We have had Irish Setters since the spring of 1963. Pat, as a young girl, fell in love with an Irish Setter in her neighborhood. When we were first married, she could hardly wait to have one of those beautiful redheads. Three days after we moved in to our first home, in 1963, Rusty of Wakefield (Rusty) came to live with us and was our pride and joy. He was never shown, as we knew nothing of the dog show world. After Rusty's death at nearly 12 years of age, we acquired our second Irish Setter, Pat's Penelope CD (Penny). We then added another bitch to our family, Larkspur Elvatowne Hera CD (Rhoda). We decided to obedience train both dogs, and found a very good instructor. This instructor encouraged us to enter our first obedience match. That was it - we were hooked on obedience competition, and we both earned multiple titles over the years, including titles from the American Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club!

We eventually moved to the country, and found an all breed kennel club, which we joined, so that we could be more informed on dogs and showing them. We learned by working at matches and shows as breed and obedience ring stewards. We were appointed Match Show Chairpersons and later, Earl was Vice-President of the Club, and Pat became Treasurer. We both worked at the kennel club shows helping in the food concession, and Earl later became Chairperson for the Grounds. Pat became Chairperson for the Judges luncheon and then was appointed Chairperson for the Specialty Clubs and Supported Entries. The latter appointment required us to co-ordinate the requests of the Specialty Clubs, in providing special parking areas near their show rings, set up picnic areas and work closely with the contractor on the size of the rings, and ring times. This gave us a good background of what dog shows were all about. This also gave us a thrill to see all the hard work that went in to the planning of a show, and have it all come together for a successful event. To our great surprise, we were both voted and presented the prestigious Gaines Award Medal, for Good Sportsmanship, at a show dinner.

We also supported the club Tracking Trial, by doing the cooking and serving the Judges and Trackers at the Manassas Battlefield. At Christmas time, some of the club members, with their dogs, would visit the County Home and Nursing Home facilities.

When our Bret, (Am/Can Ch. Tirvelda Instant Replay Am/Can UD, U-CDX, came to live with us, little did we know what an impact he would have on our lives. Because of him and his offspring, we have met some wonderful people and have cherished these friendships through the years. In honor of him, we based our kennel name (BRETMOOR). When he was 11-1/2 years old, we collected his sperm and used it to breed our lovely Dori (Ch. Kenobi Chasin' The Tides). We have been blessed with our WIND LITTER from these two lovely Irish. May the Shamrocks fall softly . . . .