| Our first Bouvier - though not the first dog we trained or titled was, Ch. Vacher's Alpha Centauri SchH III, FH, CD, TD, OFA. Tory earned his tracking title at only 6 months, 3 days of age. That was a mistake, you know! I had been training tracking by following Glen Johnsons's tracking book and misread it. I thought he had said you could get your TD in 10 weeks. What it had really said was that you would be ready to certify in 10 weeks. I didn't catch my mistake till some years later when I was re reading the book. He was the first Champion and the second Bouvier to hold Schutzhund III in North America. He was also first to hold the "FH", the coveted advanced German tracking title, and was reserve North American Working Champion in 1981. Unfortunately, after only one litter Tory became sterile. A necropsy after his death indicated a testicular tumor as the cause. He was placed into a loving home when he was 5½ years old. It was very hard to do. But he was well loved. He died in his sleep when he was 12½.
Not every important dog, was a titled dog. Our first real brood bitch was a "rent a bitch" from Miss Bowles and Bruce Jacobsohn at Belco Farm Kennels. April du Clos des Cerberes, OFA, TT was the mother of Ch. Centauri's Fleur de Lis, CD, TD, Sch H III, OFA and Ch. Frigg du Clos des Cerberes. She also was the dam of a number of champions for du Clos des Cerberes kennel. Another of her daughters and litter sister to Frigg was Centauri's Flandrianne or 'Annie'. Erik Houttuin referred to her as "the bitch too tough for schutzhund." Annie became important in the program after being bred to Gambit. One of April's sons, Centauri's Fritz, just died last week (3-6-98) - he would have been 17 in July.
"Leah", Select Ch. Centauri's Fleur de Lis SchH III, CD, TD, OFA, was out of our very first litter. She became the first SchH III female and Working Champion in 1984. She earned each title away from her home field and the number two bitch in conformation nationally, also in '84. Sound pretty high falutin' doesn't it? Actually she was very independent and did very well away from home. Her excellent movement was one of the reasons she did so well as a show dog. When she retired from working she attached herself to our youngest daughter, Meredith (now known as Meri Albright). They were extremely devoted to each other. Leah also played an important role in the play Camelot at the historic Woodstock Opera House, in Woodstock, IL, being voted the most popular cast member and receiving very nice reviews in the newspaper. She lived to be 12½.
Leah was bred to Donar to produce Select Champion Centauri's Gambit SchH III, CD, OFA (Excellent). In 1984 at the North American Championships both Gambit and Leah were rated "Excellent" and placed "Select" by Annie Verheyen of Belgium, perhaps the most respected Bouvier judge in the world. Gambit, who was high in Schutzhund trial in Detroit and second in Police Protection, has proven to be an outstanding stud dog, for his progeny, and their offspring, have won in the show ring as well as demonstrated strong working character. In 1985 Gambit became the third Centauri Bouvier to become SchH III, Champion of Record and Working Champion or Reserve. At the Working Championships his Schutzhund scores were 86 in tracking, 97 in obedience and 96 in protection, and he was first in Police Protection. In '86 he was again Reserve Working Champion, tied for first in Police Protection and rated "Excellent" and place among the Select males by Henk Harmers, Vice President of the Dutch Bouvier Club. In October of 1987, in Redlands, California, Gambit became the second Centauri Bouvier to hold the title "North American Working Champion." In conformation, he was rated "Excellent" by Justin Chastel. In 1989, in Detroit, Gambit again was the Working Championship winner. In addition to being the leading producer of Schutzhund titled Bouviers in North America, Gambit has produce a Best In Show winner, Am/Can Ch. Centauri's Marco Polo, Am/Can CD. Gambit is the dog by which I measure all others - no not in size, though he was a large dog, but by temperament, where he was a Giant. Very few Bouviers measure up. He was a dog with very strong character. He has numerous titled offspring and will forever live in our memories as one of a kind!
Hantal, our Donar daughter, was SchH II, FH, CD, TD. She was the first female in America to hold the FH, the advanced tracking title. She was a very special working companion to me (Kathy) and we spent many hours on the tracking fields together. She was the excellent tracking dog by which all others are measured in our training program today. She was small, but liked to clip agitators behind the knee with her shoulder to knock them down and then grab the sleeve. She is missed!
