Mardas Labrador Retrievers by Marlene & David Hepper

I have been asked to write a piece about our life in dogs for The International Labrador Review. From a small child I have always been involved with some dog or other. I even borrowed neighbors dogs so that I could take a lot of them for a walk--one or two dogs of any description were never enough. I didn't mind whether they were pure bred or a variety of mixed breeding they were the things I loved and the ones I wanted to be with the most. At the age of ten or eleven I went to live in a suburb of Leeds and one day borrowed several neighbors' dogs and set off for a long walk across the fields and golfcourse. I walked too far and it was getting very late in the evening and too far for me to walk all the way home again. So I caught a bus along with all the neighbors dogs. I didn't think anything of it because the dogs always behaved for me and it was normal to have them around. The look on the passengers' and bus conductors' faces must have been a picture. The difficult bit was getting off at the right stop without any of my furry friends falling or jumping off before time. I delivered each dog to its rightful home tired and happy. If any of the dogs came to the play ground at school, I was the one that was asked to take the dog to its rightful home--never the child who actually owned it. I have spent many happy hours in the company of dogs and it was inevitable that I should begin a show and breeding kennel.

In the past, David and I have had Pointers, (English, German and Wirehaired), Cocker, Springer, and Clumber Spaniels, and Border Terriers. At various times we have shown all of them. We eventually had to decide which breed we would concentrate on seriously. We settled on the Labradors, although this, in the first instance, was not through choice. Having decided that we would focus on Labradors we had then to decide on a prefix. Mardas is a mixture of the following "Mar" from Marlene "D" for David (my husband and second son) "A" for Andrew our first born and "S" for Stephen our youngest son. The kennel club asked you to submit several choices and they were the ones who eventually decided which prefix you were to own. Our choices were all made from the same set of letters, including Damas, which we rather liked above all the other choices. This was not to be and we were given Mardas, a disappointment at the time but looking back over the many years, nothing appears to suit the kennel more than the Mardas prefix and I wouldn't want to change it now. It seems as though it has always been part of our family.

I have two sons and neither will take over the Mardas prefix. They simply are not interested in breeding or exhibiting. They own dogs and cats as pets but as youngsters we brought them to all the shows making them sit still and behave. Consequently, we knocked any possibility of them being interested in breeding and showing dogs out of them at a very early stage. We progressed from the small open shows at a distance of about 25 miles, to traveling from one end of the country to the other--sometimes on a daily basis--as our standard of Labradors improved.

We have judged most of the Labrador Clubs or Specialities in most of the World. Over the years we have bred many Junior Warrant winners. (This is an award that had to be won between the age of 6 months and 18 months.) Now the Kennel Club has changed it once again, and it has to be won between 12 and18 months. We then proceeded to a higher standard, which requires the dog to win first, second or third in Limit or Open Championship Shows. This award is called the Stud Book Number, and is a very important part of the history of Labrador breeding if you win it. The winner was considered to be a very good animal, regardless of whether it was made up into a Champion or not. The Stud Book Number also gives the dog a permanent qualification to Crufts every year. I would think we have won possibly between 20 and 30 Stud Book Numbers over the years. Then we were very fortunate to have bred five English Show Champions, several Challenge Certificate winners, and quite a few Reserve CC winners. I think our most famous Champions have been Sh. Ch. Martin of Mardas, who sired one of the breed record holders for the most C.C.s won under separate judges; Sh. Ch. Mardas Master Mariner, who won 6 C.C.s with Best of Breeds and some Reserve CCs. The yellow Sh. Ch. Mardas Corndilly is our first Show Champion bitch to be made up by this kennel. Time turns everything around, because before Martin died he sired at the time the top winning Labrador and stud dog Ch. Fabracken Comedy Star, and just before Master Mariner died he sired Sh. Ch. Ramsayville Rain Dancer, and now their grandchildren are winning CCs and Reserve CCs. In the mid to late 1970s, Sh. Ch. Martin of Mardas was born and at two years old made up into our first Eng. Sh. Ch. He also won his Junior Warrant points very quickly from the Junior classes at Championship Shows. Martin was withdrawn from the ring to make way for Mardas Seamus who did very well, winning l CC and a Reserve CC. After Seamus came Sh. Ch. Mardas Samurai, a constant winner at Championship Shows very much on the lines of American Ch. Mardas Brandlesholme Sam's Song. Whenever shown at Crufts he won his classes--from the Puppy class on until he won the Limit Classes. He died aged 14 1/2 years. He sired a beautiful liver son called Special Edition of Mardas who won l CC before I put him into a pet home at the age of three years, because at that time very few judges would place the liver color and livers are only in full coat for about 3 months of the year, and you have to struggle against the judges' attitude towards the color. I felt we were wasting our time and Special Edition might as well be retired into a pet home. At the time of writing the old boy is still with the lovely family who have looked after him so lovingly and well.

