Midlander Mi Laro

Date of Birth:   

Ft. Ch. Stewartonian Kane x Ch. Midlander Mingan

Studbook No:

Owned by: Mic Layton

Breeder:  Jane Smith

MIDLANDER MI  LARO, AND OTHERS OF THAT ILK

 The saga of Midlander G.S.Ps began  in 1958, when we purchased our first G.S.P. but the real successes came when my wife, Mic Layton, came to own  Brownridge Marga, a very good bitch bred by Mrs Mary Godby from German bred stock. She was easily made up to Champion in the show ring and had field trial awards to boot.

From 1960 onwards there were twenty seven “ Midlander” litters in all, over some thirty five years. Not all of them were Champions of course, but we did gain a reputation for breeding reliable stock, capable of being both exhibited in the show ring and trainable for field work and trials.

Just before Laro was whelped we had the misfortune to lose two bitches in their prime and had no suitable bitch in the kennel from which to breed a further litter. Jane Smith came to our rescue. She owned Champion Midlander Mingan and she agreed to take (with the Kennel Club’s blessing) a temporary ‘separate interest’ in the prefix Midlander, to breed a couple of litters from her bitch, taking our advice as to the sire to be used. To define those litters clearly, all the off-spring carried the addition ‘Mi’ to their names and so Midlander Mi Laro came back home to us. She subsequently had two litters and until very recently we owned Midlander  Montpelier Maple from the last of those litters. She was a spayed bitch and so she was the last female of  the Midlander line.

Through those years we learned a lot about breeding, training and competing with our dogs. I think I handled 17 different dogs in numerous field trials and both Mic and I  became Field Trial and Championship Show judges, (all of which helps one to learn more about G.S.P.s and all H.P.R. breeds). We are together both proud and honoured to have judged in both show ring and/or field trials in every English-speaking country in the World.

Laro was a typical Midlander. Sound and attractive physically and with a very good nose; great fun and highly rewarding to shoot over. One of our good fortunes over the years has been to have shoots in Lincolnshire where there are wild fenland pheasants but no masses of reared birds and a fair number of wild partridges on the heathland. It does make so much difference to what a dog learns about game-finding, in comparison to being constantly in contact with reared birds.

©July, 2003