“A Talk with Ray Shultis About the Gera Smooths and Longs” by Sanford Roberts
I met Mr. Ray Shultis of Gera fame in September 1966. At that time we were campaigning a Longhair, CH Robdachs Esprit, sired by CH Cochise of Gera, and we were more than casually interested in talking with Mr. Shultis. We ased him a pointed question–“How long would it take him to re-establish the line of Gera bitches and how many bitches would he require to start breeding again?” Mr. Shultis replied, “I would want at least five bitches and seven years of work to again have a readily identifiable line of bitches.” Our last question to Mr. Shultis, “What do you think of the Longhairs in the Ring today?”. His pointed wit– ” I have better ones at home today.” We tried to salvage our deflated ego and rejoiced when our Longhair, a son of his CH Cochise of Gera won Best of Breed that day under Judge Gordon Nesbitt. Another young Long puppy, Robdachs Familiar Stranger, was WD and BW at that show and we smiled at Mr. Shultis on leaving the ring with puppy ribbons and trophies.
We can’t recall seeing Mr. Shultis after that day, but we do now we have been grateful for Gera bitches that have appeared in pedigrees we have bred and shown over the last decade.