Kennel: Our History

A Love Affair with Schipperkes

Mary and I have been Schipperke owners since 1956, although we didn’t know it for a long time. In 1956, while on Navy active duty in California, we obtained a bright lively, puppy from a sailor who had gotten it from “a friend” in Canada. She was billed as “some kind of terrier,” had a docked tail, was smart as a whip . . . and a light beige color. “Bubbles” was a member of the family for the next 14 years. She had a wide repertoire of tricks, was perfectly housetrained, and, thanks to three years living in France, was completely bilingual.

When Bubbles was 10, our veterinarian diagnosed her with a heart problem and cautioned us that she didn’t have many months left. So, in the summer of 1966, we started looking for a new family member to cushion the effect of our expected loss. We chased down an ad for Collie puppies in Suffolk, Virginia, but when we arrived, we were shown a litter of 8-week-old Schipperke puppies, all black, of course, and even though  we had never seen (or heard of) Schipperkes before (we thought), we were intrigued and captivated and brought home a sweet female puppy—“Topsy.”

Bubbles was challenged by the new arrival and decided to stay with us for four more years.

We bred Topsy to a nice Schip champion from Arlington, Virginia (Ch. Donrho’s Jet Spirit), and in 1968 she had two fine boys, one of which we kept. Topsy’s Mister Magistrate (“Judge”) became our first home-bred champion . . . and we never looked back!

Our development as a kennel was slow, not out of lack of interest but out of a shortage of space. But in1975  we moved to a well-treed, one-acre lot in Great Falls, Virginia. Where we were able to build a basement kennel, create several exercise yards, and keep from 6 to 10 Schipperkes for the next several years. With the help of our daughter, Mary Beth, we were able to breed and show several litters of Schipperkes during this period.

In 1991, we sold our home in Great Falls and moved to Rappahannock County, Virginia, about 75 miles west of Washington D.C. By that time, I had retired from the Navy and from a subsequent period of “Beltway Banditry,” so we built a log home and kennel building (shown) on 25 secluded acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. We obtained our kennel license and a warm welcome from our neighbors, and 19 years later we have finally lost the “newcomer” label.

It was not long after moving to Rappahannock County that we saw our first good photos of a cream-colored Schipperke and were astonished to learn—finally—that our much loved “Bubbles” had been a Schipperke! We were delighted (and embarrassed) to discover that we had been “in the breed” a good 10 years longer than we had thought!

Over the last 15 years, we have been able to keep 15-20 Schips. We have generally bred two or three litters per year since moving to the countryside and showed a couple of dogs a year to their championships in order to replenish our breeding stock. 

Now, with the addition of a line of Cream Schipperkes, we have returned to our roots, since "Bubbles"--our first Schip--was a Schip of color, even though we didn't know it at the time.  We find our new familes of cream Schips to be just as bright, bouncy and beautiful as our more traditional  Blacks!

             Why “Midwatch”? 

From 1953 to 1993, we were a Navy family. I had several tours of sea duty during my career and stood my share of watches during that time. The ship’s day is divided into six four-hour watches, and the operation of the ship is entrusted to the watchstanders on duty during each of the watches. The watches are named for the times they are stood: 0400–0800 is the Morning Watch; 0800–1200 is the Forenoon Watch; 1200–1600 is the Afternoon Watch; 1600–2000 is the Dog Watch, 2000–2400 is the Evening Watch, and 0001–0400, the last watch of the day (or the first of the next day) is theMidwatch.

During Midwatch—unless at increased readiness—most of the crew is asleep. The ship’s operations and security are entrusted to a small group of watchstanders headed by the Officer of the Deck and including the engineering gang, lookouts, signalmen, quartermasters, boatswain’s mates, and helmsmen. Unless engaged in night time evolutions like fueling, tactical exercises, plane guarding, or drills, the principal characteristic is “boredom.”

But boring or not, the Midwatch is the collective name for those who are the sentinels over the well-being of the ship and its crew during the dark and quiet hours of the night.

When we looked for a kennel name, we wanted to recognize both our Naval heritage and the heritage of the many Schips that served on canal boats. They were the black little midnight sentinels on the canals of Europe: midwatchmen.

We took the name Midwatch Schipperkes as our kennel name in 1975; it was recognized and licensed by the AKC in 1994.