Arnac Bay Arapahoe WD "Larch" has made the long journey from her birthplace and home in England to The Weatherdeck in Maryland. She arrived nearly four weeks ago on Memorial Day with her travel companions: breeder/owner, Chrissie Mayhew and good friend, Sue Worrall.
Their grand adventure began with a drive across England to a ferry bound for Dublin, Ireland.
Larch on the beach in Holyhead before boarding the ferry to Dublin, Ireland.
The next morning they boarded a plane and, like many American immigrants before her, Larch landed on the Atlantic shores of New York. As I navigated the 4 lanes of traffic that were competing for curb space to pick up their arrivals at JFK airport, I tried to spot my friends who were waiting for me. I caught a quick glance of Chrissie and Sue as they sorted their luggage and a moment later I saw Larch, all alone, in a sit-stay on the curb at JFK airport. Her head was held high and she looked like all of the other passengers who were waiting for their rides.
Waiting on the curb at JFK airport in NY.
I flagged down the orange-vested man who was directing traffic and told him that I was picking up "that dog over there." I pointed to Larch. The look on his face was priceless. She appeared to be sitting there alone as no one was holding her leash. He quickly stopped all lanes of traffic so that I could move from the far left lane to the curb on the right. As I got out of the car to greet my friends, this man who was directing traffic like a juggler juggles a million balls in the air at once, suddenly stopped what he was doing to ask Chrissie a barrage of questions. "Is this your dog," he asked with a huge smile and soft Caribbean accent. "Did you train her to do this? What kind of dog is she? Will she have puppies? When will she have puppies? I want a puppy just like that!" As we tried to quickly load up and get on our way, he asked again when she would have puppies and we told him that we didn't know for sure, but that we hoped that she would have some pups in the not-so-distant future. He just wouldn't let go of this idea of getting a dog just like this magnificent dog that he'd just met on the curb at JFK airport and finally he said, "But…I may never see you again!" It was very sweet to see how profound an impression Larch had made upon one of the first people she met after making landfall in America.
Larch's traffic guy.
After we got on the road, our first stop was a visit with Jane Pappler at Redlion Kennels in New Jersey. Larch, Chrissie, and Sue had an opportunity to stretch their legs after their long journey. Later, we sat around Jane's table drinking wine and pouring over old dog photos. There was at least a century of collective Chesapeake experience around that table, so the conversation was rich. That's not to say that my friends are old. ;)
Gina, Jane, Larch, & Chrissie. Sue is behind the camera as usual!
Our next stop was at Ron and Karen Anderson's Chestnut Hills Kennels in Maryland. Larch got a first glimpse of her future beau, CH Chestnut Hills Windjammer JH "Jessie." This was Chrissie's first time to see him in person and now we are even more excited than before about our plans for a summer breeding.
Stay tuned for more stories and photos of Larch's first weeks in Maryland.