Bailey, Christina

Christina has been involved with dogs, dog breeding and showing dogs nearly all her life as her parents were already showing and breeding German Shepherds and New-foundlands long before she was born.

Her first 2 Old English Sheepdogs were born in 1974 and 1975. By the time she moved from Germany to the UK in 1985, she had already bred or owned 13 OES Champions under the ‘Zottels’ affix. The most well known was probably Int., Ned., German, Swiss, Ch. Zottel’s Estee Lauder, who was Top OES in Europe in 1984. She, together with 6 other OES, moved with her to England and these seven OES were to become the foundation of the successful ‘LamedaZottel’ kennel and then again in 1995 for just her own affix ‘Zottels’.

Since then Christina has bred 32 UK Old English Sheepdog Champions, including Ch. Zottel’s Miss Marple of Lameda, the UK Female Breed Record holder with 51 CCs and her son, the UK Breed Record Holder, Ch. LamedaZottel Flamboyant with 57 CCs, who was the Top winning Dog of All Breeds in the UK in 1991 and 1992. Flamboyant’s last son, Multi Ch. Zottel’s You Don’t Fool Me with 49 CCs was the UK’s Top Dog All Breeds in 2002.

Worldwide, with very limited breeding, she has bred well over 170 Champions, many of which are record holders in their own countries. The total number of UK CCs won by her dogs stands at well over 300 with many Group & BIS wins at General and Club Championship Shows in the UK & in Europe, including the Pastoral Group at Crufts in 2002 & 2nd in the Pastoral Group at Crufts in 2005 (both with ‘You Don’t Fool Me’). Two other highlights during her showing career of which she is very proud are winning BIS with ‘Miss Marple’ at the Centenary OES Club Show in 1989 under the famous late Ferelith Hamilton with an entry of 250 OES and BOB with ‘Flamboyant’ at the Crufts Kennel Club Centenary Show under the late Norman Harrison, again with an entry of 250 OES.

In addition to showing her own and a number of ‘borrowed’ OES successfully, Christina has also campaigned a lovely Bearded Collie to her UK Champion title. In 1993 her book ‘The Complete Old English Sheepdog’ was published in Europe and the USA.

Christina has been judging all breeds at Open Show level in the UK since 1984. Apart from her regular judging appointments in the UK, her judging career has taken her to most European countries, the USA and Canada, officiating at many National Specialities, Club Shows, World Shows and General Championship Shows. He is also very proud to say that she is one of only a very few select judges to have judged OES at Crufts twice, namely in 2002 and 2020.

In addition to the OES, she is passed to award CCs in Border Collies, Bearded Collies, Rough Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs. She is also passed to judge the Pastoral group in the UK and is very much looking forward to judging Border Collie males at Crufts in 2026.

She sincerely thanks the committee of the Geneva World Dog Show 2023 for inviting her to be part of their judges panel and ids very much looking forward to judging the Rough Collies at the World Dog Show and the OES Specialty Show and the Bearded Collie Specialty Show. She wishes everyone, judges and exhibitors alike, a fabulous show.

BREED

Bearded Collie, Collie Rough, Old English Sheepdog

FCI Number

156, 16, 271

FCI Group

1

Date(s)

2023.08.24, 2023.08.25

Ring

10, 25