Background

Looking back, I must have inherited my love for animals from my father.  My mother, who’s still my best friend, never had much interest in them, having spent her childhood working on her family farm in Canada.  My father, however, loved them, and from the time I can remember, as a child growing up with my four siblings in Rhode Island and Florida, we had an assortment. We had a pair of champion Cocker Spaniels that gave me my first experience helping my father care for a litter.  We also had homing pigeons, hamsters, rabbits, cats (and I still have cats), and I will always remember our little pet skunk who wore a harness and walked on a leash.  I wonder if that skunk had anything to do with my undying admiration for a nice, high tail-set!

My life with Pekingese began on Christmas morning in 1966.  My husband Normand Dupras  had just returned from Vietnam, having been stationed at Pleiku  (hence the kennel name), we were stationed in New Mexico and his gift for me that year was one of the most special  Christmas presents of my life, a cream Pekingese named Lady Soo Lei. It wasn’t long before I realized that Pekes are like shoes.  You can’t have just one.  So, I contacted Lady Soo Lei’s breeder, a local man named Tom Platt, and bought her black and tan litter sister, Lady Tiki Lei. I really loved my two little girls, and it broke my heart when my husband was ordered overseas to be stationed near Oxford, England.  It was 1967 and there was a total quarantine on all dogs coming to the U.K., and so I had to leave my Pekes back in the States with my aunt. We lived in a small village called Upper Tysoe, and it wasn’t long before I realized I could not live without Pekes. 

Luckily, there was a breeder in a nearby village.  Her name was Hylda Garwood (Hyldewood Pekingese), and she sold me a male, named Yamada of Hyldewood of Pleiku.  He was sold to me as pet quality, having suffered an eye injury, but I thought he was adorable, and as his eye began to clear, I decided to let Mrs. Garwood show him for me at the Invicta Championship Show, under Nigel Aubrey-Jones as I was having surgery.  Yamada won his class, qualifying for Crufts, and I had been bitten by the show bug.  When the total import ban was lifted I sent for my two bitches from Florida, and after the obligatory 6-month quarantine, which was harder on me that it was on them, our family was together again.  I bred one of the bitches to Yamada, and had the harrowing experience of losing an entire litter of 7 puppies (6 were stillborn and the other lived only 12 hours).  I had been befriended by Mary Elliott (Dawshill Pekingese), and I decided to learn more about breeding and showing dogs.  Mary taught me how to whelp and raise puppies, and I showed her Ch. Dawshill Sun Willow several times.

Shows in England both open and championship were benched and you were required to have your dogs at the show by a certain time and had to stay until around 5 PM.  I traveled from the north of Scotland to the south of England & Wales.  Before long I knew almost everyone in the breed.  Every show was a learning experience and I had some of the founding people in the breed to learn from.  Many  friendships developed.   Lily Sawyer (Chyanchy) taught me how to do mating and Pam Edmonds (Singlewell) taught me how to go over a dog and assess virtues and faults.  When I first started showing I remember Miss Cynthia Ashton Cross -Alderbourne,  Hindley Taylor -Kyratown,  Queenie Mould -Kanghe, Ella & Francis Pilgrim -Chintoi,  Pam & Bill Edmond 𕢓Singlewell, Pauline Bull -Changte, Jean Eisenman -Jamestown, Nigel Aubrey-Jones and R. Willliam Taylor – St Aubrey- Elsdon, Antonia Horn -Belknap, Jack & Joyce Mitchell –Micklee, Paul & Liz Stannard –Shiarita, Ethel Partridge –Pekehuis, Di Holman –Etive, Alex Williams -Toydom.  I remember standing at ringside with Terry Nethercott and Vandy Williams at Seymour Hall in London when we were all in our early twenties discussing how long it would be until we would be able to make up an English champion. 

