The History of Rivergroves

Paul D. Strang's association with the Great Pyrenees spans more than sixty years. Mr. Strang was one of the earliest members of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. He is a member of the Senior Conformation Judges Association, and has judged Great Pyrenees in many countries on four continents. Read what Mr. Strang has to say on the history of Rivergroves Great Pyrenees. The following is an excerpt from his book; The New Complete Great Pyrenees, Copyright 1991

Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-87605-188-3 Howell Book House.

Reproduced here with permission

    "Jean Groves Boyd of Rivergroves Kennel in Maryland became interested in the breed in 1967. While living in Michigan, she acquired Me Llamo Tonya de Montbleu HOF and successfully showed her to a CDX obedience title in straight shows with scores in the 1900s and a High in Trial. In 1970 she added Am/Can Ch. Poco Pyrs King Crusher HOF/HOF, a son of Ch. Soleil Pierre de Blu Crest HOF/HOF. Crusher became a multiple BIS and Specialty winner. Then came Ch. Tip'N Chip Sonny's L'Air HOF/HOF, who proved herself a formidable competitor with multiple BOBs at Regionals and BOS at the 1979 National Specialty. This Group winning bitch is the top winning Great Pyrenees bitch of all time with over fifty BOBs and nine Group placements. L'Air is the only bitch in the GPCA Show Dog Hall of Fame. Bred to Crusher, L'Air produced many Rivergroves winners. In the late seventies, Jean married Wayne Boyd and moved to Maryland.

    Rivergroves continued its winning ways into the eighties. Ch. Rivergroves J. A. Wonderwoman went BOS at the National Specialty in 1984. At eighteen months, Crusher-L'Air son, Ch. Rivergroves Crusher's Rerun HOF ("Blackeye"), became the youngest Pyr ever to win a BIS. He went on to be a multiple BIS winner before two years of age. Blackeye had a brilliant future ahead of him. However, tragedy struck Rivergroves when the young star was killed in a freak accident. Luckily, Blackeye had sired two litters and Mrs. Boyd was able to salvage his line.

    In the early eighties Mrs. Boyd bred two of her bitches, Blackeye daughters, Ch. Rivergroves Rerun's Remaid HOF, and Ch. Rivergroves Crusher's J. P. HOF to Jan Brown's Ch. Pyrson K'laska of Summerhill HOF/HOF ("Macho"). The resulting pups made quite a showing at the National Specialty in 1985. One of the most striking was the young bitch, Ch. Rivergroves Goes To Hollywood, who went BOS in Futurity, Best Bred By Exhibitor and RWB.

    This was, however, a mere foreshadowing of what was to come. One of the Macho-Remaid pups, Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses HOF/HOF ("TR"), had finished his championship in 1984 at one year of age. In 1986 he won a total of fifty-two Group placements and topped it off with a BIS. In 1987 he won an astonishing ninety-four more Group placements and seven more Bests in Show. TR really came into his own in 1988 with thirty BIS and seventy Group Firsts, and was the number two dog all breeds. In 1988 he was the first Pyr to receive the Quaker Oats Award, given to the dog winning the most Group Firsts. In 1989 he added a National Specialty win under judge Paul Strang to his list of feats, as well as another ten BIS. TR retired in placements and 483 Bests of Breed, having beaten over 50,000 dogs. He won the Kal Kan Pedigree Award for the most BOBs in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He was the number two producing sire in 1988 with six champions. He is the top winning Great Pyrenees of all time, the top winning Working dog of all time, and is among the Top Ten Dogs of all time. He is by far the most winning Great Pyrenees the world has ever seen.

