I wanted to work in a large kennel. Sharon basically asked if I wanted to come over and work with her and if things worked out she would offer me a partnership in her kennel.

How many years have you been in Siberians?
I have been in Siberians for about 16 years.

How did you get started?

Actually, my ex husband wanted a siberian.  We brought a bitch from a local breeder and was not sure if we wanted to show or not so we got papers anyway.  She ended up being my foundation bitch and I did some decent winning with her.

Tell me about your breeding program in Australia and did you bring any Siberians with you?
In Australia, the gene pool was very limited.  There were a couple of dogs that had been brought in from the United States.  My foundation bitch Aust Ch. Mishzon Silver Zorina was a grand daughter of a dog that I liked a lot named Karnavonda's The Encore (aka Cory).   She ended up doing very well and she produced for me a Best In Show Winner and also mutiple R/U BIS  winners.

Who was your Best In Show winner?

He was a dog that I sold to a friend of mine.  He was not a great dog, he was a very cute puppy that was very together.  He won his BIS when he was still in the 12 to 18 month class.  He did end up being a little too overdone when he was older.
Who After settling in at Kristari, what contributions do you feel you have made?

Well, I think I gave Sharon someone to talk dogs with. With me being there, we kept more dogs. She has a little bigger gene pool to work with. There were several dogs, that we kept that Sharon might not have kept that have ended up being influential in the breeding program too. Rudy was one. Tie was another that we believe that will be very influential. Tie was not one we were going to sell but it was a breeding that I had been asking Sharon to do for sometime.

The rest of the interview is with both Sharon and Monica.
Sharon: He was from a repeat breeding that I had done once before that produced a really nice dog that had been campaigned and had done really well.  I had told her no, that I was not going to repeat the breeding because the bitch was getting older. I think she was 8 at the time. So, I surprised her one Christmas when she was away, the bitch happen to come in season and when Monica came back and I told her for her Christmas present I bred Elmo to Moriah. We had two puppies and one went to a pet home and the other was Tie.

Monica: Another thing too, was that with the both of us being there we would each keep one puppy. We would sort of keep our own puppies. Whereas, before I was there, Sharon would only keep one. The style of dog that I had was a little different. I liked the style that Sharon had but sometimes there were things that I would like was a little different than she was used to.

Sharon: It’s not only just the dogs. I was able to bounce things off Monica and Monica could bounce things off me. And things she saw that I didn’t see and things that I saw that she didn’t see.  It makes it a good collaboration when you are trying to figure out which dogs to keep. The other thing that Monica contributed in the kennel was the way she interacted with the dogs. She loves to play with the dogs. Not that I don’t but she has a way of socializing puppies. The puppies love her. The dogs love her.  It makes them great show dogs. She is a great groomer. Better than I am any day. So she has contributed a lot to the kennel.

Monica: We have some puppies that we see at shows and they haven’t seen me since eight weeks and they go absolutely crazy when they see me. I have one dog I have to hide from because he just goes sooooo stupid! The owner gets all upset at ringside.

Which dogs have had the most impact on establishing the type you prefer?

Sharon: The most impact for me has been probably Roadster, Brighton, Chief, Chip and now Rudy. More Roadster, Chip, Chief and Rudy because I didn’t breed Brighton that much. They have produced the style of Siberian I like and the temperament, the movement and the structure. They have been awesome producers. I have an up and coming dog, Tie who I think is going to be up in the same league as them.

Monica: I absolutely love what Tie produces for us. The style of the dog that I like…I mean I love the athelicism in a dog but I’d say that I prefer a little more substance in a dog than Sharon. I love Lonnie, Innisfree’s Avalon. I love the type she has produced too, bitch wise. I was lucky enough to see Erlene when she was old, and I saw Chief and some of the older dogs but I can only talk about the dogs in the last eight years.

Sharon: As far as bitches and what they produced, Rugs was great. Lonnie like Monica said…Lonnie to me produced real outgoing, pretty dogs but to me they may not have been structurally as quite as good as the some of the others but decent dogs and they had alot to offer for the pedigree alone as well as for structure and movement. Lonnie has been an integral part in our breeding program. 

What traits would you like to keep in the generations to come?

Sharon: I would like to keep the traits I have today. The athlelicism of the Siberian to me is the most important thing.

Monica: Good temperaments, beautiful eye shape.

Sharon: I have had some issues with eye shape that I have been working to improve on. Tails is a hard thing to keep in good shape. We’ve all had tail issues. We all try to work on that. Soundness. I have a pet peeve on soundness. They have to be clean coming and going. Even if they are off a little bit it irritates me. Soundness is real important to me. I also love the nice easy side gait..not the flying stuff you see a lot in the ring today. I like the dogs to make it look so effortless.

How important is the title Champion in a breeding program?

Monica: It’s not important at all.

Is phenotype more important than pedigree?

Sharon: No, it’s a 50/50 deal. They balance each other and they compliment each other. That’s what I was taught and that is what I believe.

