CH Fleet of Gera
Bred by the inimitable Ray and Irene (Gene) Shultis, CH Fleet of Gera, born on August 17, 1954, was sired by Woody Dorward’s CH Badger Hill Nobby who, through his dam was a CH Favorite v Marienlust grandson.
His dam was CH Annette of Gera, a daughter of Admiral v Marienlust out of Aria of Gera, another Favorite daughter who went back to the Gera foundation bitch, Rivenrock Doric. Fleet had that classic Smooth outline with no wrinkles, no throatiness, just very clean and dry. It was a look that he passed down for the next few generations.
He was a littermate to CH Faris of Gera, owned by Polly Fleming, CH Flair of Gera, owned by Leon and Louise Warren and CH Forrest of Gera.
Acquired by Woody Dorward as a young dog, to be campaigned by him for Nancy Greer, Fleet soon became a winning Special, winning several Groups. After his campaign, he was bought by Janet Koltun Wayock of Jacksonville, FL. It was under the auspices of Mrs. Wayock where his value as a producer became apparent. Although he only sired 6 Champions, his non-titled daughters were top producers for many other breeders.
CH Barbara of Gera , bred to Fleet, produced Timbar’s Major Barbara ROM who, when bred to CH Dunkeldorf Falcon’s Favorite, produced the amazing Timbar “Train” litter” including CH Timbar’s Honeymoon Limited, Dorothy Muse’s Museland foundation bitch.
Thelma Moffett bred her foundation bitch, CH Janice of Gera to Fleet and produced CH Moffett’s Fleeta, starting the string of Champion bitches which culminated in the mother-daughter duo of CH Moffett’s Sandra ROMX and CH Moffett’s Rosanne ROMO, one of the All Time Top producing Smooth dams.
Malcolm and Louise Keeble bred their Specials bitch, CH Dandy Dachs Dorothy to CH Fleet of Gera and produced the Group winning CH Sampson of Loumac along with his littermate, CH Samuel of Loumac.
Peggy Westphal bred her CH Phalarope v Westphalen to Fleet and produced CH Renegade v Westphalen, a Specialty winner, but his litter sister, the untitled Fleet’n Lovely v Westphalen, owned by Janet Koltun Wayock went on to leave a bigger mark in the Dachshund gene pool.
Fleet’n Lovely, bred to CH Dunkeldorf Falcon’s Favorite, produced three Champions, two of which became remarkable producers. The most renowned is CH Sheen v Westphalen ROMO, Peggy Westphal’s most successful Smooth stud.
Sheen’s littermate was CH Shimmer v Westphalen, foundation bitch for Barbara Haisch’s Barbadox Kennel of California. Thus Fleet’s influence returned full circle back to California.
CH Timbar’s Bubbling Over ROM was one of the Dunks’ foundation bitches. Bred to Fleet, she produced Dunkeldorf’s Gimlet ROMX who was one of their best producers. Her two most famous offspring were CH Dunkeldorf’s Jagerlust and CH Dunkeldorf’s Rittmeister BB DCA. You can see the Fleet influence in many of the Nixon dogs through Jagerlust, who sired CH Nixon’s Fleeting Encounter.
CH Fleet of Gera captured my attention as I was researching this website and I was disappointed that he did not qualify as an ROM, but the legacy he left through his grand-get literally dwarfs the influence of most sires who sired double or triple the amount of Champions that Fleet did. The list of people who used him as a foundation or as an integral part of their line is a Who’s Who of Standard Smooth Dachshunds, from the Shultises, the Dorwards, Janet K. Wayock, the Dunks, the Moffetts, Barbara Haisch, Peggy Westphal and Dorothy Muse all recognized his value as a producer and incorporated his qualities into their dogs.