IN MY HEART

So this is where we part, My Friend, and you'll run on, around the bend, gone from sight, but not from mind, new pleasures there you'll surely find. I will go on, I'll find the strength, life measures quality, not the length. One long embrace before you leave, share one last look, before I grieve. There are others, that much is true, but they be they, and they aren't you. And I fair, impartial, or so I thought, will remember well all you've taught. Your place I'll hold, you will be missed, the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed. And as you journey to your final rest, take with you this...

I loved you best.

Jim Willis

Where it all began, Bilbernie Meaghan 21 Feb 86-15 Jan 96

(Ch Wolfdanes Strategic command X Bilbernie Shawna)

Bred by Bill and Bernice Stevenson, Burlington Ontario.

My first hound and she lived to be ten years old. Here she is swimming in Lake Temiskaming, Quebec.

Ch Bilbernie Uilliam aka Liam aka Bill 22 Dec 98-26 Sept 09

(Ch Starkeeper's Dearg Niall X Bilbernie Mighty Mischief) bred by Bernice Stevenson. Bill was a master escape artist extraordinaire, therapy dog and he also worked in "bite prevention seminars". He lived 10.5 years.

Ch Aotearoa Dubadeasa Castlekeep 25 Oct 99-15 Mar 05

(Rionnageal Tabor X Ch. Aotearoa Belleghuan Tanui)

A lovely girl and a heart hound of mine, bred by Barbara Daley. I lost her at six years. She was never bred.

Aotearoa Aidan of Castlekeep 4 Apr 00-10 Apr 04

(Ch Aotearoa Mangu Mumu X Aotearoa Rawahanga Kea)

Bred by Barbara Daley. An incredibly sweet hound and Dam to my first litter. She left too soon, at 4 years of age so I did not continue with her pedigree.

Castlekeep's Meaghkeah 23 Aug 02-16 July 12

(Ch Bilbernie Uilliam X Aotearoa Aidan of Castlekeep)

If possible meaghkeah was sweeter and softer than her Dam. The only girl with eight brothers, I placed her at two years in a pet home where she lived as long as her father. Ten years) Thank you to Ed and Ian

Ch Glor Na Gael Torin of Castlekeep 28 Mar 01-10 Feb 12

(Ravensbeech Aidan X Waterford Garbo, HGY)

Torin and his sister Saoirse (below) were imported from Hungary. Torin easily finished his championship. He was a happy lad , more like a labrador in personality than IW. He was a bouncy boy for almost 11 years.

Ch Glor Na Gael Saoirse Castlekeep 28 Mar 01-11 Dec 09

(Ravensbeech Aidan X Waterford Garbo, HGY)

Thanks to Csilla and Tibor Juhasz, Saoirse was my foundation bitch. Like her brother (above) Saoirse finished her Canadian championship with ease. She was a classic beauty with all the little details. She passed these traits onto her daughter.

A wonderful mother she raised two litters and helped her daughter raise her litter of 15 puppies.

Lovely to live with.

Ch Castlekeep's Heavenly Freesoul 27 Aug 03-05 Jan 11

(Ch Wolfhaven Soul Man X Ch Glor Na Gael Saoirse Castlekeep)

Dam of Castlekeep's Thuban she gave him her beautiful head and almond shaped dark eyes. She would lay her big head, folded over into my pillow every morning to wake me and get a scratch. I miss that.

Heaven was always a presence in the ring but my proudest moment was Best Veteran in Show at the IWCC

Castlekeep's Soul of the Earth 27 Aug 03-13 Dec 11

(Ch Wolfhaven Soul Man X Ch Glor Na Gael Saoirse Castlekeep)

Earth was a little softer than her littermate Heaven. She did well in the show ring but never enjoyed it so I decided she didn't need a championship. A very defensive mother much like her Dam, only a few people were allowed to touch her babies. She always waited till the pack was finished with their chaos before she would come forward for her time with me. Never pushy. I kept a daughter from her, Castlekeep Earth's Quiet Meadow.