Meet the Clegg's
Our History
Brian first saw the breed in 1976 where he became acquainted with David Calderwood who showed the iconic Budagyongye Opal "Maci" (the first Best in Show winning Kuvasz in North America). He obtained his first Kuvasz from his mentor in the breed, Charles Fabo of Budagyongye fame, a Maci son. For years he had multiple Kuvasz that he finished championships on, but had focused on Golden Retrievers.
After Brian and Mary were married, he introduced her to the breed and they were offered with the opportunity to present Mauna Kea's Hearts Affire "Markie" bred and owned by Sue Thomas. Markie had great success winning 5 Best in Shows, National Specialty Best of Breed, and a Group 4th at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and also being a top 20 Working Dog. After working so closely with Sue Thomas with Markie, and Brian being a fan of Ederra's Canis Major Arrakis "Major," it was suggested to breed Markie to Major. That litter produced two females, Double Image and Double Trouble.
When she came into maturity, Image was also handled by Mary and Brian. Similarly to her mother, Image also had a fantastic career winning 5 Best in Shows, 2 National Specialties, Group 4th at Westminster (while Mary was 7 months pregnant with Caroline!), and was ranked in the top 10 Working Dogs. She was also the #1 Kuvasz 2001-2002. Mary also briefly showed Glacier Creek's Arctic Spirit "Sonia," bred and owned by Deb Blank, to a Best in Show.
Not long after Image, Brian and Mary retired from handling professionally to raise their daughter, Caroline. While not showing Kuvasz, they always had one in their home to be a protector for Caroline.
As Caroline grew older and also became interested in dogs, the Clegg's got back into the ring with their acquisition of Gypsy Wind's Purple Heart "Patton." Patton was bred by Karen Barnes and with Mary and Caroline showing him, he went on to win multiple groups (including Caroline's first group win under Mr. James Moses!).
In 2014, the Clegg's were approached by Maria Arechaederra about a new exciting litter. Knowing that Brian was such a fan of her old male, Major, Maria told Brian about the upcoming breeding of a bitch of Deb Blank's, Glacier Creek Mountain Wildfire, to Major. From this came three puppies, one of whom was Mo'Ne.
Mo'Ne started her illustrious career early winning her first Best in Show at 14 months old. She would later go on to be the top winning Kuvasz female of all time winning 13 Best in Shows, 27 Reserve Best in Shows, 4 National Specialties, multiple Group placements at both Westminster and the AKC National Championship, and the first Kuvasz to win the Working group at the National Dog Show (Kennel Club of Philadelphia). The mark she left on the breed will be something remembered forever.
The Clegg's have almost 50 years experience in not only Kuvasz, but many Best in Shows and National Specialties in other breeds such as Golden Retrievers, Alaskan Malamutes, Akitas, German Shorthaired Pointers, Bullmastiffs, etc.
Our goal as a family is to take all our experience such as our decades of breeding/owning/handling dogs, working so closely with some of the greatest breeders of different breeds, and traveling abroad forming relationships around the world to keep improving Kuvasz and make sure that there is always a place for our beloved breed in the future.
