Back in the Summer of 1991, Mandy Laidlaw arrived at Winuwuk with a very pretty bitch to be mated to Ch. Wrencliff Flying Scotchman of Winuwuk. She was beautifully bred being by Pop My Cork out of Lot Less Bother and these were two Boxers that we rated very highly. The second Popsicle arrived we thought that she was an ideal bitch for Scotty. She was of excellent type, she was very tightly bred and she had no outstanding faults. She was a really honest Boxer who just needed a bit of Scotty's flash and style.

The litter was born in September and Mandy kindly let us buy in a dog and a bitch called Roamaro Scotch Mist and Roamaro Scot Free. As they grew we became more and more excited about our pups and the bitch was quickly developing into a real eye-catcher.

She made her debut at the Manchester Dog Show Society in April 1992 under Suzanne Carter where she won her Minor Puppy Class and was Best Puppy Bitch. She was then Best Puppy at Three Counties, Windsor and again at South Wales where she also won the Reserve CC and Best Puppy in the Working Group. More Best Puppy awards followed at Paignton, SKC, the Merseyside Boxer Club, Darlington and the Irish where she won her second Reserve ticket under Eddie Banks.

Having just left the Puppy Classes she won a third Reserve CC from Joe Smith at Midland Counties (runner up to our own Ch. Winuwuk Heaven Forbid, who became a Champion on the day) and then won her first CC a week later at the Working Breeds of Scotland in November under Pam Broughton. That was a very special day. She finished the year with another Reserve CC at the Cotswold Boxer Club under Canadian judge, Donna Cole.

1992 had been a very exciting start to Misty's show career and she ended the year as the Top Boxer puppy by a wide margin. She then started 1993 being the Cover Girl on the Crufts issue of the Boxer Quarterly magazine and she was soon back on a winning streak, quickly taking her title with tickets in big entries at the Midland and Scottish Boxer Clubs.

The rest, as they say, is history and the stuff that exhibitor's dreams are made of. Misty was the Top Boxer in 1993 and 1994 and she was the Top Boxer Bitch for the four consecutive years 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. She was Boxer of the Year at the National Finals in 1996 and she was the British Boxer Club Champion of Champions in 1997 and 2000. She won the Working Group at Bournemouth 1995 and at the LKA later that same year she won the Group and Reserve Best in Show from 13,000 under the celebrated American all-breeds judge Anne Rogers-Clark. That win was a real thrill as we had respected Mrs Clark's opinion over many years before we had the pleasure of showing under her.

She finished her show career in December 1999 in tremendous style by going Best in Show from 350 at the Cotswold Boxer Club from the Veteran Class. Over the preceding eight years she had won 36 CCs (the vast majority with Best of Breed) and this record made her the top winning brindle Boxer of all time (taking over from Ch. Gremlin Summer Storm who had 33) and the number two Boxer of all time.

But Misty is not just a (very) pretty face. She has also proved to be an outstanding producer of top quality progeny.

She had three litters. Her first, to Ch. Faerdorn Fineas Fogg, produced two UK Champions, two different sires of UK Champions, a top winning New Zealand Champion and a multiple RCC winner. Her second litter was to Ch. Blueprint Beern Skittles at Walkon and produced: a CC/RCC winner and an Australian / New Zealand Champion. Her final litter was to Ch Ashgate Able Seaman of Seefeld and this produced an Australian Champion and an American Champion.

Thanks to the great wins of her children, Misty was the Top Dam in 1998 and 1999 and she was also the British Boxer Club Dam of Merit in 1999. These awards, in particular, gave us enormous pleasure as breeders.

What is also so satisfying for us is that the dominance of her breeding is continuing through into future generations as evidenced by her grandson, Ch. Roamaro Fun in the Sun with Walkon who has recently taken the male CC record. Fun in the Sun is by Beern Skittles out of the Misty/Fineas Fogg daughter, Ch. Winuwuk Hazy Daze at Roamaro (who, most interestingly, took over from her mother as the Dam of Merit at the British Boxer Club in August 2000 and who has won countless awards since).

Scotch Mist has been a 'once in a lifetime' Boxer for us at Winuwuk and we consider ourselves so fortunate to have been able to share in her life. She is everything that we could have hoped for, both as a show girl and as a mother. She comes so close to our interpretation of the Standard that we would not wish to change her in any way. In the ring she had a stunning, balanced outline with absolutely correct angulation front and rear which is becoming so rare these days. This allowed her to move with complete accuracy from all angles and even now, at nine years of age, her movement coming and going is as true as ever. Then, to top off her many other qualities, she has an eye and an expression that completely typifies the breed and it is this fine quality in particular that she has been able to pass this on to her children and her children's children.

There is no doubt that she has earned her place in the history books as one of the few all time Boxer greats. We are pleased to record Misty's very special life on the separate remembrance page.