Meanwhile, with the help of my new friends in the breed, I searched for a show bitch.  In 1970 my search ended when Pam Edmonds (Singlewell Pekingese), whom I had become friends with having been benched together at most shows, decided she had a bitch for me.  Pam had told me the bitch was quite shy, and would need a lot of work, but I was totally smitten when I first laid eyes on her.  She was black with silver in her furnishings, and she was absolutely lovely.   Singlewell Twilight Mist of Pleiku and I bonded instantly, and she always showed beautifully for me.  She gained her Junior Warrant and 1 CC with BOB and 2 RCC’s  by 15 months.  She was than bred to Di Holman’s Eng Am Can Ch Etive Pu Zin Julier and whelped 5 puppies.  I was delighted until they reached a week old and they began screaming and arching their necks and my second litter turned into a nightmare.  One died the following morning and I had it autopsied & it proved to be spinal meningitis.  I got the serum but only one survived and she turned out to be a mini.  At that time Di Holman had a single puppy that I took home and raised her with mine.  She was Ku Chan Kai of Etive and was one of the last puppies sired by Ku Ying of Jamestown.  I fell in love with her and Di let me keep her on breeding terms.  She did very well at the shows and was an excellent mother. My first cream bitch was bred to The Prawn of Cripellen and this time had a litter of 4 healthy white puppies.  I kept one bitch  Pleiku Snow Queen and finally had my first homebred for the show ring.  Queenie did very well in the puppy classes and consistently won the white class.

I started judging in 1972 and that year officiated at the Pekingese Club members show.  It was a huge entry of 206 and I made Terry Nethercott’s puppy Sungarth Hi Jinks of Sunsalve BOB.  Two weeks later he won his first CC under Fiona Mirylees (Beaupres) and was soon made up.  By 1975 I was qualified to award CC’s and was on the Pekingese Breed Council’s B Judges list.

Pam Edmond offered me another bitch  Singlewell Meringue of Pleiku.  She was a clear light red self masked and did very well at the shows.  She won 1 CC and 2 RCC’s.  I brought out Twilight Mist again and she gained another CC and 5 more RCC’s.  All 7 of her RCC’s were to the top winning female Ch St Aubrey Pekehuis Petula.  Petula is one of my all time favorites and she was handled by Winnie Mee. Winnie has been instrumental in helping me obtain the line bred dogs that I am working with today. 

In 1973 I bought in a son of Yamada named Yamadin of Pleiku bred by Winnie Hewson.  He was a deep red with a beautiful wide shallow head and lovely expression.  He did very well as a puppy and won his Junior Warrant and three classes at Crufts.  1974 brought orders to return to the USA to George AFB in southern California.  I decided to stay behind in England and try and win the 3^rd CC on Twilight Mist.  She had produced another litter to Ch. Dawshill Sun Willow and was growing her coat.     After almost a year I came back to the USA. I had a litter of 4 out of  Pleiku Snow Queen by Ch Hyldewood Shantung that were  8 weeks old when I left.  When I was settled in California Terry Nethercott and Hylda Garwood sent the dogs to me.

I had never attended a dog show in America and didn’t know anyone in Pekes except Kay Jeffords (Chinatown) and Michael Wolf and Jennifer Simms (Genisim) from their frequent trips to England.  I entered Twilight Mist at the Beverly Hills show and won a 5 pt major and BOS over all of the top winning females of the time.  It didn’t take long after that to get to know all of the exhibitors in California.  Jennifer Simms and I became quite good friends and traveled to shows together.  It was quite a shock to me to find the difference in entry size.  I was use to competing in classes of  25.  In California there were usually only 25 for a total entry.  June and Harry Strange were showing some lovely English imports and we became friends.  Bill & Shirley Dumas and Bob and Charlene James were just starting out in Pekes.  Jim Dozah and Jeanette Franklin lived nearby and we used each others dogs.  Kirk Williams of Wynningways in San Francisco became a very close friend and he introduced me to Bob and Joyce Jacobsen. 

Twilight Mist became a champion in no time and Yamadin was on the way to his title when he went to live with the Jacobsen’s.  I started showing the puppy from the litter whelped in England,  Ch Pleiku Que Tung who finished by 15 months.  Que’s littermate  Eng Ch Pleiku Snow Shan of Hyldewood became one of the few whites to gain his title in England and I believe is the only English Champion to have been bred by an American. In 1978 I returned to the east coast.

