Ch =Opium van de Hoge Laer at Corsini

Arès de la Clairière aux Louves x Cartouche du Périgord Vert

B.I.S. Ch Opium van de Hoge Laer at Corsini (Carlos)

In September I lost Carlos at the age of fifteen and a half and his passing left a huge void. I had the privilege of sharing my life with him for, in addition to his accomplishments which follow, he was a great companion.

He was imported in partnership from Belgium in 1990 from the world famous van de Hoge Laer Kennel. His father was the striking grey Arès de la Clairière aux Louves and his dam the beautiful Cartouche du Périgord Vert. There were only two male puppies in the litter and we were grateful to Jean-Louis Vandenbemden and Firmin Aertgeerts for allowing him to come to Britain.

It is quite normal to form a strong bond with your dog, but when you visit him three times a week through his enforced six months in quarantine a very special bond is formed. Even though Carlos loved people and charmed all who knew him with his happy, outgoing nature, he was never completely happy unless he was by my side.

When you import a dog you hope that he will be a good specimen of his breed and be a good show dog but, even more importantly, you hope that he will reproduce well. On the first point, Carlos had beautiful breed type and gained his title in 1993 which was also the year he won Best of Breed at both Belgian Shepherd Breed Club Championship shows. The following year in 1994 he was Best in Show at the Belgian Shepherd Dog Association of Great Britain's Championship show under judges Eric Desschans (of the Two) and Yves Dambrain (Maugré) from Belgium. The year before he had won Reserve Best in Show at the same event.

On the second point his achievements were even more remarkable for he had a dramatic influence on the development of the breed in this country and he is behind the majority of today's top winning Tervueren. Producing an exceptional consistency of type, elegance and quality, in 1996 he was the Top Belgian Shepherd Stud Dog (all varieties) and finished the year as the 9th Top Stud Dog in Britain all breeds which was a significant accomplishment for a dog who had sired just 12 litters since his arrival in Britain six years before. Carlos remained Top Belgian Shepherd Stud Dog for a record five consecutive years. He sired 17 champions and many other CC winners and his lines were incorporated into the breeding programmes of most of the leading Tervueren kennels in the UK. His passing marks the end of an era.

Carlos was a great dog so full of the joys of life and he is sadly missed.