There’s nearly always been dogs in my life, usually of the Heinz 57 variety when I was a kid. But in my 20s I was introduced to Welsh Springer Spaniels when my in-laws had two wonderful dogs named Rhys and Bryn – I thought they were great dogs and longed to get my own.
Unfortunately it was a few years before I could achieve that because my then current English Springer decided to live to the ripe old age of 18. Don’t get me wrong, I loved old Ben (the English) I got him when my sons were born so he was with us throughout their childhood, he was a great favourite in the family and in fact I think he was better trained than my boys, he even wiped his feet every time he came into the house.
It was in Ben’s twilight years that Sue and I first got together – Sue had a Golden Cocker called Jessie at the time so I believe our common interest in dogs had something to do with us getting along so well.
When Ben passed on we decided straight away to seek out a Welshie as company for Jessie and we found a dog from a breeder in Cowbridge who had previously had a record litter of 18 dogs. (When I remember the name I’ll add it in). We named him Ianto and from the outset he was a handsome, fearless dog – diving into fast flowing rivers or crashing through the surf at the beach. We were not into showing or working in those days but knowing what we know now I’m sure Ianto would have excelled at both.
Ianto was already 9 years old when we first met people from the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of South Wales. One of the leading lights of the club saw us walking around the Royal Welsh Show ground with Ianto when he recognised Ianto and said what a fine looking, old fashioned type Welshie he was.
At that point we were already looking for another dog because Ianto’s long time companion, Jessie spaniel, had recently died – and so the club put us in touch with a breeder in mid Wales with a new litter. That’s when Megan (Trannon Wheelbarrow Megan) came into our lives and we became actively involved with the club and showed Megan with some minor successes in her early years.
However, Megan’s forté proved to be in the field – thorough in her hunting and fearless in her water retrieves – she may not be a competition winner (that’s more to do with the handlers rather than the dog) but she holds her own when out on real shoots in the winter season – and through that work she regularly qualifies to enter the Gamekeepers classes at Crufts.
When Megan was 2 we had the opportunity to acquire a promising dog with showing potential from an excellent line and so Owain (Typica Kingfisher) joined our household shortly after Ianto had sadly left us.
Owain’s successes are listed under his CV elsewhere on this site – but enough to say we have had some great times in showing him with his best success being the reserve ticket at Crufts in 2013. He also showed great promise in the working field, winning the best junior in WSSCSW’s assessment test in 2013 – we still do some working but not enough to help him win competitions.
It was with Megan and Owain that our kennel name of Y Berfa came into being – Y Berfa being Welsh for WheelBarrow which is also the name of our design company (but that’s another story).
Megan and Owain proved to be a good safe match and we had our first litter in 2013 – see the galleries for photos – the litter of seven was all girls and they all went out to loving homes, all of whom we are still in touch with. But after a week, one came back to us (due to a bereavement in the new owners’ family) and although we had other buyers lined up this puppy, Y Berfa Lili Bychan, decided to wheedle her way into our affections and so she has stayed and is a vital part of the “Y Berfa Pack”.
Lili has had some success in the showring and qualified for Crufts in her first year of competition. This year (2015) she gained a VHC in a very strong limit class which was our best result on the day. As I write this, Lili has just produced a lovely litter of five and is busy being the perfect mum – you can read all about her new family on the relevant pages (click here).
That’s our story so far with this wonderful breed of dog – a story which will go on and on, I’m sure – so we hope you like our site and if you need more information or would like to enquire about our dogs go to the contact page and drop us a line.
Sue and Terry Evans