In 1990, after several years on the sidelines, the first National Rotating Specialty perked my interest and I was eager to get back into showing.  I had met Pat and Charlie Farley (Chu Lai Pekingese) back in 1979. The Farley's lived in the neighboring State of Massachusetts, and we had used each other’s stud dogs  and their top winning male Ch Chu Lai Touch of Buddha was out of a Ch Pleiku Que Tung daughter and we owned his sire Ch Bar-Her’s Buddha of Chu Lai.    For the next few years, Pat and Charlie and I were partners in Pekes, having several litters together and showing our dogs as a team.  I ventured back into the show ring with Ch Chu Lai Star Chaser who was sired by Ch Wun Chun Lucas of Chu Lai a Touch of Buddha son and his dam was Pleiku Andrea of Keeslund owned by Judy Pomato.

We produced several champions, including Ch. Pleiku Fanci Touch of Chu Lai, Ch Chu Lai Pleiku Sassi Touch, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Traces of Love,  Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Magic Touch, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Sweet Dreams, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Betty Gable, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Truffles, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Rebecca, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Mystic Touch, Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Damiette and Ch. Chu Lai Pleiku Dream Chaser (who earned her title with Specialty wins at PCA’s National Rotating Specialty in Atlanta, Pekingese Club of Southern New Jersey, and Allegheny Pekingese Club with BISS at NJ and Allegheny.  I handled Dream throughout her career.  Dream was the Queen in my kennel for 11 years  and I love her dearly.    My partnership with Pat and Charlie was fruitful.

I returned to England after 19 years in 1994 to renew old friendships and find new bloodlines.  I stayed with Vandy Williams and Grace Godwin, and with their help was able to purchase Group Winning Ch Ghyllmoire Upper Class For Toydom., Delwin Elusive Dream, Am Ch. Shihgo Idle Fancy, Am/Can Ch Genisim Play Misty For Me.  I also purchased one of the last sons of Eng Ch Yakee For Your Eyes Only, Yakee Chocolate Orange for Delwin that was sent a few months later.  To mention a few of the results of these imports, Upper Class  produced the top wining female Ch Pleiku Classic Dance.
Idle Fancy bred to Ch Briarcourt’s Damien Gable produced  Ch Pleiku Cheryl Gable.  Cheryl Gable was line bred to Ch Taibel Golden Nugget (Ch Chu Lai Pleiku Damiette grandson) and produced  Ch Pleiku Marilyn Gable.

I attended two Championship shows during my visit that year and a number of the dogs caught my interest, but none greater than Ch Tenling Golden Arrow of Pekehuis SOD (Duke).  Many of the other dogs I had noticed were sired by either Duke himself or by his son, Pure Gold. I decided that was the direction I wanted to take with my breeding program.

Several attempts to buy a Duke daughter fell through but on a return visit in 1996 I visited Anthea Everitt. Anthea had a litter of three 7-week-old males sired by Duke out of a Pure Gold daughter, a grandsire to grand daughter breeding. I purchased one of the line bred males keeping my fingers crossed that he would be what I was looking for. When the puppy was old enough, The 7-week-old pup turned out to be  Am Ch Kushan Gold Ransom of Pekehuis SOD. “George” gained his title quickly and returned home to Pleiku.



After a few litters, I noticed the resulting puppies were of exceptional quality and consistency. In one of George's first litters  out of Chu Lai Pleiku Dream On (Ch Ghyllmoire Upper Class for Toydom X BISS Chu Lai Pleiku Dream Chaser) he produced BISS and Group winning  Ch Pleiku Gold Dream for Lon-Du owned by Arlon Duit.  The George daughter BISS and Group winning Ch. Tu Ta Moon's Royal Rose bred by Frances Tessoriero and owned by Diane Burvee was the top winning bitch in 2000 and 2001 and has produced four champions in her first litter qualifying her as a ROM dam .   


He had also sired several litters for other breeders and the results were consistent with every breeding.  “George’s” titles now include PCA’s Register of Merit status and Sire of Distinction. He was listed in Dog News as a top sire 2001 and 2003.  His son Gold Dream was top sire in 2002.  George’is the proud sire of  of 35 Champions with a BISA and several group and specialty winning progeny.

