Sarkel Boxers History

Herb and I welcome you, we are glad that you stopped by to say hello. Our passion for the Boxer is long and ever ongoing. Herb purchased his first boxer back in 1954 just after getting out of the Air Force. Red Duke of Meadowland, was a Bangaway grandson and quickly introduced Herb to this wonderful breed.

When Herb and I married the obvious choice for a pet for the children, would of course, be another Boxer. My own previous experience with Boxers had been with a half Boxer, half German Shepherd mix I called "Buster." It was obvious when Herb and I purchased Gilbert's Sergeant At Arms (Sarge) with the help of Opal Adcock of Seedskidee Boxers that it was indeed the Boxer half of Buster I had fallen in love with years before.

Sarge was a Treceder's Sequel grandson and although as” plain as mud,” his influence to our early breeding program is still seen today. I often see his beautiful stag red coat, dark black mask and dark expressive eyes in those boxers who have followed. It wasn't long after Sarge joined our family that another boxer joined the household. She was to be Sarge’s canine companion. Gilbert's Kelley Belle “joined” her companion in forming the foundation for our kennel. Neither Sarge nor Kelley obtained a championship title; however, the bloodlines behind them, Treceder, Willow Rounds, Willow Ridge, Von Schorers, Helixview, Jered, Let’s Box, Jhinjheir’s and Golden Medley and Salgray helped us to create a gene pool from which to build. Our kennel name is to honor these two dogs, as they truly are the ones who got us hooked! We took the first part of each of their call names, which gave us SARKEL.

Kelley and Sarge produced Sarkel’s Golden Apple (Badger) our first "show dog" and Badger was well on his way to becoming a champion when fate stepped in and changed our lives once again. He had obtained a 3 point major from the 9 -12 puppy class when a career change for Herb meant that the entire family would be moving from Colorado to Oklahoma. Once we made the move, our third child, Paul, was born, Herb started his own real estate company and there was no time or money to complete Badger's championship.

Before Badger and Kelley left this world they managed in one breeding to set the type of my boxer for years to come. This mother/son breeding was an accident but if there is such a thing, it was one of the best accidents to ever happen to us. As much as I would like to take credit for this breeding, in this case I must admit that the dogs did indeed know best. I would gladly take credit for this accomplishment today, but again the dogs deserve all the credit!

Our next show potential was Badger and Kelley's granddaughter, Sarkel's Misty Morning. Misty sire and dam, again were not champions but not because of lack of quality. Misty’s pedigree added to our gene pool with such boxer greats as Aracrest Jered, and Scher-Khoun’s Shadrack. As luck would have it, she was a beautiful bitch who absolutely HATED the show ring! Shown only briefly as a puppy it was obvious that her desire to stay home and raise the kids was her first priority. She did, however, do her best work in the whelping box, producing our first homebred champion. Misty’s first breeding was to Turo’s Budweiser who added more flavors to the pot. Bud was a double Fashion Hint grandson, his sire was Ch. Ringmaster’s Olympian. Budweiser had 11 points and a major and the lack of the CH in front of his name again did not deter me from breeding Misty to a dog who’s pedigree was absolutely designed to produce. This breeding Misty produced Ch. Sarkel's Stairway to Stardom (Samantha). At last we had a champion to prove to the boxer world what the Sarkel ancestors could produce.

Samantha was bred to Ch. Cross Bars Constitution in the fall of 1984 and produced a litter of puppies on January 18, 1985. Two of those puppies finished their championship. They were Ch. Sarkel's One-Step Above (Mattie Ross) and Ch. Sweet Katie Belle of The Ball. We never had the opportunity to breed Samantha again as she died tragically at 4 ½ years of age from an aneurysm in the brain. Her daughter, Mattie, however, carried on her genes producing Ch. Haley’s Azure and Ch. Haley’s Majic Song of Sarkel. Mattie was owned by Mitzi and Butch Haley. Sweet Katie Belle of the Ball was never bred but lived her entire life spoiled and pampered by her human Mama, Naomi Cole.

