Chateau Blanc History


*H i s t o r y*

In 1960 Edeltraud Laurin acquired a five - year - old Belgian Tervuren male, Flair de Fauve Charbonne, and in 1961 Kandice de Fauve Charbonne came to join the Laurin Family. Thus, Chateau Blanc kennel was established.

Both dogs were among the most important of U.S. Tervuren. Both finished their championships and went on to be ABTC national supported winners - Flair in 1964 and Kandice in 1967. (The supported shows were the forerunners of the ABTC National Specialties).

Kandice - owner handled by Mrs. Laurin or her sister Mrs. Gerlinde Hockla became the first Belgian Tervuren bitch to hold both a champion and CDX title as well as being a group placing bitch in the then Working Group.

The emphasis on multi - titled and talented Tervuren was to become one of the hallmarks of Chateau Blanc.

A more amplified version of the Chateau Blanc beginnings may be found in the ABTC book, The Complete Belgian Tervuren under Famous Tervuren Kennels.

From the 1960's to the present, Chateau Blanc has maintained a small number of dogs on its premises and limited its breeding program to once a year or once every two years.

A zealous approach towards temperament and quality has resulted in a highly successful 40 years in dogs.

Over 75% of the dogs produced have completed their championship of these over 85% have attained performance titles in one or more venues - agility, obedience, schutzhund, herding and flyball.

At Chateau Blanc it is a family affair -

Mrs. Laurin is an AKC judge of all breeds in the Herding, Working and Sporting Group and several non-sporting breeds. She has had the distinct honor of judging the Belgian Tervuren National Specialty twice. Edeltraud will be judging the Tervuren National for a 3rd time in 2005 in California. She has also judged the Belgian Sheepdog National twice. Edeltraud has judged the Westminster Kennel Club show on several occasions and was one of the original judges for the inaugural comeback of the famous Morris & Essex show in 2000. She has judged internationally in Europe, South America and Canada. She served as President and Board member of the American Belgian Tervuren Club, founding and current chair of the Education Committee and represented the United States Belgian Tervuren at the "100 Years of Belgians" in Belgium. In 2001, Edeltraud was the recipient of the President's Award for her work with the ABTC Education Committee and earlier in her career was recipient of the Gaines Medal of Good Sportsmanship. She is the author of the first breed book on the Belgian Tervuren, "Your Belgian Tervuren" and one of the author's of the club's definitive books on the breed published by McMillin "The Belgian Tervuren". Edeltraud also served as president of the Nathan Hale Obedience Club in the early 1970s, founded the Eastern Connecticut German Shepherd Club and was co-breeder of one of the Newfoundland Club of America's #1 BIS and National Specialty winners. She currently shares her home with Chateau Blanc's Evening Star, the skipperkee Ch. Kleingaul's Rauber vom Rhein, 2 cats Snoball and Tiger and of course, her ever patient husband Walter.

Janina took over the day-to-day management of Chateau Blanc's breeding and showing in 1985 and is currently a judge of the 3 Belgians and Aussie Shepherds. She judged the Belgian Tervuren National Sweepstakes and the Belgian Malinois National Sweepstakes in 1996, the Puli Club of America National Sweepstakes in 1999 and the New England Bouvier Specialty Sweepstakes in 1999. In 2000 she judged the American Belgian Laekenois National Specialty. Janina served two terms as President of the American Belgian Tervuren Club, has served as secretary, board member and for the last eight years has been the AKC Delegate. She has also been past showchair and board member for Newtown and Putnam Kennel Clubs and is a member of Longshore-Southport KC. In 2002, Janina and Chateau Blanc was honored by the American Kennel Club as Herding Breeder of the Year at the AKC/Eukunba Classic in Orlando, Fl. In 2003, she judged a record entry at the Belgian Tervuren National Specialty in St. Louis, Missouri. Janina was tapped to participate in a roundtable of breeding responsibility with other group breeders of year and AKC Board of Directors in late 2003. She currently shares her home with the irrepressible 10 year old Ch. Chateau Blanc's Arc Angel and her husband George Schneider. A new puppy will join the fold in 2004 and breeding plans will be formalized for the kennel.

Darlene Laurin is the kennel's handler and is active in herding, conformation and agility. She is a popular judge on the match show level and runs conformation classes. Darlene also has been very successful handling several other breeds - Labrador Retrievers, Bullmastiffs and Newfoundlands to name a few. She served with the Canine Division in the Armed Services, responsible for training drug and bomb detection dogs. Darlene shares her home with Ch. Chateau Blanc's Desert Wind and her son, Ch. Chateau Blanc's Gold Reserve.

Ted Laurin is not active in the dog show scene. He owns a Labrador Retriever called Dutch and enjoys the companionship this "lay by the fireside" dog provides him and his family. Some of the real "old-timers" will remember Teddy from the early Illinois supported shows in the late 1960's.

We are firm believers that each dog receive zealous attention to conditioning and training. It has been our experience that this provides for a high competitiveness regardless of the venue they compete in. While the dogs we personally own may not compete in every available venue, they are ready physically and mentally for the challenge. This philosophy has led for a very successful 40-plus years in dogs. The early successes of the kennel would not have been possible without the support of Edeltraud's sister and brother-in-law Gerlinde & Bill Hockla.

The entire family is very active in local specialty, all-breed and performance clubs. The early successes of the kennel would not have been possible without Mrs. Laurin's husband Walter and her sister and brother-in law - Gerlinde & Bill Hockla.

All dogs owned by Chateau Blanc are breeder-owner-handled. We are quite proud of being among a handful of breeder/owners actively campaigning their own dogs.