We had wanted a Frenchie for many years and, indeed, Marion almost bought one from Jill Keates (Nokomis) in the 1980s.

In the 2010s we showed our first one Wildax Betty Jackson at Winuwuk with moderate success but we did not have any luck breeding on from her so we were back to square one when Smarty came along. We did breed her in as much as the mother was in our name at the time Smarty was born, but real credit should go to Grant Slater (Chalfs).

We thought she was full of quality from baby puppyhood and very early in her career we really did think that we might be on to something with Smarty since she was regularly at the top of big puppy classes. She also seemed to be admired by those who knew a lot more about Frenchies than we did!

At Windsor in 2017 we were thrilled to win a RCC under Lucy Bonsall and we then picked up a few more under Mark Cocozza at Paignton and Mark James and Driffield. Then at LKA, having just made up Ch Winuwuk Chance Encounter in the Boxer ring we rushed across to the Frenchies and Carol Ash gave us our first CC in this wonderful breed.

2018 then started with a real bang since at the first show of the year, Manchester, under Sonia Davis, Smarty was awarded her second CC and BOB. She then excelled by going on to win Group 2 under Ernie Patterson, beating a former top dog all breeds along the way!

In June it was up to Blackpool on a lovely day and Smarty just shone in the sunshine. She was awarded her third and crowning CC by all-rounder Tom Mather making her our first Frenchie champion. We were thrilled.

In 2019 she continued her winning ways, picking up a fourth CC under Rodney Oldham at Bournemouth and a 5th under Jim Peach at Driffield. She also won another RCC under Tim Ball at Windsor.

Finally, she had an amazing day at Belfast in 2019. There are no CCs for Frenchies at that show but, having gone BOB under Nikki Cannon she was G4 under Maggie Mulholland