Lately, the name of Magnus, the dog I bred but who was sold by Karen Staudt-Cartabona to Belisarius Kennels in Japan and became known in Asia as Max, has been coming up almost constantly. It began almost immediately, when she used him at stud on a bitch, Majenkir Spiral in a Circle. Through that breeding, many get were born. Kind owners who were local called me to let me know, many inviting me to their houses for lunch to meet my grand-dogs! Later, I began seeing their names in show Catalogues, including at every National I attended for many years. Then, local area friends informed me that their puppies were direct descendants of Magnus. It was always amazing to me.
Later, when he was in Japan, we learned about Lucy, the most famous of all his get, about which so much has been written here and so much is shown on the Blyss Kennels website. For, she was sent to the USA to have a most brilliant show career of two years duration, breaking every borzoi breed record in history, including Reserve Best of Breed at Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 2016. How blessed we were.
This week, I innocently posted a photo of myself with Jelly doing something together, and a man from Thailand wrote to me letting me know he, too, has a descendent of the great Max! He bought him from a breeder in Russia. It appears there are descendants of Magnus/Max, and therefore, our beloved Mikhailya, his dam, all over the world now.
I came across this old email in my Sent messages and thought I would share it on Blyss Blog. It captures what is truly in my heart, unedited, raw and true, in a letter to Karen. I wisely blind copied it to myself, thereby saving it, only to be found over two years later by accident. It brought tears to my eyes as I read it.
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RE: Sighthound Review, Summer Issue, 2017
From: Lorene Connolly <[email protected]>
Date: Aug 14, 2017, 6:01 PM
To Karen, bcc: me
Dear Karen,
I received my summer issue of Sighthound Review today and took a minute to sit down and skim through it quickly while my borzois ate their dinner. I am so thrilled to see your nearly two page ad, especially the page outlining the remarkable Majenkir wins in Spring of 2017. I believe you wrote this up in Facebook, too, but I am especially happy you put it in Sighthound Review. It makes a great ad. Thank you for the mention of Regal and Magnus, and Magnus as the sire of Lucy, and her mention.
I will never forget the moment I first saw Magnus….. he had just been delivered by Caesarian and cleaned up, and the vet tech came out to show him to me. Upon seeing him, I knew then he was destined for greatness. I never wavered in that belief. I do remember writing to you in an email later that day and saying that. You must have thought, what does she know! Truly, I knew it. He was special at birth and has remained so throughout his life. I am so glad he was to be your dog, since you would know what to do with a great borzoi like that, and we never would have had the resources to give him what he deserved. He should not have languished his life in the suburbs as a pet. That’s fine for Tresor, who only needs love and care to be happy, but it would not have been right for him. I am so glad he turned out to be one of your great borzoi.
I feel blessed and honored to know you, and that together I helped you achieve a remarkable milestone in the borzoi annals of success.
Love,
Lorene