For Mariah’s first litter, I chose AKC/CKC CH Wind Dancer Luke of Valkyrie.  Luke was in the Top 10 for the breed and a Westminster competitor that year.  Patty and I drove for fifteen hours through a blizzard to get Mariah to Luke.  We had a bet on the litter’s birth date; I said that with Mariah’s sense of humor, she’d have thirteen puppies on April first. I was partially right. Patty and I had stayed up the night before, waiting for Mariah to whelp.  She waited until morning.  April Fools! 

A little girl was firstborn; I named her April, and we had our litter theme.  Mariah had twelve pups and Baycliff had its first homebred champion; Sofie became an American and Canadian Champion and an AKC Specials Dog just like her Dad.