Biography

    Dreamer is always shown by Vicki Fillinger (With the exception of a few weeks maternity leave). Dreamer is owned by Marcia Nancy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    I would like to congratulate Marcia and Vicki on Dreamer's incredible career. Without the team of a great dog, handler and owner this is not possible. Never forget that behind every top winning dog there is always a great handler and owner.

    Ch. Skansen's I Have A Dream, or Dreamer as is his call name, won his first US National 1986. The only other time in the history of our breed that the same dog has won it two years running was 1970 and 1971 by Dreamer's maternal great-great grandfather AM/CAN Ch. Quedame De La Steingasse and in 1975 and 1976 by Dreamer's paternal great-great grandfather Ch. Ebenhortz Bobi D'Lux V. Deberic. Bobi again won the National for a 3rd time in 1978.

    Dreamer is still a very young dog, born March 2, 1984, he was only 2 1/2 when he won his first National, 3 1/2 when he repeated the win.

    Most Giant Schnauzers don't even come into their prime until 4-5 years old, so it is with great expectations we look forward to Dreamer's future. At 3 1/2 years old he already is the No. 1 Giant in US for 1987 with one All Breed Best In Show.

    In the last 20 years since I decided to specialize in breeding the Giant Schnauzers I have found it very interesting to see which lines produce the best dogs. It is absolutely impossible to sit and study pedigrees and think one can predict where top dogs are going to come from. In fact in all the years I have been breeding I realize more and more that my entire breeding, program has succeeded almost entirely on a trial and error basis. One must be willing to try all kinds of combinations and over the years a pattern evolves and it becomes a little more scientific.

    When I look at Dreamer's pedigree I see that he is my 6th generation homebred dog, incorporating all the best producers such as Gentleman Thief (sire of 97 Champions), Figaro (sire of 25 Champions), Lillemarks Kobuch (sire of 30 Champions in US alone, plus lots more on the Continent), Kobold, a German dog who is the top sire in Denmark. Then of course Bobi D'lux with 33 US Champions and Quedame with 50. And of course Ch. Skansen's Double Diamond sire of No. 1 Giant in US 1986 Ch. Skansen's Hzs Sacha V. Diamond.

    These dogs all feature in Dreamer's first 4 generations. Another top producer was Baron V. Bushwacker and Happy New Year both outstanding dogs in their own right.

    But the bitches are even more important. Nenevale-Be-A-Charmer was imported from England and produced 11 Champions in the US. Her dam, the beautiful Guldman Sbucktens Wenche, English and Norwegian Champion, produced many Champions in England and Nenevale-Be-A-Charmer's sire, English Ch. Ambassador of Catalanta is the top producer of Champions in England so far. Ironically Ambassador was conceived here at Skansen . His mother, Skansen's Pretty Liv was sold to England in whelp to Ch. Skansen's Toma.

    Nenevale-Be-A-Charmer was a beautiful bitch, but as she was cropped very late, at 4 mo. old her ears never looked good. So I decided not to show her. Here at the ranch we called her "Iceland" which she got as a nickname because she took a walk in cold, rainy Reykjavik on her trip to America. I was working a flight from London to Los Angeles, usually a nonstop Polar flight. But during the gas shortage crisis, the airplanes were never given enough gas, therefore we had to stop in Iceland to refuel. The customs personelle made a special dispensation for my little Giant pup and me to walk underneath the airplane. Ginger Rogers was a passenger on the flight and immediately took over the pup when we both got back on board soaking wet, drying her and holding her on her lap. So it was a toss-up, should I call her Iceland or Ginger. Finally I decided on Iceland as it was my first trip there too.

    My all time favorite pup from Iceland was Ch. Skansen's Festival, my constant companion today. Festival herself has proven to be a top producer with 10 champions at this time; one of them Ch .Skansen's Good Morning, who is Dreamer's mother.

    I frequently get asked to talk about how one can become a successful breeder. My point of view today is that, without the exposure to all the different dogs I have owned or bred till this day, I could never have developed the feel or intuition or experience to combine the right dogs so successfully.

    Once a breeding clicks it is very tempting to repeat it, but I force myself to constantly bring in new bloodlines with specific traits I feel the breed needs, for instance longer legs, shorter backs, better shoulders, etc.

    My goal is to breed lots of Dreamers for the pet owner to own and be proud of, and to breed dogs even better than him to win future Nationals. I guess that is the challenge of being a breeder, to constantly try to upgrade the quality of ones chosen breed. Meanwhile, I Have A Dream, Indiana Jones, and all those other great Champions give me lots of joy and pride, not only to have bred them, but to see a beautiful, balanced dog is a thrill comparable to enjoying beautiful scenery or a painting or a woman or anything beautiful God created for us.

    Dreamer won an All Time Record of 34 Best in Show and 4 Nationals. He is still holding that record and Group I at Westminster. Dreamer died at 13 1/2 in July of 1997.