A classic Drakesleat pedigree, of the current Pup of the Year winner, Ch Drakesleat Otto Bahn, and of his litter sister Ch Drakesleat Lettuce Owt.

This represents one of those successful ‘nicks’ which breeders sometimes come across – Zena has found that Ris Otto mated to daughter of Simon Parsnip, or vice versa, has consistently produced good stock.

Many of the matings in this pedigree have been of Min Wires of complementary types; rather than try to put ‘like to like’ Zena has often found that mating together animals of slightly different type, yet with virtues which suit each other, will come up with a ‘happy medium’ among the progeny.

For example, Ris Otto, ‘of a good working type, very strong and sturdy with excellent bone and feet, but although not short in neck was a touch thick and lacking elegance here’ was put to the more elegant Lettuce Pray, a sound bitch who excelled in topline and tailset with no major faults, taking after her own sire in type.

Fred Bare was a very elegant dog who won many CCs, excellent head and sound, very like his sire Hobs Tickle; he was mated to the small red bitch Free Degrees, with a pin wire coat though not the most elegant but an excellent hunter, staying out all night in the rain on one occasion!

Again, the elegant Hobs Tickle proved a good mate for the shorter coupled Free Coins. Her dam, Mrs Tittlemouse, was a solid type who could have had a touch more quality; she was mated to Freemason, with much Swedish breeding, who won a CC before going overweight but proved an important sire.

The elegant, shapely Hobs Tickle was from another mating between contrasting types. His sire was the strong, sturdy Tennis 'Ealey, if anything a bit too low and slightly thick in neck, but combined well with the leggier Mandy Pumps, who didn’t have the forechest but was a real extrovert. Her dam, Ai See, was a beautiful bitch of a neater type who was just a little retiring in nature. To deal with this problem she was mated to Gad Zooks, who may not have been her equal as a show specimen but had a super temperament as well as a pinwire coat.

On the dam’s side, Fairy Nuff was an excellent type of bitch who was a very good brood too, with 5 champion progeny, producing in addition to Lettuce Pray the lovely Ch Art Frob. Fairy Nuff was mated to Simon Parsnip, a very elegant type with a good tailset & tail; one had to watch that some of his progeny had a little too much crook in front. His dam Feff Wintafield was a good solid type who went overweight, who suited the leggier Hobs Tickle.

Featuring strongly on this side of the pedigree are the two bitches ‘Ere ‘Ere and Lissen ‘Ere, ‘two of the best’, both group and RBIS winners of super type and from a litter of four, all of which gained their title. Again this mating was of types which suited each other: the elegant, slightly leggy ‘Ai Say to the stocky, more solid, shorter necked Good Grief.

Of the two sisters, one was mated to Talk Over, an outstanding dog of classic Drakesleat type who had a great career in the US – he again was by an elegant, even a touch bitchy, dog, Speak Easy, ex the quality but rather more solid Terripixa; the other sister went to a partial outcross, Fusileer, whose Swedish dam, Giss Snurran, was a bitch Zena much admired, surprisingly ‘English’ in type. She had originally come over in whelp, and her bigger type son, Bysen Rovarson, features on the sire’s side of this pedigree.