For her final litter, we mated our best producing bitch, Ch Winuwuk Storybook, to the exciting Italian import Ch Crom dei Centurioni at Zenmaxkay. We had seen Crom when he was a youngster at ATIBOX in Holland and we very much admired him. We were therefore pleased to have the opportunity of incorporating him into our breeding programme when he came to the UK. A dog from the litter, Winuwuk Enzo Ferrari went on to win a CC and several reserves and we also kept a bitch called Libro di Storia (which is Italian for ‘Story Book’ if you hadn’t worked out the logic!)

When it was time for ‘Libby’ to be mated we were very much admiring the producing capabilities of the current top sire Ch Walkon Made’n Issue and we thought the pair would be a good match. At almost exactly the same time (they are within two weeks of each other) we had a litter out of Winuwuk All About Eve which contained the future Ch Winuwuk The Outlaw. We really wanted to keep at least one bitch puppy from these litters but it was clear that the males were the pick in both.

We have always been a little reticent about keeping two males of the same age since you tend to find half the ringside liking one, half liking the other and you end up getting through with neither of them. In addition, we had the added problem that Ch Winuwuk Lust at First Sight was still being shown extensively and so trying to make up more males might be tricky. We thought long and hard about it, but we liked the two boys in slightly different ways and they offered something different by way of breeding potential. In the end, we decided that we would keep them both, but that they would never be entered in the same class. Up to the point of them gaining their titles they never have been.

Continuing our slightly complex Italian theme, with the sire being called Made’n Issue and the mother being Italian for Story book, we decided to name the litter after Italian newspapers, hence Il Messaggero, which is the most popular daily newspaper in Rome. Some people seem to struggle with that name, so everyone calls him ‘Milo’

He came out at the National Working Breeds under Sue Drinkwater, qualifying for Crufts at his first attempt. From then on, we alternated the boys throughout their puppy career. They both did well, always being there or thereabouts, with several Best Puppy or Best Puppy Dog wins. Out of puppy it was easier to split their classes and they continued to please us very much. Milo got into the last few for the CC on several occasions and we were very pleased with how they were maturing.

However towards the end of 2012 and into 2013 they weren’t quite making the breakthrough that we had hoped for so we considered letting one of them go to a new show home so that we could concentrate on just one of them. Thankfully, we never followed up on this plan since Tim had a slight preference for The Outlaw and Julie shaded it in favour of Il Messaggero. There are times when slightly different perspectives pay real dividends and this was one of them. In retrospect, we are so grateful that both these beautiful boys stayed at Winuwuk especially since they really are inseparable. They live together and are bereft if they are separated. They do have the most fantastic boxer temperament.

Making the most of Post Grad, Limit and eventually Open classes to keep them apart, we campaigned them everywhere and Milo picked up his first CC from Mandy Laidlaw at the Trent Boxer Club in October 2013 from a wonderful entry of 250. He was also awarded BIS by Maureen Best. Just a couple of months later at the LKA Viv Matthews gave him his second and BOB (on the same day that The Outlaw won his first Open class). They both won their classes at Manchester, Crufts, South Wales and Essex and Eastern Counties (where the Outlaw picked up the ticket on each occasion) but then at WELKS, Milo won his 7th Limit Class and was awarded the CC & BOB by Sue Ballinger. This made him our 26th UK champion; our 2nd in 6 days; our 3rd in 7 weeks and our 4th in 11 months. We were over the moon, especially when he went on to place 4th in a strong working group under Luis Pinto Teixeira from Portugal.

We particularly appreciate Milo’s flowing body lines, his wonderful neck and shoulder and his super driving quarters. He is a pleasure to watch on the move, really covering the ground. He is full of Boxer breed type with a lovely head and super expression.