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 The Shabiera affix is a relatively young one having been established  when Liz Exon, Lexxicon Bearded Collies and Phil Sharkey, Shakiera German Shepherds got together in 1992.Both of us had coincidently bred litters at about the same time prior to us meeting and all our dogs were therefore of similar ages. It appears we had led parallel lives! Our individual affixes had both been established in 1989.When we became a couple we decided that as both our affixes were in partnership with our respective ex-husband and wife it was time to abandon those names and start again. Liz did not want anything similar to her old affix as it related to her ex-husband's name. The Shakiera name was still liked by us both so we decided to change one letter in it. The Kennel Club approved it so Shabiera was born.                                                                                                                   

When we first got together the intention was to carry on with German Shepherds as well as Beardies. We were doing quite well with a male G.S.D., Barney, otherwise known as Shakiera Sybaris, he'd won Post Graduate  at Crufts and a number of Limit classes at Champion shows when his mother, Mia was diagnosed as epileptic. Clearly this was disastrous for our breeding program as neither Mia nor her daughter Chloe could now be bred from. Although Barney had several studs booked he had not yet been used so these were cancelled leaving some very disappointed bitch owners! 

After Mia was diagnosed we  lost our enthusiasm a little with the G.S.D.'s  as there was obviously no prospect of continuing our line. We were therefore faced with the decision of either starting again with fresh stock or concentrating  solely on the Beardies. By this time Phil had become well and truly hooked on the Beardies so the decision was an easy one to make. We did continue to show Barney for a while and he went on to win one Reserve Challenge Certificate. You can see Barney on the "Other Shabieras" page.

We are now slowly beginning to establish the Shabiera affix through the Beardies being shown in the U.K. and overseas. We are proud to say all Shabiera Beardies  shown in the U.K. have qualified for stud book entry with the exception of our youngster Shabiera Teddy Boy (Ted). You can see Ted on the "Other Shabieras" page together with the rest of the Shabiera family both past and present.