Hi everyone, thank you for taking the time to visit my group! My name is Andrea, I am co owner of the ‘Cheristar’ affix. I’m pictured above with my two show girls Winnie and Harley D. I live in a countryside village situated just outside Glasgow in Scotland. At the moment I have four Pomeranians - Winnie, Harley, Ceilidh and our handsome adopted pet boy Ted. Although far from perfect, Ted is a very special boy to us, you can read about him and his story on his page. Ceilidh is the youngest, she is our first homebred puppy in 11 years.
I enjoy showing and have been blessed with some beautiful Pomeranians to show. I show Winnie and Harley although very rarely does Harley get shown as she doesn’t behave! So Winnie is the main star in our house. . Winnie and I have done exceptionally well, winning countless 1st prizes at both open and championship shows including first prizes at the biggest show of them all- Crufts. She’s won Best of Breeds, Toy Group wins, group placings and even a few Best In Shows! In May 2007 Winnie gained her UK Kennel Club Stud Book Number, a great achievement which now entitles her to go to Crufts, for life. I appreciate every one of her wins, especially as she is just a youngster having just turned three years old. I am thrilled with her success. Most folk say she have done more than just well, but until she is a Champion I am not going to go on and on about how special she is. Despite most of her wins being under breed specialists, top Pomeranian experts and world famous all rounder judges, we are still chasing 3 Challenge Certificates needed for the UK title Champion.
My Ambition is to make Winnie up to a Champion, but when your unknown in any breed that is indeed very hard to do, but we will try. It would be a dream come true, but there is one breeder here in the UK who has been breeding/exhibiting for 40 years, ( Brian Hopkins Bryandee) and only ever had one Champion, and that was just recent, so I’ve got a long wait, if that’s my case. But my ambition to make her a champion and that is what drives me. I think it must be everyone’s dream or ambition, and I guess that’s what makes us to go shows, and campaign our dogs, up and down the country. My dreams for Winnie may come quickly or it may never come at all, no one can foretell the future.
I have one daughter Danielle , she is also passionate about Pomeranians, owning three girls Chloe , Baba and Kiki (Danielles first show dog )Kiki came to Scotland from Jersey in 2007. Danielle’s Baba and Kiki are from the world famous Thelbern Kennel, she just adores her Thelberns. At her First Championship Show in the Uk, Kiki won 1st place Graduate Bitch, 1st Place Post Graduate Bitch under Breed Specialist Eve Smail, (toybox) at her second championship show she won 2nd Post Graduate under breed specialist Elizabeth Spillerman ( One of Swedens top toy judges)Danielle is studying Animal Care at college and in her spare time grooms and shows Winnie for me when I am unable to. They make a good team not only in the breed ring but in grooming competitions too! The pair won Runner Up YKC Groomer of the Year Final over 18s at Crufts 2007 , Danielle then went on to win over 18s groomer of the year crufts 2008 and was awarded the biggest prize of all YCK GROOMER OF THE YEAR CRUFTS 2008, this time grooming Harley.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED: I have always been a animal lover, having always had a dog since being a child. It was many, many years ago that I was sitting watching Crufts on the television with my Papillon Mena, when suddenly I was captivated by this tiny orange dog. I was in awe of this tiny little dog full of charisma and personality, I promised myself there and then to find out as much as I could about these little dogs and their name THE POMERANIAN. Mena was 15 at the time and was very ill so I decided I would do my homework on this breed and get one when mena passed away. She passed away the following year at the grand old age of 16 .
MY FIRST POM: I was so excited I had found a lady with a litter of Pomeranians! The puppies were only three weeks old but never the less the breeder told me I could come, have a look and if I liked what I saw I could order one. I LOVED what I saw, I was besotted- Pomeranian puppys must be the most adorable pups in the world. I chose one ,a little girl Borealis Cinderella I called her Nala. The four weeks after that seemed to drag on forever I was desperate to get my little puppy home. The day came, I had finally got my Pomeranian and boy was I pleased, she was everything that I had wanted! We cherished Nala until the day she died in December 2005, aged 12 years. We will always miss her and be thankfull to her as she's the one that started my now unconditional love for Poms.
THE START OF SHOWING: After having Nala for a year I decided that I would like to get myself a show dog. I had been travelling all over Britain to dogs shows to watch our beloved poms and thought I'd like to give it a go . I had never shown a dog before in my life but I sat at the side of the ring and watched everything, I took videos on the way the dogs were shown, how they were presented on the table and basically asked the pom folks questions till to be honest they must have thought " who is this !?" It was a case of ,''how do I do that?'' , ''how do I do this?, ''why do you do that?'' etc! etc! etc! When I think about it now, I must have drove them potty as I didn't even own a show dog at the time. Little did I know that when I did get my show dog I'd be at Crufts the following year getting a Second and a year later winning the RESERVE CC to the BEST OF BREED Pomeranian that represented our breed in the TOY GROUP. But thats another story..........
A SPECIAL THANK YOU: It was during this time that I got to know my dear friend Thelma Alsford who of course as we all know for her famous Thelbern Pomeranians. She was and still is a fantastic friend to me. I'd sit for hours on the phone asking questions, sending her videos , and basically learning what I could about Pomeranians and showing. She was great and wasnt afraid to say , ''Oh dear Andrea why are you doing that, its wrong!'' I took her criticism and learned from it. I dedicate all my wins to Thelma as without her I would have given up but she gave me the encouragement to succeed and succeed I did! If your reading this Thelma, a special thanks and a hug, you will be my forever friend, thank you for all your help and for all you have done for Danielle giving her Baba and Kiki who has gave her a great start in showing her own Pomeranian.
Crufts 2007
Danielle and Winnie Runner Up Groomer of the Year
YKC Crufts 2007
DANIELLE YKC GROOMER OF THE YEAR CRUFTS 2008
About me