After Samantha’s tragic death I sent Misty to the whelping box for one last time. Once again she did not fail me, producing Ch. Sarkel’s Promise of Cross Bars, CD, CGC and Dam of Merit. (Sadie Bird) This time Misty was bred to Cross Bar’s Gabber Dean Hayes, CD who had come to live with us after Sam’s tragic death. Gabby was a Budweiser son and a half brother of our beloved Samantha. Gabby and Misty were life and soul mates and their influence in the Sarkel dogs today is another I relish with great pride and pleasure. Gabby was AKC pointed but pursuit of a championship wasn’t in the cards and he stayed close to home healing my broken heart after Sam’s death. Together Gabber Dean and I achieved his CD Title. Gabby was 7 at the time and finished his title in three consecutive shows with an average score of 184, proving you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks. His influence can also be seen in his two grandsons, Ch. Schodandy’s Cherokee Joe and Ch. Schodandy’s Hardhat of Jo-San, when his daughter, Cross Bars Cherokee Nikkia, was bred to Ch. Jo-San’s Future Time, SOM.

In 1988 I convinced old friends, Bart and Jean Rowe, of Cross Bars Boxers to allow me to co-own, Ch. Cross Bar’s Matt Dillon with them. Dillon was a dog who I felt truly deserved the title of champion and he proved my faith in him finishing with four majors at the age of 5. He had been shown only once as a puppy at a local specialty and wasn’t put back in the ring until 1988 when I asked for the opportunity to co-own him. Dillon was the son of Ch. Marquam Hills Trouper of Turo and his dam was Ch. Cross Bar’s Kassandra (A Native Dancer daughter). A good dog is a good dog and I have never regretted making this contribution to our breed possible.

In 1991 Sadie was bred to Ch. Jo-San’s Future Time, SOM and produced two more Sarkel champions, Ch. Sarkel’s Back To The Future (Marty McFly) and Ch. Sarkel’s Promising Future (Mollie). In 1993 she was bred to Ch. Shieldmont’s Let’s Make A Deal, SOM . A botched c-section left two flashy puppies dead and three plain kids on the ground. Sarkel’s Precious Commodity (Abby), Sarkel’s Simplicity (Amanda) and Sarkel’s Promised Lucky Deal (Lucky) Lucky became a boxer hero saving his handicapped companions life and Ms. Abby has one champion to date sired by Ch. Sarkel's True Grit, Ch. Sarkel’s A Few Dollars More (Cash) to prove she too is carrying on the tradition set by her ancestors.

Knowing full well that Sadie Bird deserved the honor of Dam of Merit I once again sent her to the whelping box in 1994 for her last litter. She produced two beautiful brindle girls, Ch. Sarkel’s Still Steppin’ Up (Colleen) and Ch. Sarkel’s Step Right Up (Catlin) cementing her award. She and I accepted the award for all the girls who came before her and made the dream a reality for both of us.

That same year her daughter, Ch. Sarkel’s Promising Future, also stepped up to the whelping box for the first time and produced a litter of four fawn puppies Co-owned with Eddie and Lillian Miles we chose , Ch. Hi-Tech’s Aladdin of Cynra as her mate. That combination produced Ch. Sarkel’s True Grit, Ch. Miles Magic Ditto, Ch. Miles Magic Tuff N’ Nuff, and Ch. Bomar’s Sweet Charlotte. In 1996 Ditto accidently bred his mother and that combination produced another champion for Mollie, Ch. Jasmine’s Promise of Aladdin finished her championship in the fall of 1997 allowing Mollie to also achieve the Dam of Merit distinction. Mollie is approaching 8 years of age and has been spayed and resting on her laurels.

With 20 champions to date and several more pointed and awaiting the judges’ nod, we look forward to the future as we watch Colleen and Catlin and Dollar continue to contribute to the breed we love. They make us proud of our past accomplishments and those yet to come. Our early beginnings were the gentle breezes that blew us in the right direction and we have never forgotten them and we never will. Our devotion to the breed is paled by only one thing, the spirit and love we see every day in the eyes of our beloved boxers. They now have become the very wind beneath our wings.

We are members in good standing with the American Boxer Club and the Boxer Club of Oklahoma.

To view larger images of the above click on the image.