    Many other Rivergroves Pyrs have distinguished themselves in the BIS and Group rings. Additional BIS winners include: TR son, Ch. Rivergroves Excuse My Dust HOF, which entered the GPCA Hall of Fame in only one week of showing; Am/Can Ch. Rivergroves If Looks Could Kil, the top winning Pyr of all time in Canada with over thirty Canadian BIS, and top winning dog all breeds in 1990; Am/Jap Ch. Rivergroves The Black is Back with multiple BIS in Japan; Ch. Riverain Pepa-Mint Pance HOF. CH. Rivergroves Levi Genes HOF/HOF is the youngest Pyr ever to finish a championship, aged six months, eleven days, and the youngest ever to win a Group, aged ten months. He is a multiple Group and Specialty winner and was the breed's Top Sire in 1988, and in 1989 tied for that honor with his brother, Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only HOF, also a Group placer. Ch. Rivergroves Here Is The Black HOF, co-owned by Elli Pasicnyk of Maleens (California), is a multiple Group and Specialty winning dog, as is Ch. Rivergroves Romance The Stone HOF, who was top producing sire in 1987. TR's sister, Ch. Rivergroves Winterwood Isis, a Group winning bitch owned by Jan Brown of Winterwood (Colorado), was top winning bitch in 1987 and 1988. Ch. Rivergroves Re-Run Rides Again is a multiple Group winner. Ch. Rivergroves Designer Genes HOF, a Specialty winner, was the Breed's Top Producing Dam in the Working Group in 1988. TR's sister, Ch. Rivergroves Billy Jean HOF, tied with Remaid for top producing bitch in 1989. L'Air, Remaid and Designer are all Silver Certificate Producers.

    Many breeders have chosen a Rivergroves foundation for their breeding programs."

As Paul Strang lists above, Rivergroves enjoyed a respectable level of success from 1967 through to the late eighties. The incredible accomplishments of T.R. were a foreshadowing of great things to come. The following list, starting in 1985, will give you a better sense of what happened over the following 15 years.

1985	#5 Top Breeder	5 champions
1986	#1 Pyr breed points #2 Pyr all breed points #9 Top Breeder	Ch Rivergroves Here is the Black Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses 3 champions
1987	#1 Pyr all systems #2 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 dam	Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses 10 champions Ch Rivergroves Romance the Stone Ch Rivergroves Designer Genes
1988	#1 Pyr all systems #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 sire Top Producer - #1 dam Top Producer - #2 dam	Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses 10 champions Ch Rivergroves Levi Genes Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses Ch. Rivergroves Designer Genes Ch. Rivergroves Billy Jean
1989	#1 Pyr all systems GPCA National Specialty BOB #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire tie Top Producer - #1 sire tie Top Producer - #1 dam tie Top Producer - #1 dam tie	Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses 17 champions Ch. Rivergroves Levi Genes Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only Ch. Rivergroves Billy Jean Ch. Rivergroves Rerun's Remaid
1990	#1 Pyr all breed #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire tie Top Producer - #1 sire tie Top Producer - #1 dam	Ch Rivergroves Excuse My Dust 20 champions Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only Ch. Rivergroves Run for the Roses Ch. Rivergroves Billy Jean
1991	#1 Pyr all systems #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire	Ch. Rivergroves Excuse My Dust 26 champions Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only
1992	#2 Pyr all breed #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 dam	Ch Rivergroves Ivory Princess 16 champions Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only Ch. Rivergroves Country Cured
1993	#1 Pyr all systems GPCA National Specialty BOB GPCA National Specialty BOS #1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 sire Top Producer - #1 dam	Ch Rivergroves Ivory Princess Ch. Rivergroves If Looks Could Kil Ch. Rivergroves Ivory Princess 19 champions Ch. Rivergroves For Your Eyes Only Ch. Rivergroves Excuse My Dust Ch. Rivergroves Crystal Charisma
1994	#1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 dam	12 champions Ch. Rivergroves Play the King Ch. Rivergroves Country Cured
1995	#1 Top Breeder Top Producer - #1 sire Top Producer - #2 sire Top Producer - #2 dam	18 champions Ch. Rivergroves Designated Hitter Ch. Rivergroves Play the King Ch. Rivergroves CG Pyrresistable

1996
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2005

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