Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Gordon Setters are affectionate, bold and confident, not to mention gorgeous in coat and composition.

Steven Brown, of Sugarloaf, and co-owner of Grow in Peace Hydroponics in Nederland, has owned two Gordon Setters, both males, and loved them as pets and companions.

He waited six months after his last Gordon passed away before he began looking for another dog. This time he wanted a female because of the 20-pound weight difference.

The sad news was there were no Gordon litters in this area, so he had to broaden his search. He had no idea then that what he found would become a trip to the king of dog shows, the Westminster Dog Show.

“I got hooked up with a breeder in Albany whose kennel just had a litter. I was just looking for a pet not a show dog; none of my other Gordons were ever shown although the second one could have been shown. This litter had three males and three females, with one male spoken for. I was sent photos of the puppies and I picked Sophie who, the breeder said, was what they called the ‘bitch pick’ and had the highest grading of the females.”

When Sophie was eight weeks old, she flew to Colorado, to Steven’s home in Sugarloaf. She grew up being able to run in the mountains becoming a normal dog, which is what Steven wanted.

By the time Sophie was four year old, all of the dogs from her litter had reached champion level,  15 points or higher, and the breeders were pushing Steven to make it a litter sweep, to put Sophie in a show.

“We wanted to show her around here and I checked around for handlers but never found one that we thought could really do the job and, in addition, there was much more competition back East as compared to Colorado, meaning she could kick butt out here but might get her ass kicked back East.”

Sophie was sent to New York to see how good she was, especially with her bloodline and the fact that her brother Cedric was number one in the country and her grandfather had won Best of Breed at Westminster. Cedric’s handler agreed to show her and Sophie was to stay with her on Long Island.

In February of 2015, Sophie was being shown in New York and within two months she had reached champion level, which breeders say is quite impressive, and was prequalified for the Westminster Dog Show in 2016. Her destiny as a champion had been realized and she completed the litter’s claim to championship dogs.

Last April, Sohpie returned to Sugarloaf and her mountain dog status. Steven decided to try and get her into the 2016 Westminister show, but entered her a little too late and she didn’t make the cut off. He says there are only so many openings for dogs and it can be dicey when you enter that show just to get in.

This year, however, she is entered and accepted and will show on Feb. 14 with a new handler who actually showed another Gordon who had gone up against Cedric, who is not participating this year.

“Which is too bad because it would have gotten a lot of attention with a brother and sister competing against each other,” ‘As a pet, she is a complete sweetheart and doesn’t have a mean bone in her body; she is very bonded with me. Gordon setters are very intelligent and very maternal towards children, personally I think everyone should own a Gordon setter.  She is with me all of the time and because I’m a small business owner she usually comes to work with me.  I usually run the Grow in Peace store in Idaho Springs so the whole town knows her and people are always stopping by to see her.  She runs free on my property in Sugarloaf and is always within eye sight.”

This same dog is stunning when groomed and shown to emphasize her perfect conformation. When they judge the dogs, they are not looking for beauty, but conformity. What is a Gordon setter supposed to look like?”      Steven says, “They have dog shows in order to make sure the best of the breeds rise to the top and they keep passing on the best genes to future generations to keep the breed as pure and original as possible.”

Sophie is now a seven-year-old female who’s AKC registered name is ‘Skara Braes Worth The Wait.’ She is from Albany, New York and was bred at the Skara Brae Kennel in upstate New York.  The Gordon Setter breed originated in Scotland and the breed came into prominence in the early 19th century at the Gordon Castle by the 4th Duke of Gordon. They were originally referred to as Black and Tan.  Her next closest kin are the Irish and English setters all three of which are in the Sporting Group of dogs or gun dogs. In addition, in 2009, Sophie’s grandfather, Firethorn Uproar, won Best Of Breed in the Westminster Dog Show.

Sophie has been staying at the Harewood Kennel in Raleigh, North Carolina where the handler, Maddie Peterson, and her husband, Adam, own and operate a Fox Terrier kennel.

The prestigious 2017 Westminster Kennel Club Show takes place in the Madison Square Garden indoor arena located in Midtown Manhattan.  Gordon Setters participate in the Sporting Dog group which will be held on February 14, at 2:00 EST.

Steven says it depends on how far Sophie makes it in the competition to know whether or not she would be on TV but the Westminster Kennel Club does record all of the events and they can be watched at the westministerkennelclub.org website.  Her best chances for a distinguished title would be to win Best of Breed, Best of Opposite or Select Dog.

If she were to win a championship title Steven says he would get the bragging rights. But when it comes down it, “She’s just a dog who turned out to be drop dead gorgeous.”