About Us - Doug, Jacque, and Sean Matson -
Little
did I realize that when I bought my little red bitch Doberman that she would
have such major impact on the rest of my life.
She was purchased for a watchdog shortly after I moved from my parent’s
home into an old farmhouse with two of my college classmates.
She really wasn’t much of a watchdog, but she possessed qualities
theretofore un-noticed in the canine species.
That
was 1974 and I have been involved with the breed ever since.
Growing up on a farm, it was my natural inclination to breed my animals.
My original bitch, Empress The Elusive Flame, was bought without a lot of
research, but in retrospect had many good qualities and a reasonably good
pedigree. Her sire was a pointed
UDT dog, and she was from mostly High Halo/Marks Tey/Brown breeding on the top,
and Moorwood/Elfred breeding on the bottom of her pedigree.
The
litter that started me into showing dogs was from a daughter of my first bitch,
bred to CH. Deviltree’s Cold Logic, a lesser-known brother to CH Deviltree’s
Black Shaft. By that time, (1978) I
had attended a few dog shows and thought that I would take some of the puppies
to the show. I wasn’t sure
whether I really wanted to show dogs, but thought that I would give it a try.
If I had been beaten the first 4 or 5 shows, I would have gone home and
that would have been the end of it. That
was about the time I met my first wife, Lori.
Since she had some experience showing horses, she handled the dogs at
first. We took our black bitch,
Matson’s Siegreich Brunhilde, (Can you tell that I was taking German classes
in college?) to her first show where she won 2nd place.
The next day she won 1st place in a large puppy class.
Well, as most of you know, there is nothing like a novice winning a few
blue ribbons with a nice puppy to keep you coming back for more. During that time we met Steve and Tama Talkington(Johnson)
who were instrumental in the early years in teaching me how to properly
condition and train a show dog and be professional at the dog show.
Fortunately, Hilde was a natural showdog with uncommon presents and could
“turn it on” with the best of them. She
was a large bitch, being nearly 28 inches, with a magnificent head, a great
topline, and outstanding breed type. It
seemed that the judges either loved her or hated her.
The first three times that she won Winners Bitch, she also won Best of
Breed over several Top 20 specials. On
2 of the 3 occasions she placed in the undivided Working Group.
Since novice handlers such as my ex-wife and I held her back, she did not
finish her championship retiring needing a major to finish.
Of course this was back when it took nearly 40 bitches to win a 3 point
major. However, the best was yet to
come.
Hilde,
produced 9 Champions from a total of 18 living puppies by 3 different sires.
There were several others that were pointed and two additional that would
have finished but were killed in separate tragic accidents with different
owners. Matson’s Siegreich Brunhilde was the 1987 DPCA Bitch Producing the Most Champions.
She also won the Brood Bitch class at the DPCA National Specialty in
1985.
From
her first breeding by CH. Elexa’s Final Flair of Selena she produced:
CH.
Kansa’s Wizard of OZ CD ROM
CH.
Kansa’s Auntie Em
From
her second breeding to CH. Wynterwynds Wild Tempest she produced:
CH.
Kansa’s Octopussy
CH.
Kanas’s Thunderball – Owned by Causey and Gracie Quillian
From
her third breeding by CH. Cabra’s Dark and Debonaire she produced the all
Champion litter:
CH.
Kansa’s High Caliber, “Conan” – Top 20 1987, 1988, 1989 – Top 20 and
Best in Show producer
- Owned by Jim Briley;
Handled by Jim Briley and Terry Hundt
CH.
Kansa’s High Technology, “Tech” – Top 20 1988 – Best in Show Winner
- Co-Owned with Diane Myslewski; Handled by
George Murray
CH.
Kansa’s High Powered - Working Group winner and Grand Dam of Top 20 and Best
in Show get
- Owned and handled by Jim Briley
CH.
Kansa’s High Society – Multiple BOB, specialty BIS winner and Group placer,
breeder handled
CH.
Kansa’s High Country
As
noted above, Conan and Tech were both in the Top 20 in 1988.
Almost every year since then there has been at least one individual in
the annual Top 20 event that traces their lineage back to Matson’s Siegreich
Brunhilde.
CH.
Kansa’s Octopussy was bred to her half brother CH. Kansa’s High Caliber and
produced a multi-champion litter including, CH. Kansa’s Intoxicatin’
Aquarius CD ROM, “Katie” who was the foundation bitch for Julie Stade, (BJF)
Black Jack Farms. Katie won Winners
Bitch at the 1989 DPCA Host Club Specialty.
She also went on to produce several champions and obedience competitors.
Two of Katie’s daughters are CH. BJF A Midsummers Night’s Dream CD,
who also produced several champions for Julie Stade and Jim Briley; and CH. BJF
Much Ado About Nothing CDX NA ROM who produced several champions for Cathy
Horniman including the Top 20 specials CH. Coppertree’s Dr No and CH.
Coppertree’s Never Say Never.