Monica: Too many people get tied up with pedigrees. They think it is all about pedigrees. They try to double up on certain dogs and on certain lines. They forget about what they are breeding.

At what age to you evaluate puppies and what do you look for?
Sharon:  Between 7 and 8 weeks old.  We watch them when they are starting to walk but you can’t see much.  We mostly start the socalizing them.  I was always taught that around 8 weeks old when they move and their structure is what they will be when they are adults.  So we evaluate between 7 and 8 weeks old, really closer to eight.  After that,  they start growing and getting legs and gawky.
 
Monica:  Soundness.  Movement. 
 
Sharon:  We like to look for the puppy that trots everywhere.  Not the ones that trot and then break into a gallop.  The ones that can cover some ground and not have to break into a run.  That’s the type of puppies we look for.
 
Monica:  We do a lot of our evaluation on movement.  Because most our dogs are fairly typey and very consistant.  We are looking for eyes, tails, length of body.  But you are looking for the puppy that catches your eye the most.  Generally, while you are watching them you have stand outs.  As for deciding on pet or show quality.  Basically, we look at if we would be happy to keep it then we would be happy to sell it to a show home.  Actually, Joker was the one puppy we got stuck with it. 
 
Sharon:  We offered him to about three people and they didn’t want him.
 
Monica:  We had two other people that picked puppies because there were three nice boys in the litter.  The other people had first choice of what they wanted.
 
Sharon:  And to be honest with you.  Rudy was offered to few different people too.  But with Joker, one guy came down to the house and there was Joker and a black and white dog named Teddy from the litter.  But even though he recognized that Joker probably moved better.  He liked the style of Teddy, who was more like Chip.  Where Joker was more like Rudy. And he liked the Chip style so he took him.  We eventually got him back because he was going back to school and didn't have time.  I had sent a couple of pictures to a few people of Joker on a stack and they didn’t like the picture.  Granted, he was 11 or 12 week old then.  I told them he was a beautiful moving puppy.  He’s just not looking his best right now because he was kind of gawky then especially in the head.  But they said “no” so he just stuck around.
 
And now?
 
Sharon:  He’s not actively being shown now but when he was last out he was Number 10 in the Country. 
 
Monica:  And we have a couple of  really nice kids that he has produced for us which is great.
 
Are there any Siberians you regretted letting go?
 
Sharon:  There is a lot of them I regretted letting go but I can’t keep them all.  There isn’t enough time in the day to do everything with everyone. 
 
Monica:  The thing is you can’t keep all the good ones for yourself.  You do the breed an injustice for a start.  Other people out there if they want to breed dogs they have to be able to breed to good dogs.  Too many people just sell whatever they have leftover.  Rather than letting people get an opportunity to get a good start.  There are lots of really good people that get into dogs but that are not necessarily sold good dogs, just because they are new.   Sometimes they don’t do as well because they are just starting out.   But if you don’t give them something good, there is no incentative for them to stay.
 
Sharon:  A lot people have what they consider pick puppy, 2nd pick puppy, 3rd pick puppy.  I don’t personally believe in that.  I believe that certain styles of dogs appeal to different people.  Whereas, I like one style, another person might like another style even though they might move the same.  It’s a personal preference.  People will say “Can I have pick puppy or if you are taking first pick can I take 2nd pick?”.  I say “If you want a show puppy I will find you a really nice show puppy.”  It might be what one person thinks is first pick or it might be what someone else thinks is second pick but I will give you a really nice puppy.

Do you ever buy puppies or adults from other kennels?  And if so, in what circumstances would you do that?

Sharon:  We’ve done that, mainly for an out cross, or if there is something that just really just catches our eye.
 
Monica:  Usually, if Sharon offers to buy a puppy from someone, they don’t want to sell it. 
 
Sharon:  Yea.  If fact, just recently I asked someone about buying a…it wasn’t a puppy…it was year…year and a half old male that was a total out cross.  He really struck my fancy but she wouldn’t sell him.
 
Siberians USA:  Well, if you two came calling to buy a male from someone….if they didn‘t know they had something before, they sure know it then.  (laughter)
 
Sharon:  Well, I am not sure that’s true. 
 
Monica:  There are certain things in lines that might not necessarily be in other lines and you just might not want to introduce them into your line.  There are not a lot of kennels out there that are heavily line bred breeding then there are others that have a lot of out crossing.  When you bring in an out crossed dog, you don’t want to bring in a totally outcrossed dogs.  Generally you want some sort of line breeding behind it so you can at least have some idea what you expect it to produce.

End of Part I....stay tuned...for Part II in the February issue.
 
 
 
   
Interview was taken in October 2006

Sharon with Ari, Cinder and Kristi 

For any information regarding Kristari dogs or information herein, contact Sharon or Monica at Kristari Siberians

Chip says "Giddy Up, Miss Monica!"

Joker