Banchory Kennels and Sheltie History
Banchory Kennels contributed a great deal to the modern American Sheltie. 12 ROM Shelties carried the Banchory prefix, and at least two others, Ch Philidove Heir Presumptive ROM and Ch Cherden Sock it To 'Em CD ROM, were offered at stud by the kennel, at least temporarily. It would be difficult to find a modern Sheltie kennel whose blue merle and black dogs did not have Banchory behind them. Unfortunately, the record of Banchory was seriously flawed by an episode of misregistered dogs in the late 1970's, leading eventually to the permanant suspension from all AKC activities of its owners, Clare and Donna Harden.
Donna Harden bred Shelties through four marriages, with most dogs being co-owned. Thus Banchory dogs can be found bred and/or owned by Mr and Mrs. G. Langness, Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Olson, Paul and Donna Tidswell, and Clare and Donna Harden. To avoid confusion, I will refer simply to Donna as the breeder and/or owner of the Banchory dogs. She did not breed all of the dogs with the Banchory prefix, but she was (until barred from AKC) the owner or co-owner, and often the breeder, of the dogs with the Banchory prefix .
Sometime in the late 70's, Donna placed a number of her best brood bitches and at least one outstanding male, Ch Banchory Formal Notice ROM, in co-ownership. The co-ownership turned sour, to such an extent that it led to a court battle over the ownership of the dogs. AKC rules on registering litters from co-owned dogs required that both of the co-owners of the bitch must sign the litter application, but the signature of only one of the sire's owners was needed. Donna continued to show Formal Notice and offer him at stud, but she could not register litters from the bitches. Apparently to get around this, she re-registered the bitches under different names and continued to breed them.
The AKC eventually charged the Hardens with the falsely registered dogs, as well as with showing Formal Notice with the entry forms showing Donna as owner when AKC records showed the co-ownership. Formal Notice was stripped of his wins, including Best of Breed at the 1982 ASSA National Specialty. (He is apparently considered a Champion by AKC, although he was never published, nor was a certificate issued.) AKC also found numerous extra blue slips at Donna's home. The Hardens were barred from future participation in AKC activities, thus effectively putting an end to Banchory. Between 1983 and 1985 the AKC published a number of corrections in the Stud Book which corrected the pedigrees of the offspring of the reregistered bitches. (The corrections are also available in a format easier to apply to actual pedigrees.) These corrections as originally published are:
Published 10-83:
Banchory All That Jazz 10-82: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Behind Closed Doors 11-80: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Blue Persian 5-82: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Close Encounter 7-80: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Double Solitaire 9-80: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Elizabeth 5-82: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Formal Review 3-83: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Karmal N Licorice 9-80: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Private Affair 10-80: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Private Contract 2-80: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Private Enterprise 2-80: Dam Banchory Nightingale 4-74
Banchory Sassafrass in Blue 9-80: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Silver Lining II: 2-82: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Silver Prelude: 1-81: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76
Banchory Simply Sensational 9-81: Dam Horizon White Ice 8-76Published 11-84:
Banchory As the Snow Flies 11-83: Dam Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78
Banchory Bellisima 4-79: Cancelled
Banchory Birth Right 11-80: Dam Banchory Ballerina 1-85
Banchory I'll Stand Bi [ROM] 8-79: Dam Banchory Three Oaks Theme 2-76
Banchory In Bi Two 3-81: Dam: Banchory Excaliber Elite
Banchory Iris Blue 11-79: Cancelled
Ch Banchory Iron Clad Alibi CD 11-80: Dam Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78
Banchory Karelane Keepsake 11-82: Dam: Banchory Excaliber Ecstasy 11-78
Banchory Montage Marsha 4-82: Dam: Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78
Banchory Montage Minuette 12-84: Dam Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78
Banchory Night Velvet II 10-82: Dam: Banchory Exceliber Ecstasy 11-78
Banchory Orchid Blue 10-79: Cancelled
Banchory Roots of Tamaron 2-80: Dam: Banchory Three Oaks Theme 12-76
Banchory Shasta Kalina10-81: Dam: Banchory Excaliber Ecstasy 11-78
Banchory Theme Song 4-79: Cancelled
Ch Banchory The Midnight Hour II 11-80: Dam Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78
Cedarhopes A Blues Melody 8-83: Dam: Catomco-Banchory Diana Ross 11-78
Cedarhope's Gift to Nohi9-82: Dam Catomoc-Banchory Diana Ross 11-78
Cedarhope Share The Moment1-82: Dam Catomco-Banchory Diana Ross 11-78
Cedarhope Snowdrop 1-82: Dam Catomco-Banchory Diana Ross 11-78
Chaparral In All Her Glory 10-83: Dam Banchory Excaliber Ecstasy 11-78
Chaparral Kava N Cocoa 11-83: Dam Banchory Excaliber Ecstasy 11-78
Hadricks Shooting Star 6-82: Dam: Banchory Three Oaks Theme 2-76
Montage The Wayward Wind 8-82: Dam Banchory Excaliber Elite 11-78Published 2-85:
Banchory Act Three 8-79: Cancelled
Banchory Turtle Dove 2-79: Cancelled
Banchory White Iceing 4-79: CancelledPublished 4-85:
Banchory Natalie Cole 4-79: Cancelled
Banchory The Blues Queen 2-79: CancelledAs shown in the linked pedigree analyses, these changes correct the following fraudulent reregistrations:
Horizon White Ice was reregistered as Banchory White Iceing, using a blue slip from Horizon White Ice's litter
Banchory Nightingale was reregistered as Banchory Turtle Dove, using a blue slip from Nightingale's litter.
Banchory Ballerina was reregistered as Banchory Belissima, using a blue slip from Ballerina's litter.
Banchory-Three Oaks Theme was reregistered as Banchory Theme Song, using a blue slip from an earlier litter of the same breeding as Three Oaks Theme.
Banchory Excalibur Elite was reregistered as Banchory Orchid Blue, and her littermate Banchory Excaliber Ecstasy was reregistered as Banchory Iris Blue. In this case, neither bitch had been bred by Donna, and two additional bitches, Banchory the Blues Queen and Banchory Act Three, had to be created to provide a pedigree that matched the real one.
Catomco-Banchory Diana Ross was registered as Banchory Natalie Cole, with Banchory the Blues Queen (above) providing a pedigree that matched her dam's.Any pedigree is only as good as the integrity of the breeder who registers the pups. Once a breeder has falsified one registration, there is always doubt about every dog registered by that breeder. To some people, Banchory in a pedigree will always be a reason for suspicion, and there is nothing illogical in such a conclusion. However, Donna could have reregistered these bitches, especially the last three listed above, by using spare blue slips from other litters. Instead, she put a great deal of effort into manufacturing pedigrees that would match the true pedigrees exactly in terms of bloodlines, incidentally creating a paper trail in the process. (I for one get very suspicious when an experienced breeder fails to register a dog until near the birth of its great grandchildren. The pattern here is very similar to the pattern in the registration of Golden Spider of Houghton Hill, where Shelties were invented to hide a Collie cross.) To me, this suggests that she put great emphasis on the importance of her own breeding records.
There have been other allegations, some quite severe, which were not investigated by AKC. These include shipping a puppy other than the one selected by the buyer, registering a puppy with the wrong dam to assure ownership, crosses with other breeds, and animal cruelty. At the present time, these remain unproven allegations.