One
of Katie’s prominent son’s was CH. Kansa’s Christmas Present, “Toy”,
from her first litter by Can. CH. Wraths Rodeo Drive. Toy was a multiple BOB and
Group winner and multiple champion producer.
One of his daughters is CH. Kansa Dally’s Dolly, “DD”, by Kansa’s
Dally Roper who was a half sister to Toy’s mother by CH. Goldgroves Concrete
Cowboy. DD is the senior bitch in our current household and dam of
many of our younger doberkids, including our handsome CH. Nello’s Lex Luthor
son, CH. Kansa’s Livin La Vida Loca, “Bango”. Toy’s last son is the handsome Kansa’s Neutron Star,
currently being shown and also needing only majors to finish.
Kansa’s Dally Roper, “Dally”, a lovely red bitch who decided that she preferred the couch over the show ring, but made her contribution through the whelping box, was also bred to CH. Foxfire’s Dream of Kings producing CH. Kansa’s Power of the Dream who won 11 points and both majors from the puppy classes. Kansa’s I Dream of Jeanie, “Jeanie”, from the same litter was bred to CH. Ravenswoods Shoshoni V Aquarius producing a lovely litter including CH. Kansa’s Girls Juswan Havfun, “Sassy”, who finished with 3 majors breeder-owner handled, as well as CH. Kansa’s Dreamcatcher Girl and Kansa’s Whoz That Girl.
We are
very excited with the results from out latest adventures.
I was on business in Austria in March of 2000 and had the opportunity to
attend the FCI show in Munich Germany. Of
the entry of around 50, I was really only impressed by 3 of the dogs entered.
All were by the same sire, Alfa Adelante del Citone.
I researched the internet and was impressed by the get of this great
producing sire and the del Citone line in general.
Dr. Pierluigi Pezzano, from Italy, seems to produce a good balance of the
bone and substance desired in Europe along with the beauty and elegance that is
very hard to find on that continent. We
are hoping to extract many of the superior qualities of del Citone Dobermans and
still maintain a Phenotype that is desirable in this country.
Along
the way my first wife and I were divorced, and in 1994 I met a wonderful lady,
Jacque, who is my current wife and partner.
I was very fortunate to meet someone who shared my intense love of
animals and who was already experienced in the dog business.
She was a top juvenile rider of American Saddlebreds and her mother was a
top breeder of Pembroke Welsh Corgis for 40 years. By the way, her Irish born
mother descended from a long family history of horse and dog breeders, including
her great-grandfather who was the first breeder to show "stripped"
terriers in England; her adopted grandmother was a known breeder of black Cocker
Spaniels
as well. We have a
handsome son, Sean, who was whelped in 1996. In addition to the Dobermans we also have “Gracie”, CH.
Pamelot’s Xstasy in Kansa, an exceptional Brussels Griffon.
To date
we have bred around 30 American champions, with several others holding foreign
titles, most of which were handled by there owners or ourselves.
Since I am from a modest background and have always had to work an
“honest” job to support my habit, I recognized early that I couldn’t
afford a professional handler and would have to learn to present the dogs
myself. I also recognized that I
would have to have a better dog than the professionals, if I wanted to compete
with them. In this sport to be
successful you need good politics, expert handling, or an outstanding animal. Since I don’t have either of the former two, I knew that I
had to have the latter. To that
end, we have always tried to evaluate my own dogs realistically, and select the
best sires that we could find anywhere to hopefully breed the best puppies.
Over the years, we have traveled to Mexico to breed to CH. Edelhall
Gigolo of Amulet when he was there, Canada to use Can. CH. Wraths Rodeo Drive,
and both coasts of the USA. We have also used CH. Nello’s Lex Luthor from Argentina and
now Gino Gomez del Citone and Goldeneye dei Nobili Nati from Italy. We
strive to produce dogs strong in phenotype with good heads that have underjaw,
one-piece bodies, balanced proportions, good toplines, sound movement, and
showmanship that says, “Look at me!” Temperament
is very important, however good temperament means many different things to
different people. We feel that
ideal temperament in a Doberman is a confident dog who can judge a situation and
act appropriately. Health is always
an important issue. Since I have
been breeding for several generations I know the history of my bloodline and
what health weaknesses exist. We
perform health tests when appropriate that have an identifiable link to our
breed. I am most concerned with
Cardio, CVI, and Cancer, none of which have a credible test for long-term
predictability. We have line-bred,
in-bred, and out-crossed in our breeding program. I find there is a breeding rule to justify just about any
combination that you propose. We
have always worked to maintain a very identifiable phenotype and in many cases
have had more success breeding on phenotype than pedigree (genotype).
Even when exhibiting the best, it always takes an owner-handler a little
(sometimes a lot) longer to finish their dogs.
All of our dogs are whelped, raised and live in our home.
We hope to continue breeding and presenting Dobermans of exceptional
beauty, temperament, and longevity for some time to come.