Ch Mochras Ipse Facto ( Ch Seplecur Danny ex Clonara Alia ) born 1990.

 

 "Maxim"

 

 The litter nearly didnt happen as Danny's dam Partencourt Melika was undershot and i was concerned that it might come through. Danny didnt sire many undershot hounds and I hadnt heard of many with this fault in Alia's background, so I went ahead.  Sulhamstead Woodside Finn had a reverse scissor bite and was in so many pedigrees, one had to watch out for it. Alia's ancestor Solstrand San Antonio of Edeyrn was prone to producing overbites, so there was a bit of ducking and diving to gain the best qualities from these hounds without picking up one or the other.Alia had produced an overbite in her previous litter, an otherwise wonderful dog who was the standout pick of the F- litter.  

 

Incitatus is pictured below - a nice hound who went to a pet home and was called " Kit". The "I" litter contained many athletes of great size.

 

 

 

I was watching the above gorgeously "fire engine red" brindle puppy from birth and gave him the "best" name of Incitatus. Ipse Facto had his name misspelt by the KC in the days when you couldnt change it back to what should have been, IPSO Facto. He was a dingy brown coloured puppy who got lost in the mob until he was around 9 weeks old. By then both Mary McBryde and Gordon Crane had picked him out and even I had spotted how beautifully he moved. I could have kept any of three males here as one was a Danny copy and Incitatus did grow up into a lovely hound, but with a softer coat and thin whippy tail, which detracted on such a large dog. When the litter was placed out at 3 months I was delighted to see they all had perfect bites, which stayed the case for most of them......  

 

two pictures of Maxim at ten or eleven weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So - we kept Maxim and the main distinguishing factor of this puppy was that he looked like a newborn whelp even at four months old when you looked down at him sleeping - his head was still too big for his body and his limbs were very lanky and full of angulation. He was an easy puppy with no setbacks, never lame a day in his life. At around 8 months of age I looked into his previously perfect mouth and discovered to my horror that his bite had slipped - he had a reverse scissor bite. It meant his lower incisors wore down far more quickly than on a hound with a perfect bite. Breed specialists tended to excuse this fault but allrounders were harder on it so I always tried to "throw" BOB when he was in the challenge to give a bitch the chance in the group.

 

He was beaten to first place on just one occasion as a puppy or junior, done in style being fifth out of five ( that judge is still amazing spectators to this day, most recently overlooking the GB top winning sighthound 2007 on what looked like "his" day). 

 

Maxim's first CC came as a junior and from an Allrounder who did know his wolfhounds as he handled a good one one to her title in the early 70s. I was hoping for the last few junior warrant points, which came along too. Maxim later featured in this judge( Andrew Brace)'s book as a hound with an obvious fault who was otherwise a good example of his breed. He won BIS at the IWClub show under Tim Finney and a res CC at Crufts plus a number of challenge certificates and reserves.   

  

 

 

 

 The many stages a puppy goes through - at five and a half months Maxim had a flat sided ribcage which seemed to spring too high up on his back, and stood like this. He doesnt look the bold extrovert, but I can assure you he always was, the problem was getting him to stand still for a split second. If you are into such things take a look at the width across the hock and the long os calcis with all that width at the rear of the second thigh. In my experience this often goes with the best hind action and bend of stifle.

 

 

 

 

 he always moved like THIS ! Picture taken on same day.  

 

 

This would have been his debut show at 8 months but the dog van broke down en route - he did get his picture taken lots of times that day once we finally arrived, too late for his puppy class.

 

 

 

 

Fifteen months winning class at Paignton ( judge Keith Follett, Edeyrn ).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In full maturity - this is a well known photograh by Dalton.

 

Maxim lives on behind hounds in many countries, and in the year we learned of the death of the last of his ten year old offspring came the news of a litter by A.I. in America. He died of bone cancer aged 6.5. He sired amongst others the first Ravensbeech Champions Sulys and Sabrina, ch Solstrand Ex Gratia, other champions overseas and now the new generation at Carrickaneena. Look for the April 2008 photographs on the "USA Nationals" page, and of course the page for his handsome son living with me now - Am Ch Carrickaneena Slieve Gullion.