Rhona

With the sad realization that Hina would never contribute physically to my breeding program I started to search for a bitch of similar quality. Hina's dam Am. Ch. Cromlech of Eaglescrag who I so much admired sadly died from an intestinal blockage soon after I took Hina home, so another of her puppies was out of the question. Next I looked to her line, but not all the Eaglescrag dogs that were coming to North America at that time were of the same quality as Cromlech.

The Outhwaite hounds of Ronald and Helen Baird, England, caught my eye for their consistent combination of beauty, greyhound shape and curves, elegance, size and bone. I was on the Baird's waiting list for some time, but they seemed to be having a run of bad luck, small litters, misses, etc.. I had just about given up hope when I heard of a small litter of 4, 3 females and 1 male, closely bred on the Outhwaite hounds. The 3 "greats" were all in the pedigree, Eng. Ch. Outhwaite Hamish, Eng. Ch. Outhwaite Am-Cu (BOB Crufts 1978) and Eng. Ch. Outhwaite Athene (BOB Crufts 1979). Two red brindle bitches were available, and breeder

Jenny Millway allowed me first choice. I chose Rhona as she was the rangier of the two. Here in North America at that time there was a trend towards smaller hounds that often had the curves and good movement the larger hounds of the 70's lacked. I wanted it all, size , curves, and good movement. That was what had attracted me to the Outhwaite hounds in the first place.

Although her pictures at 4 &1/2 months looked promising I knew it was still a gamble, even though I had researched her background so thoroughly, but I was lucky, Rhona turned out to be all I hoped for and more. She bounced out of her crate after her long plane trip with that happy-go-lucky attitude that continued throughout her life. She finished easily, and had some nice Specialty wins. She was an avid lure courser and gave me many thrills in the field, but her biggest and most lasting contribution to the Aotearoa Irish Wolfhounds was her only litter sired by Socks from which came Hoki and his sister Aotearoa Hengia who produced some of the finest hounds I've bred, and whose quality continues to the present day.