Big and handsome, Simon was our introduction to Group placements and big wins. He finished his CH by the time he was 9 months old, going Reserve only once, and taking the points every other time. He got his first Group placement at 11 months, and collected many more with very limited showing. We made our first trip to NYC and the spectacle that is the Westminster KC when he was still quite young - he didn't win, but we enjoyed it, and will always remember the trip. He was nationally ranked in the Top Ten for the breed each of the 5 years of his life.
In addition to his dog-show carreer, he had a stage carreer as well - he did over 50 performances as "Jack the Dog" in Little House on the Praire, at the internationally known Children's Theater in Minneapolis, MN. He would wait at the door, leash in his mouth, for his "driver" to pick him up and take him to the theater. When a new stage hand missed his "cue" to be on stage one evening, Simon bounced up and down to get attention until someone realized he was supposed to be on stage, released him and he dashed into the place he belonged. Even the actors who didn't like dogs when the production started fell in love with him - he made sure of it!
Simon also spent 6 months working for the National Park Service, when I was living in a tent and working as a Field Biologist. He carried a pack to help with some of the equipment, and guarded the campsite while we were away. In the evenings, he would provide entertainment, playing games with my field partners.
19-3/4" tall, robust, deep body, heavy bone, impressive head with a gentle and intelligent expression, bold-moving, very sound. When he had a game to play, you could see the twinkle in his eye - and he had a way of explaining to the human he chose to play with what the rules of the game were, and thoroughly enjoyed the game!
Simon left us tragically, and far too soon. (An article about his death will be added here in the future.) Fortunately, there were a few fabulous kids to carry on a small part of him, and keep him alive through his decendents. His personality, coat, movement and other traits are especially evident in his great-great-grandson, Seasar (CH Scarlight's Seasar TD NA), through Keeper (CH Sketchbook Speak Softly), and Gus (CH Karestesco's Quinn von Gustav). In many ways, he's back - though in other ways he never really left.