Centauri's Kannon SchH III, owned and trained by Mr. Frank Krasinski, was the 1991 North American Working Champion in Atlanta. Frank also owned and trained a Gambit daughter, Centauri's Irisa, CDX, Sch H II, OFA. Frank has promised us photos of these dogs so we can put them up on the web as well.
In the Fall of 1994, Centauri's Porter, owned and trained by Charlie Porter of Maine, earned his SchH I, II, and III in only 6 weeks. He achieved his FH in 1995. He died in the fall of 1997 as the result of an auto accident.
In 1997 Ch. Centauri's Tory, CD, OFA (owned by Joyce and Jerry Osicek and littermate Ch. Centauri's Tosca, CD (owned by Pat and Seth Dowling) finished their conformation championships and CD's. Tory earned a second place in Novice A, and Tosca earned 3 group placements on the way to her conformation championship. In 1998, 11 or 12 Centauri dogs earned titles - too numerous to mention here! 2002 - Two new Sch H III, Two new Sch H I, a new UD, CD, and several new BH's. There have been numerous other dogs, titled and untitled, and wonderful people who have raised, trained, and loved them. We have tried to maintain both the correct structure and working character of our dogs. A big Thank You! to those that have helped along the way.
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Ch. Centauri's Irca, (a Gambit daughter out of Centauri's
Flandrianne - see above) co-owned with Pat Dowling, was Best of
Breed at the N.A. Championships in '86 under Henk Harmers, Vice
President of the Dutch Bouvier Club. Her offspring include Ch. Leon
v d Jajte, Sch H I, OFA, Ch. Centauri's Our Sarah, OFA, and Ch.
Centauri's Osage, OFA. Pat trained Irca in schutzhund where she
competed twice getting good scores in tracking and protection but
not quite passing in obedience. She passed her good working characteristics
to her children and grandchildren.
Ch. Centauri's Hanter, called "Chimo" by co-owner
Sarah Dowling, won or placed in the Group numerous times. He was
Best of Opposite Sex at the '86 Championships under Mr. Harmers,
and was one of the most respected stud dogs in America being a top
10 producer in 1994. Most of his specials career was handled by
Penny Duffee. Sarah trained Chimo in Schutzhund and did trial
him once, though he did not pass at that time she did put a great
deal of work into him and learned a lot from the experience.
Chimo and his litter brother, Am./Can. Ch. Centauri's Hercule
aka Tigger were out of a female given to us by someone who didn't
want her. 
Fancy was bred to
then untitled Abbas v d Boevers Garden. Both males ended up being
group winners. Fancy was also the dam of Centauri's Irisa, CDX,
Sch H II and Hecate du Clos des Cerberes - Chimo & Tigger's
litter sister. Fancy loved to run. For a while our girls had a racing
sled and she became lead dog. With two other dogs behind her they
would put the sled in a packed snowmobile rut and off she would
go with several kids on the sled. She couldn't turn since the rut
was too deep. When she slowed down they would all get out, turn
the sled around and head for home. They had a ball!
In
1994, we imported from the Netherlands, Iron Xandra v Caya's Home,
HD tc. Trained by Jim he earned his SchH I at the working championships
in Michigan in the fall of 1995 with a high protection score of
98, and also placed as select #4 under judge Jean Du Mont. Iron
earned his SchH II in the spring of '96, and his SchH III (high
in trial) in November of the same year. In the spring of 1998 Jim
and Iron attended the 75th Anniversary of the Netherlands Bouvier
Club. Iron earned his IPO III while in the Netherlands and passed
the IPO test during the Anniversary competition. The new haircut
is courtesy of master groomer Joop Pater! Iron is now the 1998 North
American Working Bouvier Champion with scores of 91 in tracking,
86 in obedience and 98 in protection.
In September of 1996 three of our dogs earned the BH
at the Northern Illinois Schutzhund club and one, Centauri's Quinn
(a Gambit son), went on to earn his SchH I that November. I really
can't pretend to be objective about Quinn since I helped to train
and titled him. He is quite a character, a very talkative dog with
great movement!. Quinn lives with Meri, our youngest daughter and
her family. 
In the Fall of 1997 Bret
Pritchett with Centauri's Tyrus won high scoring Schutzhund I at
the North Central Schutzhund USA regionals and was also Reserve
North American Working Bouvier Champion at the working trials in
Quebec. Tyrus also got a very nice paragraph regarding his performance
at the regionals in Schutzhund U.S.A. magazine. Tyrus
earned his Schutzhund II in late summer 1998.
