Breeder Spotlight: Indian Bend February 2018 Ch. Indian Bend Believe in Magic What is your name and any other family members, etc. who are or were part of your kennel? My name is Sandi McCue and my husband, John, and granddaughter, Maddie, are part of Indian Bend. When did you get your start in English Setters? We acquired our first English Setter in 1973, Ch. Guys N Dolls Gentry of Raybar. We had Irish Setters at that time and it was purely happenstance that we acquired our first English Setter. Our friend, Yvonne Ward of Sunburst, called us one day and said that her neighbor, a Gordon Setter breeder, had an older English Setter show dog to place that she had gotten from a friend in Southern California. She had heard that we possibly might be interested in an English Setter. At the time, Gentry was four years old, and had spent his life mostly being a kennel dog. Although he had been shown minimally and had a couple of single points. We took him home and integrated him into our pack of three young boys, and our Irish Setters. Our youngest was a year old at the time and Gentry was so good and gentle with him that it completely sold us on the breed. We often had kids and Irish running through our house, but Gentry would lay on the floor and lift his head as if to say, there they go again! Gentry was by Ch. Guys N Dolls Shalimar Duke, and out of Ch. Raybar s Ain't She Sweet.
Why did you choose Indian Bend as a kennel name? Our kennel name was chosen because we lived adjacent to the Indian Bend Wash in Scottsdale, AZ. Ch. Indian Bend Hot Summer Night Have you had a mentor or certain person who has influenced you the most? Why? Joan Solheim and Yvonne Ward were great early mentors. Both had a great amount of information to contribute. Yvonne became our go to person. The English Setter community, at that time, was quite small, in the California/Arizona area. We didn t jump on planes and travel all over the country as we do now, so our sources were local. English Setter breeder/owners at that time, beside Yvonne and Joan, were; Neal & Nancy Weinstein (Nancy Jenkins), Diane Beal (Michelson), Karen & Dennis Kennedy, Shirley Hoflinger, Irene Bottrel, Bruce & Julie Schultz, Linda Carrol and Tim Forte. Just getting together at shows, sitting around and talking dog became a great learning experience. Describe what you would consider your ideal English Setter? My ideal English Setter would be beautiful to look at, have correct breed type, have balance and correct proportions, be able to function in the field, yet come home and be the wonderful family companion that is so typical
of our breed. Ch. Rock Falls Colonel and Ch. Rock Falls Racket are two of the English Setters that I picture in my mind as the ideal English Setter. What are your feelings about current grooming styles? Grooming has become much more of an art, and a significant part in the presentation of our dogs over the years. There is nothing wrong with grooming to enhance your dog's best features. However, a lot of dogs are groomed as a generic show dog, always the same way. In order to do a proper job of grooming, it must be tailored individually to each dog. You need to know not only that dog s best features to show off, but be aware of their faults it has and to be able to minimize those. Do you, or have you, used your dogs at stud? If so, what criteria do you/did you have when deciding to allow a bitch to be bred to your dog? We, typically, do not keep males, however, for the ones that we do own, our criteria is, the bitch must be finished, must have all of her health clearances, pedigrees must be complementary, and both dog and bitch must be a compliment to each other. Ch. Indian Bend Rainbow in the Sky JH How often do you breed and how do you make that decision? We don t breed often, sometimes 3 or more years go between litters. Our bitches are bred after they have finished their championship and have
their health clearances. We don t breed to sell puppies, rather to have something for ourselves that we can carry on into the future with. We will only breed a bitch if we feel that she can contribute positively to our breeding program. I strongly feel that the strength in our breeding program is in our bitches. How do you evaluate puppies and when do you typically determine if a puppy is for show? The evaluation process begins at birth, however, we are constantly watching and evaluating the puppies once they have their feet underneath them and are moving around in the litter box. By the time they are 6 weeks of age, we have a fairly decent idea who our favorites are. By 8-10 weeks, more evaluation happens. By then you are able to see how they move, and they are stacking fairly well on a table. Since English Setter puppies can change so much as they are growing, we don t make any decisions until usually close to 9-10 weeks. A case in point of evaluation too early is Ch. Indian Bend Color Me Rainbow, Alice. At 7 ½ weeks, Yvonne said choose anyone but that Alice puppy. At 10 weeks she had changed so much that we ended up keeping her and she went on to be an ESAA National Specialty Futurity winner and as a special was ranked in the top 10 English Setters. Who do you feel has been the best dog you ve ever bred so far and why? I can t say there has been one best. We have had many favorites over the years. Alice, mentioned above, her daughter, Ch. Indian Bend Rainbow in The Sky, Sarah; Ch. Indian Bend Too Hot To Handle, Rodney; and his littermate, Ch. Indian Bend Hot Item of Pamir, Scooter; and most recently, Gold GCh. Indian Bend Kelyric Heart And Soul, Sophie. We are also so very proud to have produced the third dual champion in the history of the breed, Ch. Indian Bend Bow and Arrow, Jim, owned by Steve and Candy Perryman. Do you have certain feelings, one way or the other, between using a professional handler versus showing your own dogs? I have no feelings either way. We have always been a breed where you can compete as an owner-handler, and we have some excellent ownerhandlers. If an owner is unable to handle their own dog, then by all means use a professional handler. The goal is to have your dog presented in the best way possible! I have, for the most part always handled our
dogs, however, on occasion used a professional handler. We are now very lucky to have Maddie as a very talented handler for our dogs! Maddie with "Sophie," GCh. Indian Bend Kelyric Heart And Soul What is your general opinion of judging today in comparison to when you started? Don t get me started! When we started, there were many all-around judges that were very knowledgeable about the breed, and they had studied from some of the greats before them. Their opinion was respected! Not so much anymore. Now, we seem to get judges that are only studying enough to get by in order to acquire new breeds and they are not learning enough to truly evaluate our breed, or any breed, correctly. How many new judges for our breed actually have gone to a Hunt Test, or Field Trial to see how our breed performs the job that it was bred for? Not many!!! We are getting too many judges from other Groups that have no idea what correct movement is, correct balance and proportion, correct toplines, and, heaven forbid, what a correct front assembly is!!! A recent statement from a judge to an English Setter exhibitor was that the dog had too much front! If you are a terrier, perhaps, but an English Setter, no! This dog was very well-balanced and did not have more front than rear!!! As a judge, I feel it is extremely important to study a breed not only in seminars and workshops, Specialties, and National Specialties, but to visit
with as many breeders as possible, attend as many working functions for that breed as possible, and try to become as familiar with that breed as my own. If you have one, who has been your all-time favorite judge over the years, living or deceased, and why? I would have to say that Michelle Billings would be my all-time favorite. She didn t care who was on the end of the lead, had an eye for correct breed type in any breed she judged, and was always polite, friendly and professional. There have many judges over the years that have been favorites, to name a few; Annie Clark, Ann Stevenson, Ed Bracy, Ted Eldredge, Lucy Jane Myers, John Lawrek and Bud McGivern. Besides conformation, what other types of things have you done with your dogs (ie: obedience, field trials, agility, therapy work, etc.)? When we left Arizona and moved to Northern California, encouraged by MA Samuelson, we began working our dogs in the field. We did both field trials and hunt tests, and put many titles on our Setters.