Marion ten Cate

Netherlands

I grew up with dogs. My parents got their first Sheltie in 1964. In 1970 we bought more Shelties and American Cockers. Showing and training became a hobby and part of life of the whole family.  I started training and showing my dogs at a very young age. In 1976 I became Dutch Obedience with my Cocker. Our kennel name is ‘Own Delight’. The first Sheltie litter was born in 1975. We started with breeding blue merles and tricolors from but I ended with sables in our breeding. We only bred a litter when we had the intention to keep a dog. We had 16 Sheltie champions in all colors. My pride and joy was my dog CH. Own Delight’s Pascal who was a dual champion. He was a Show Champion and in 2006 he became also Agility champion. He represented what my mother and I were aiming for in our breeding: Beauty and brains. Due to circumstances I am not able to breed anymore but I bought a new puppy that is at this moment is doing very well at the show. My first judging assessment in Holland was in 1996 for Shelties. In 2001 I also passed the judges training scheme in the UK for Shelties. Now I judge Group 1 and 5 and some breeds in Group 9 and 10. I had the honor to judging in many countries in Europe and Australia and South Africa. Up until now I  judged  over  300 CACIB/CAC shows and in total over a 30.000 dogs including 4000 Shelties and 5000 Belgian Shepherds. Next to being a judge I am involved in several committees. I am an assessor of breed judges. I give seminars about breed Standards and Construction of dogs and Genetics. So dogs are not only a hobby but also a way of life. I love it.