In return visits I made several inquiries about purchasing a female to line-breed to George.  I tried twice to import chilled semen from Duke and was unsuccessful, thanks to U.S. Customs, in getting it here in a viable condition.   Eventually, in 2000, Winnie had a litter with three bitches that were line-bred to Duke.  Winnie allowed me to choose two from the three females.  I brought one puppy home and Winnie kept one puppy for me until she was old enough to be bred to Duke and sent over in whelp.  The puppy I came home with was  Ch Pekehuis Pleiku Gold. After she finished, this Duke granddaughter was line-bred to George and produced  my first All Breed Best in Show dog; Am Ch Pleiku Gold Reserve owned by Kit Woodruff.

The littermate,  Ch Pleiku Gold Collection, also finished her title quickly.  Pekehuis Gold Exchange for Pleiku ROM that was bred to Duke produced  Ch Pleiku Golden Express,  Ch Pleiku Golden Regalia and  Ch Pleiku Golden Design.  The fourth puppy went to Micheline Pigeon in Canada and is the dam of several of her winning Pekingese.  Gold Exchange was bred to George for her next litter and that produced

  Ch Pleiku Gold Lace for Pekehuis and Ch Pleiku Pekehuis Gold Ribbons.

In 2000 I also brought back two dogs from Bert Easdon and Phillip Martin,  Am Ch Yakee Monarch of the Glen and Am Ch Yakee Miss Appropriate.  The following year I brought home a Duke grandson, sired by Eng Ch Stsanja Step By Step ROM (a Duke son),  Ch Yakee Forward Step At Pleiku (David). At his first show in America he won a BISS at 11-1/2 months. He is proving to be a prepotent sire and like his sire and grandsire has qualified for his ROM and has qualified for his SOD at 3 years of age.  David has 43 Champions to date.  His most notable get to date was co-bred by me and Dr. Ceri Sveilich. 
 BISS Ch Pleiku Kerimere Stepping Out, the puppy bitch that was Winners bitch all three days of the 2002 Rotating National Specialty and has since added four Best in Show Specialties to her title including BISS at the Houston Area Pekingese Club the Rotating National weekend under Breed Specialist Michael Hill and BOS at PCA the same weekend.  She was also BOS at the PCA Winter Specialty in NY in 2003 under R. William Taylor. In very limited showing Stepping Out is ranked #10.  Stepping Out's littermate, owned by Arlon Duit Ch Pleiku Stepping Forward has several group placements including a Group 1.    Stepping Forward and Stepping Out are out of  Ch Pleiku Charlene Gable that finished at PCA and won an AOM, a Ch Briarcourt’s Damien Gable daughter out of St Aubrey Charlotte of Elsdon.  Another dog imported in 2000 was Yakee Just Awesome.  He is a repeat breeding of BIS Crufts winner Ch Yakee A Dangerous Liaison and has several Champion get.  He is the third Golden Arrow son at Pleiku.   Ch Taibel Starshine at Pleiku a George grand daughter came to me from Stan and Beryl Williams and will be line breed.

Ch Yakee Miss Appropriate was bred to George and her daughter,  Ch Pleiku Appropriate Legacy, was line bred to Ch Yakee Forward Step at Pleiku (David) and is nursing a litter.   Pleiku Golden Honey, a George daughter out of Ch Chu Lai Pleiku Sweet Dreams (Yakee Chocolate Orange at Delwin x BISS Ch Chu Lai Pleiku Dream Chaser) in her first litter by Ch Pleiku Royal Class produced multiple group winner and   BISS Am Can Asian Ch Pleiku Classic Gold now owned by Pusara Suntrangkoon and  when Golden Honey was line bred to Yakee Forward Step produced  Ch Pleiku Bit O Honey.     The combination of Gold Ransom daughters bred to Forward Step is producing lovely type with the  soft expression that I strive for in my dogs.

