Welcome to Gameguard
Bullmastiffs Australia! While we are not new to the breed we
may be new to many of you from interstate or overseas, so let us
introduce ourselves. Gameguard is a select kennel run by myself Glenn,
and my father Ernie.
We have specialised in
Bullmastiffs since our humble beginnings in 1987 when my father
purchased a bitch named Bullpower Aphrodite and she soon gained
her championship title. The breed was relatively new in the state of NSW back then and quality Bullmastiffs were few and far between.
However our girl, "Tara", was out of the top bitch Ch
Vanetta Cindy and by a new English import Ch Maxtoke Norton.
We had some minor
success and were hooked on our new hobby! I read every book, article and
newsletter about the breed and was always eager to listen to those who
had a tale to tell about a Bullmastiff. Upon the purchase of our first
Bullmastiff book we found that the fantastic male pictured on the back
cover was none other than the famous U.K Champion Graecia Centaur. As far as I was concerned he was the benchmark to aim for.
"Ben" as he was known, also happened to be my bitch's
grandfather. Steve Nicholas, my earliest mentor, who imported Ch Maxtoke
Norton, had many photos and videos of dogs he saw in the United Kingdom.
Through these videos I was introduced to more famous "Graecia"
Bullmastiffs owned by Alan and Mave Rostron.
As far as I was
concerned these dogs had a consistent quality that many others lacked. A
few years later the Rostrons were invited to judge at the NSW
Bullmastiff club show. Soon after, they became our mentors and great
friends and we would devour every bit of information they would send
"down under".
After a few mishaps and
general bad luck our breeding program had hit a dead end. I quickly
learnt the hard way from my mistakes and was determined to be better
prepared. I decided this meant starting again with the best possible
stock we could purchase. An opportunity arose and we imported a bitch
from the Rostrons named Little Treasure of Graecia (imp UK) and
she was soon titled to Champion. More imports were to follow with a
total of four bitches, two of which were in whelp, a mature male and
frozen semen.
We have now achieved a
small but competitive kennel and hope to do justice to the ancestors of
our stock, from Eng Ch Graecia Centaur to his son Eng Ch
Saturn of Graecia and grandson Eng Ch Graecia Mercury.
Together with the great grandson Eng Ch Brookmead Marcus of Graecia,
this line has achieved the record of 4 straight generations of Crufts
Best of Breed winners. With our new partnership of "Graecia
International" and our Best in specialty Show and Best in Show all
breeds winners we hope to keep the tradition alive.
Our next challenge is
to, as they say in Star Trek, ………… to boldly go where no man has
gone before!
Glenn is an ANKC
approved championship show level judge for Bullmastiffs.
Breeding
Philosophy-
When choosing a breeder
from which to purchase a puppy it is always best to know what goals they
hope to achieve in their breeding program. It is with this in mind that
I have written the following-
My absolute aim is to
raise quality Bullmastiffs through carefully planned matings, health
screening and strict selection criteria. I not only want to produce
Bullmastiffs as close to the standard as possible but I also wish my
dogs to be distinguished by producing consistent stock in turn. I
believe these results have come through with the compliment of smart
line-breeding and well-chosen outcrosses.
We always endeavour to
use the best dogs from around the world, incurring great expense to
ensure a viable gene pool for the long term. So far we have imported one
male, four bitches (two of which were in whelp) as well as frozen semen
from the country of origin. We have used dogs from all across the
country to ensure our bitches are mated with the most suitable sires
available, no mean feat when you consider Australia is as large as
Eastern and Western Europe put together.
Our approach to
controlling genetic and congenital issues is sensible. We x-ray all hips and elbows and aim to adopt new health screening processes
as they become viable. I believe the breeder's challenge is to curb
genetic problems without losing site of the whole animal in the
process, neither emphasising one element that may be detrimental to
another.
I believe the
Bullmastiff must be a balanced animal having the classic hallmark head,
sound structured body, powerful, efficient movement and a firm fun-loving nature. We follow the Standard of the country of origin (which is
also Australia's) and don't succumb to international fads that may
change the breed.
Our long-term viability is assured with our intention of establishing a
frozen semen bank from the top dogs from around the globe. It will
incorporate several dogs that compliment our breeding program and give
us flexibility for the future. I believe it will be the first of its
kind and scale for the breed in this country.
Though we only breed to keep something for ourselves we also allow our
top stock to go to the
right homes to ensure all can benefit from our hard
work. We welcome any enquiries and will openly help with any
breed-related questions.