Beginner's Luck
                     By Sara Christie 

BIS/BISS Am. Can. CH. Casadeloro's
Classic Bentley, SDHF

Nickname:  Bentley
Whelped: October 15, 1993
Sire:  BIS/BISS Am./Can. CH. Rush Hill's
         Haagen-Dazs CDX, JH, OA, OHA, WCX,
         VCX, OS, SDHF, Can. WC
Dam: Casadeloro's One Smart Cookie

 

Sometimes Janice Hess feels a little guilty.  After all, some people spend a lifetime searching for that special, spectacular show dog, and Hess stumbles onto one her very first try.   CH. Casadeloro's Classic Bentley was Hess's pick of the litter at 7 weeks of age.   She and her husband Bob were less concerned with finding a future champion than they were in finding a pet to ease their grief after losing their 20-year-old son.   The rambunctious puppy turned out to be, in Hess's words, "heaven sent"

Originally just interested in finishing the dog, Janice did all the early grooming and handling.   However, when Bentley started to attract attention at shows, she gladly handed the leash to nearby trainer and handler Frank Cresci.  "That way he can still live at home," explains Hess.  "Most handlers wouldn't go for that, but he was always intended to be a pet, first and foremost".

Bentley acquired his first points at 11 months and won his first major at the 1995 Summer Cow Palace.  He was finished at the age of 2, which Hess says would have happened sooner if she had known then what she knows now.  As Bentley's official groomer, the learning curve was steep, and it took a while to get his coat-care regimen down to a science.  "I didn't know what I was doing," she admits.  "I went to every show with a pen and a notebook and watched everybody and pestered them with questions."  Now some of those early teachers undoubtedly regret talking.

Although she originally had no plans to special her pet, Hess changed her mind when she was bitten by the success bug.   Several significant specialty wins in California and Oregon resulted in Bentley making his way into the Show Dog Hall of Fame in just nine shows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIS/BISS Am./Can. CH. Casadeloro's Classic Bentley SDHF was intended to be just a pet until the dog's success pushed his owner to show him professionally.

Bentley's first BISS was at the prestigious Westminster show on Long Island in 1997.  This was followed by his first Best in Show at the Camellia Capitol Show in Woodland, California, three months later, then a JAM at the National Show in Delaware.

"That was quite a year," says Hess.  There is no way to describe that feeling you get with a Best in Show."

Midway through his fourth year, Bentley is in his prime.  He shows nearly every weekend, and spends the rest of the time at home with the Hess family.  With 15 young litters on the ground, his puppies are just starting to hit the ring.  Janice hopes he will be named an Outstanding Sire and wants to finish one of his daughters this year.

"He's a Golden Retriever owner's dream," says Hess.  "I didn't know what I was doing when I picked him out, but he has turned out to be irreplaceable.  He is a show dog from the word go.   He wants to be noticed, and he doesn't like to be ignored".