At that time we were one of the very few kennels to have won CCs in all three colors. I then mated Martin to Mardas Moonglow and this litter produced ll blacks --10 black males and l black bitch. From this litter I kept Sh. Ch. Mardas Master Mariner (Buster). He was the very first one to be called Master Mariner and he was the first one to be made up into a Sh. Champion. At one time I believe there were five Master Mariners registered in the breed. Buster was made into a Champion very quickly and won around 6 CCs and some Reserve CCs. Mary Roslyn Williams used Martin and Buster--each of them twice--over the years, which to me was a very great honor. We made up a yellow bitch called Sh. Ch. Mardas Corndilly, who was registered and shown at her first Championship show and won Best Puppy in Show that day under the well-respected judge and Labrador exhibitor Mrs. Gwen Broadley. She won her first CC from her very first Junior Bitch Class at Three Counties Championship Show with BOB. She quickly won her other two CCs and followed this with BOBs and a few more CCs. Corndilly's full brother was sold to New Zealand at about 8 months of age. Pat Woollston of the Southerly kennels had asked me a couple of years before to let her have a yellow male but each time we produced one something went wrong with it and it had to be put into a pet home. Barley was the first one to look promising enough to send to New Zealand. He was made up into a Champion and I believed used when Pat's partner Mike went out shooting. He was sometimes lent to other people when they needed a dog for picking up purposes. Barley was also used by Mike as a model when he gave talks on the conformation and structure of the dog and in particular Labradors. Barley was also used as a pet dog and on the Television so he became something of a general all purpose dog that no one can dispute. Barley died about l8 months ago and Corndilly died at age 10 1/2. She was out swimming a couple of hours before and died in her sleep happy.

Mike Gething is one of the top Veterinarians in New Zealand. Pat and Mike, along with Mrs. Joan Antrobus, bought some bitches from me which are now behind a lot of their top winners in New Zealand, including the top winning Labrador Grand Champion, Southerley Shadow. Over the next few years, we won the odd CC and Reserve CC and had some very consistent winners. But because of unforeseen happenings with our family , at times the dogs had to be put on to the back burner, just ticking over, so to speak, until we could take up the reins once again and concentrate on showing and campaigning our kennel. In recent years we won a CC, BOB and The Gundog Group at Darlington Championship Show with Mardas Move With Style, a black. Mister did a lot of winning as a puppy with Best Puppy in Shows but as he grew older he seemed to lose weight and condition from leaving home to arriving at the shows. So I decided that probably the best thing to do was give him to a pet home, where he is as fat as a pig and in lovely coat and condition nearly all the time. Perhaps this is due to bacon sandwiches and fish and chips, which he always eats alongside his owner. Together they travel the length and breadth of England in a lorry . The owner owns a distribution company and wanted a traveling companion for either his car or occasionally the lorry. This is what Move With Style loves and enjoys daily and will not be left at home.

We have also won Reserve CC and Best in Shows all breeds with our bitches. Many Best Puppy in Shows. In 1997 we won the Bitch CC and BOB winning Best in Show at a Club Championship Show; CC and BOB at Midland Counties Championship Show; CC and BOB Scottish Gundog Association Championship Show-- all within three weeks. Then we won the Bitch CC at Ladies Kennel Association, the last Championship Show of 1997, all with Sh. Ch. Mardas Mona Liza--quite an achievement in itself, given the number of extremely good Labradors shown at any one time, particularly in the bitches. In 1998 we won the Bitch CC at Bath Championship Show with Mardas Side Saddle. Mardas Berberis has won 3 Reserve CCs and the Dog CC at The Welsh Kennel Club Championship Show. It is now coming into late August. I shall still show my dogs, but since moving here some five years ago, I have had the opportunity to take the Labradors beating and we have such an enjoyable, long, tiring day, I find that I am putting a day out with the shooting men/women before a day out at a show. I have always tried to breed a Labrador for working. Although our kennel has many times been described as a SHOW KENNEL this is not true, for as long as the kennel has been around I have sold Labradors to people both at home and abroad for working and I am pleased to say that all our dogs have fulfilled any promise asked of them . I have also sold for tracking and obedience competitions and one bitch in Finland has done extremely well winning a tracking championship. So I feel that I can safely assume that we are producing a Labrador capable of doing whatever should be asked of it. Our kennel has never been looked upon as a kennel for studs but in recent months Mardas Played Truant has produced some lovely winning daughters. Two yellow sisters have won Best Puppy in Show and Best bitch puppy in show respectively at two Labrador Club Championship Shows. Other offspring have won or been placed well at the shows. So not being at public stud I am well pleased with the selected few bitches who were or are being bred to the Mardas Kennel males.

My life with Labradors is so entwined that I will always, whatever happens, have a Labrador or two by my side as at this moment I have two black bitches sleeping peacefully alongside me here while I am trying to do this article. Apart from the ones made up into Show Champions, we have also had multiple Challenge Certificate winners which, for one reason or another, weren't made up into Show Champions. To be a full Champion in Gundogs the Challenge Certificate winner can compete in the field to gain places in the line-up of winners. This will give it the opportunity to qualify to be called a Champion, thus doing away with Show in front of the dog's name. I work some of my dogs when I am fit enough I go picking up on a shoot near to my home. I also have sold many of my puppies to become house pets and the average shooting man's companion. Abroad we have sold at least two who have gained high awards in the Tracking Field. Many that we have sold have also qualified in the shooting field for their owners. In some countries this is a must before they can be called Champion. We have sold quite a few Labradors abroad who have won the equivalent to the Challenge Certificate and some have even been made up into Champions for their respective owners.

At the time of closing this article we have once again in our kennel 2 yellows, 4 livers, and the rest are black. We are also losing the dominant black line which came from Martin. We have had our lows as well as highs, but through it all we have met some very nice people and have some very good faithful friends. Look around you and I am sure that you also can say honestly that your Labradors have given you many things high or low but throughout it all you also have amongst you some very sincere and true friends who, without your Labradors, you may never have known or met.

Through my own involvement with Labradors I have been to many parts of the world judging and I am sure that had I not been asked to visit these friendly Labrador people, I wouldn't have left England's shores. At the moment I have some very nice youngsters so I am looking forward to the future, taking them to shows and meeting friends from both home and abroad. May I wish you and your dogs a bright and happy future. .

Cover of the September/October 1998 issue of the International Labrador Review in which this story was published. Cover photo: Ch. Lobuff's Bare Necessities, JH, CD . Ê