Banba's story...
Banba was our lucky break! She is our first Afghan. I had always loved Afghan hounds from being a dog obsessed young girl but our family always had gundogs and that was that so it was never to be. I had what seemed like a huge gap in my life with no dogs from my late 20s until I was approaching my 40's and Rory asked me what I would like for my 40th birthday - now settled in a house with a large garden and finally stable after what seemed like an age of somewhat turbulent years my first answer was "an Afghan hound!" Rory had never owned a dog before and was a little sceptical but we searched the internet and I found various adverts for puppies on breed sites, but we wanted a bitch and there didnt seem to be any available. I finally found an ad on the AHA site for Saxonmill hounds - of course it meant absolutely nothing to me then, but we phoned and were told there might be a bitch available! Of course we were grilled, interviewed and checked out by her breeder but finally we "passed muster" and she put this little bundle into my arms and we both just fell in love straight away. We didnt really want to do any serious showing then but we took her along to a local show, the border counties hound club and she won best puppy in breed and reserve best puppy in show, that was it I suppose, we were quickly hooked on showing her although she was a VERY naughty puppy and would not be stacked or move without leaping about until she at least got into YEARLING!!!! She is still feisty and dramatic in the ring but she will stand still now when I want her to, she has a 'look at me' attitude and always looks around while moving to make sure everyone is watching her!! Banba is a whirlwind of contradictions, she is exquisitely beautiful and ultra feminine but tough as old boots and totally bombproof - she is very much the alpha bitch of our little pack. She has taught our boys to be fearless as well and has been an important mentor to them both, teaching them what to do, we hope she will do the same for her babies in the future...when the time is right....watch this space!! She has been a consistent winner at Championship shows, and won her first CC in August 2007 - following in the pawsteps of her illustrious sisters CH Saxonmill Star Struck (11 CCs) and UK & Portuguese CH Saxonmill Star Style (4 CCs), and brother Saxonmill Rocketman (1 CC) - and making us very proud.