On December 10, 2005, our second litter arrived! Elsa (Kelbren Come Hither) presented us with five lovely puppies in the wee hours of the morning. She had three tri boys and two blue merle girls. Elsa's litter was sired by Ch Patented Emprise Forevermore ("Everett"), a tri son of Ch Macdega Evergreen. All of the puppies are active and vigorous, and as an added bonus, they all appear to be non-white factored. This is Elsa's first litter, and she's doing a great job with the puppies.

On December 10th and 11th, Chet competed in the Open Jumpers Preferred agility class for the first time, and we're delighted to report that he qualified both days with perfect scores and first place finishes. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Elaine Mayowski for handling Chet to these exciting wins. Elaine and Chet have earned two agility titles (NAJ & NJP) in the last six weeks, and they are one qualifying leg away from a third title!

On Thanksgiving weekend, Elaine Mayowski and Chet were burning up the agility rings in Edinboro, PA. Chet earned his Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP) title in three straight shows with three first place finishes. Two of his three qualifying legs were earned with perfect scores!! Chet and Elaine will be pursuing his Open Jumpers title in 2006, and we're eager to see them in the agility ring again! We are very grateful to Elaine for the wonderful job she's doing with Chet.

On November 12, 2005, Chet (A/C Ch Kelbren Blue Flame) finished his Novice Agility Jumpers title at the Admiral Perry Agility Trial in Edinboro, PA. As icing on the cake, he placed second in the 16" novice jumpers class. We are so excited that he now has an agility title to go along with his CD and Rally Novice titles. We can't thank Elaine Mayowski enough for the marvelous job she's done training Chet and handling him in the agility ring. They make a great team!!

On October 22nd and 23rd, Chet competed in his first agility trial. We're delighted to report that he qualified AND placed both days in the 16" Novice Jumpers class. He earned second place on Saturday and third place on Sunday at the TRSSCGP's agility trial in Edinboro, PA. Elaine Mayowski handled Chet in the agility ring on both days. She did a fabulous job with him, and we are very grateful to her! Chet and Elaine will be pursuing his final NAJ leg in November, and we're eagerly anticipating their next appearance in the ring.

Daily (Shamont Most Unusual Day) was not going to be outdone by her son's RWD this weekend. On September 25th, Daily was WB in Davenport, Iowa. September 25th was also Daily's fifth birthday, so that made her win even more special. We are grateful to Amy Zoss Massey (Kell Shelties) for handling Daily to this win. Daily now has five points/one major, and we're very excited to have her back in the ring again!!

We're smiling at CastleGate again this weekend! On September 24th, CastleGate's Daily News was RWD under breeder judge Nan Bodine at the Butler, PA show. I know that most people don't get too excited about reserves, but putting a reserve myself on a puppy that I bred was pretty special to me. Geraldo is eight months old, and the Butler show was only the fourth time that we've been in the ring together. We're so proud of Geraldo!!

Chet (A/C Ch Kelbren Blue Flame, CD, RN) has been out of the conformation ring for over two years, and we decided to enter him at the Clarksburg West Virginia Kennel Club's show on September 17th just for fun. We thought it would be exciting to have Chet and his son (CastleGate's Daily News) in the ring at the same show. Much to our delight, Geraldo won his class, and Chet won BOB over two other specials. Just to add icing to the cake, Chet made the cut in the group ring as well. Chet was handled to his BOB by Debbie Miller-Gurchak. It was the first time that the two of them had been in the conformation ring together, and they looked great! Our breed judge at the Clarksburg Show was James Neal Barrett, and the group judge was Judith Goodin. We're so proud of our two blue boys!!

On June 11, 2005, Chet earned his final CD leg at the WCOTC Obedience Trial in Delmont, PA with a very respectable score of 190.5! We're thrilled to have two obedience titles at the end of his name now. As always, our heartfelt thanks go out to his performance handler, Debbie Miller-Gurchak! She brings out the best in Chet.

On May 1, 2005, Chet earned his second CD leg under Judge James Grimm at the Butler Dog Training Association's Obedience Trial. We want to express our thanks to his handler, Debbie Miller-Gurchak, for another exciting win. Chet will be pursuing his final CD leg in June.

On Friday, April 8, 2005, "Team Chet" left for a Rally Obedience Trial in North Jackson, Ohio with high hopes. Chet had a blast in the Rally ring and earned his third and final Novice Rally leg at the Youngstown All Breed Training Club that evening. He's now sporting an "RN" after his name, and we hope that this is the first of many performance titles for Chet. As always, he was handled beautifully in the ring by our friend and trainer, Debbie Miller-Gurchak. After the National, we'll be concentrating on the pursuit of his last two CD legs!

On April 8, 2005, we changed our kennel name from Balmoral Shelties of PA to CastleGate Shelties. The puppies from our first litter (born on 1-20-05) will be registered under the CastleGate prefix.

The month of April got off to a roaring start for Chet! On April 1, 2005, he earned his first CD leg at the TRSSCGP Specialty, and on April 2nd and 3rd, he earned Rally Novice legs at the WPKA shows. We extend our thanks and gratitude to Debbie Miller-Gurchak for handling Chet in the ring for all three of those obedience legs. We hope to have Chet's CD and RN titles soon.

On January 20, 2005, our first litter was born! Am/Can Ch. Kelbren Blue Flame ("Chet") is the sire of the litter, and Shamont Most Unusual Day (major pointed) is the dam. Daily presented us with a blue merle girl, a bi-blue boy, a tri girl, a cryptic blue boy, and a tri boy. We are delighted with these puppies and eager to watch them mature. See more pictures of them here. In conjunction with the AKC registration of this litter, we'll be changing our kennel name from Balmoral Shelties to CastleGate Shelties.

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