I hope to have the line well established before I turn my dogs over to the very capable hands of Dr. Ceri Sveilich.  Ceri has been working with me with the dogs for about 11 years now.  Four years of that time she was away at school working on her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.  Between semesters she was back in Rhode Island working with the dogs.  After her initial year of veterinary practice in Upstate New York, Ceri has returned to Rhode Island and is practicing here.  Ceri will be showing dogs that we have co-bred.  She has the love for the breed and dedication to make her a successful breeder along with a keen eye and competitive streak that keeps her constantly working on improving her conditioning and presentation skills.  Below Ceri is pictured showing our homebred puppy  Ch. Pleiku Kerimere Hyland Tu Step.  When Tu Step finished we brought out Ch. Pleiku is Pleiku Appropriate Steps.  She is out of Ch Pleiku Appropriate Legacy X Ch Yakee Forward Step at Pleiku ROM.  She won three majors her first weekend out at 6-1/2 months and 2 Puppy Gr 1's handled by Ceri.

In 1998 I decided that after having my kennel in the basement of our home for 17 year that it was time to build a kennel for the dogs.  That same year I applied for my judging license and I enjoy doing specialties.  I find that judging some of the top dogs in the breed keeps me ever mindful of what I need to improve in  my own kennel and sometimes an appreciation of what I am producing.  In 1997 I awarded CC’s in England at the Pekingese Reform Championship Show.  My bitch CC and BOB went to the top winning female Ch Shihgo Idle Dreams and the dog CC his first to Ch Nowai Sydney Moon.  I gave out CC’s again in 2005.  Due to a severe knee injury I was out of the ring for the about 2-1/2 years.  A knee replacement has allowed me to present my dogs again.  For several years  my dogs were beautifully presented by the very capable and talented hands of David Fitzpatrick.

Despite being somewhat sidelined, I’ve had a lot of fun with Pekes and my friends in the breed.  In March of 2003 I made my yearly trip to Crufts.  I helped Bert Easdon prepare his 6 dogs for their classes.  Anyone who knows Bert can tell you that spending time with him is priceless.  His amazing quick wit keeps everyone in good spirits, and staying at his and Philip’s home in Glasgow, is always fun.  Besides Bert loves to shop and anyone that knows me knows that I use to buy for a living as a Purchasing Agent but usually know where the best deals can be found.  We had an incredible time at Crufts, which was topped off by his Ch Yakee A Dangerous Liaison, better known as Danny, winning Best In Show.  I also had the honor of grooming Danny for the breed, the group, and for Best in Show. A first time win for a Pekingese at this prestigious show.   I also showed a young dog for Bert that is now Ch Yakee If Only. This lovely young dog came to America shortly after Crufts and went on to become the top winning Toy of all times in America.  The next few days were an absolute whirlwind from the minute we returned to Glasgow with dozens of televisions cameras and reports waiting.  The lobby of Bert and Phillip's Dunkeld Hotel was filled with congratulatory flower arrangements.  The next morning we flew flying to London for a live Television show and than home for the local radio and televisions stations.  Bert’s breeding has had a strong influence on my kennel, and his friendship is a treasure to me.

I’ve also been honored by the opportunity to work, first as a member of the Board of Directors, and as President, for the Pekingese Club of America.  It’s an eye-opening experience to learn first-hand all the things that go into running a national parent club and how much work the officers do on a daily basis.  There have been enormous challenges along the way, and while it was is often stressful and thankless, there are some rewards.  The experiences of putting on national specialty shows, maintaining our judges and breeders education programs, keeping a PCA website up and running, revising our Standard, helping the Pekingese Charitable Foundation get off to a healthy start, breeder referral and helping the many homeless Pekingese dogs through our Rescue and Adoption Program, had made my work with PCA worthwhile.

After more than 40 years in the Pekingese breed, I feel grateful for the position in which I now find myself. I have many wonderful friends and cherished homebred dogs.   My husband Doug does not enjoy dog shows but keeps the home fires burning while I am away.  He enjoys Peke friends visiting and anyone that has visited us can tell you that he loves to cook for them.  Doug is often found in his favorite chair with puppies in his arms socializing them. I am still fascinated by this breed that I came to love so many years ago and look forward to breeding for as many years as possible.   The dogs in this article are but a few that I have had the pleasure to own over the years.  I have bred or owned over 80 Champions.  

Elizabeth Tilley-Poole