Saint Bernards have taken over our lives. Three days after we got married Catherine went off with my father, and came home in the evening holding a bundle of towels, which she proudly handed to me. This bundle contained our first dog' Sharmara, a 5 week old, Old English Sheepdog. He soon became our pride and joy, taking care of Catherine whilst I was serving in the Royal Navy. When he reached 12 years old, we decided it was time to get another dog so it could learn from Sharmara. 

On a country lane, we saw a couple walking (or being walked) with 3 Saint Bernards. We pulled over and had cuddles and slobbers, and the whole family were smitten. George and Maureen Gwilliam (Coatham) let us have our first Saint in 1991, and this was the start of our ongoing love affair with Saint Bernards.

Coatham Northern News (Bramble), was an exceptional friend. We only had him with us for 2 years when we found he had a rare cancer of the mouth. His time with us was amazing and we still miss him to this day.

It took us 6 years to find another Saint, as we knew Bramble couldn't be replaced. When we started looking for a puppy, we contacted Tan Negrecha, who told us about a litter out of his Champion Marquis of Chandlimore, and that there was a nice smooth dog in the litter. As fate would have it the breeders of the puppies were George and Maureen. We were at there house within hours, and Catherine picked our new boy as soon as she saw him.  

 Coatham SmoothPraise at Shambrabern                                                                                                                                                          

Kenika went on to become one of the top winning dogs of his era. I had great fun showing him, and together we learnt our ring craft, he finished his career on 1CC and 1RCC, which was quite an achievement when he was always competing against the amazing CH Snowshire Ritchies Rich with Candlimore who still holds the dog CC record.

Kenika is now in his 11th year and lives his life happily with all his progeny around him. He is respected by all the other dogs, and the front room is his domain.

Since we had our first litter our way of life has evolved around the Bernards. We bought Shambrabern as an old cow byre set in 1.5 acres on a hillside in Weardale, so we could build our kennels. We are curently looking into extending the kennels, and we will be happy to accomodate boaders and day boarders. Please see our buisness site www.petitspaws.co.uk for details. 

                                                 The Shambrabern Kennel Block. Purpose built 2008.

                          Neula and Farrel @ 5 weeks with uncle Oshie @ 7 weeks

Take a look at our Bernard family past and present.

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