CH. CHENTERRA THUNDERATION                  breeders :    Jody and Fred Chenoweth

                                                         WHERE MERIT IS DUE                  by Norma Fisher                            ( Sheltie Pacesetter   July/August 1991)  

      Ch. Chenterra Thunderation, ROM was the result of two generations  of half brother-half sister breedings. Thunder’s sire, Chenterra Beauregard was the dog of Jody Chenoweth’s life. Precocious as a puppy, he had almost human intelligence as an adult and was one those loyal, one-family type Shelties, aloof to all strangers. Thunder was to inherit his sire’s precociousness and intelligence and although never fawning, would love and trust the whole world.

     Thunder’s dam, Calamity is a story in herself. As a darling little fat, furry puppy, she was always getting into trouble, hence her name Chenterra Commotion (Calamity).   One of her escapades found her flying out of the back of the Chenoweth pick-up at 60 miles and hour. She had squeezed through the bars of the crate. Luckily, Jody had happened to look out the rear view mirror and saw what had happened, backed up and picked her up from the side of the road where she was miraculously unhurt.
    Jody was personally against breeding Beau to Calamity as both were pushing 16 inches but husband Fred disagreed. He had studied genetics and his idea was to breed best to best. In this case their best dog “Beau” to their best bitch, “Calamity”. Size didn’t bother Fred much because he believed that it was what the dogs produced that counted, not what you thought they would produce and the only way to find out was to try it. He also felt that line breeding or intensive inbreeding (coupled with strict selection) was needed because so much variation existed in Shelties.
      Thunderation always had Lady Luck on his side. When Calamity was due to whelp, Jody penned her off in one side of the barn. Two days before Calamity was due Jody was watching a Sunday afternoon movie on T.V. when she got a weird feeling that she should go out and check on her. She found three puppies still in the sack, scattered around the pen. Calamity was in labor having the fourth (Thunder). Jody helped deliver that fourth puppy and then tried to revive the other three to no avail. After “Thunder” Calamity gave birth to four more puppies;, a sable bitch, two sable males and a tri bitch. She was moved to the back porch where Jody could keep an eye on her and her litter. Calamity settled down to being a good mother and all went well until one week later when Jody was counting the nursing puppies. She was astounded to count six instead of five! She couldn’t believe her eves and picked each one up for a better look and discovered that one of them was a baby wild rabbit which Calamity had caught and was now letting nurse! So Thunder grew up with his own rabbit’s foot!
       Jody had made the breeding specifically for a sable bitch and so Thunder and the other three were offered for sale. (The rabbit was kept until it was old enough to be taken out in the woods and released). The puppies were priced at $75 and the other puppies sold quickly but no one would buy Thunder because he was a tri, a male, too aggressive, etc., etc....... He would grab pant legs and play like a terrier and even dragged one lady’s purse across the yard as she was looking at the other puppies. 
        Thunder was a fat fur ball with very small ears (that never went prick) Jody felt that he had a bit too much depth through the throat latch and could have used more underjaw and although his eye was a wee bit round he had an expression that was so alert and special that all who saw him commented on how they liked the way he looked out of his eyes. His tail reached to his hock but Jody would have preferred it to be an inch or two longer.
      The little bitch didn’t turn out as a show dog (too small) and was sold. Jody and Fred were kind of stuck with Thunder and still had him at age three months when he started to look so good they decided to keep him. When entered in matches he won everything..,even winning a Best in Match over 500 dogs. At six months Thunder had reached his adult height of just under sixteen inches. Although many measures were called on him the wicket always comfortably fit over him). 
     Thunder got his name with help from Jody’s daughter who was trying out for Cheer Leader and was practicing (unceasingly) the cheer, “Thunder, Thunder, Thunderation; we’re the Warrior’s delegation; when we fight with determination....we create a sensation.” The black puppy was dancing around her feet in the kitchen adding his barking to the cheer and so became Thunderation. The majority of Chenterra Shelties had a name ending with TION.
     Thunder had ‘the look of eagles.” Like all Shelties he had faults but one tended not to see them due to his overall bearing and “Hey, Look at ME!” attitude. Thunder was sound; physically AND mentally. He had substance and could move. (He was the model AKC used in their video to show good movement)    AND he had heart, something everyone wants in a working dog but which so few of us look for in the Breed Ring.
       Jody once showed him in at an outdoor show in 108 degree temperature. By the time they got to the group ring ALL of the exhibitors (including Jody) and ALL of the dogs in the competition with him looked like wilted daisies, but Thunder stood like the Rock of Gibralter and showed to the very end and won. He would do whatever was asked of him. Thunder stood out to people who didn’t even have any knowledge of dogs, such was his presence.
     Jody showed Thunder to his first points at Topeka KS. She remembers that his coat was rusty from too much sun and he didn’t have any belly hair and she was truly surprised when he won. Unable to attend distant shows Jody put Thunder with handler Diane Wolcott. He finished with a five point major in Wichita KS by winning the working group. On the way to his title, Thunder had won Best of Breed over three different Best in Show winning Shelties.
     Steve Barger first saw Thunderation at the 1995 National Show in Bordertown, New Jersey. As Thunder entered the ring Steve was impressed by his overall control, coat and balance and charisma. He later found out that the dog was Chenterra Thunderation and that he had just been finished by Diane Wolcott. It was busy at the Nationals but when Steve got home he couldn’t get Thunder out of his mind. Steve recalls that Thunder’s double grandmother, Tentagel the Cheer Leader, had been shipped in to be bred to “Peter”. “She was one those bitches that you always remember”.
     When it came time to breed Ch Lake Hill Portrait in Blue, Steve felt that there was no other dog for her than Thunder but as she was then getting old, there was no question of shipping her. Steve contacted Jody Chenoweth who was reluctant to part with Thunder for even a short while. It was finally decided that Thunder would stand at stud with Steve and Tom Coen (who were then business partners) for six months.
       On the day Thunder was due to arrive, Steve drove to the airport with mixed emotions. Would Thunder prove to be what they saw at the Nationals or had they been caught up in all the confusion and excitement of the time? Steve got Thunder home, opened the crate and out stepped Thunder who proceeded to check out the house. He walked right up to Tom Coen who was sitting in a chair and put his head in Tom’s lap. He then proceeded to make himself totally at home. Steve knew then why Jody had had such a hard time parting with the dog and that he himself could never put the dog back on that plane.    Thunder was one of the most totally together dogs that Steve had ever seen, quick, bright and responsive.
     It wasn’t easy for Jody to finally agree to part with Thunder. There had been some inquiries from Japan but she wasn’t interested in selling him. Then one day Thunder was standing in the drive and was almost hit by a car and that is when she made up her mind to ship him for six months to Steve and Tom, who later convinced her to sell him to them.
     Thunder had an incredible show record with 220 Best of Breeds (120 of them consecutive!!) 21 Best in Shows and 78 Working Group firsts! He was Best of Breed at the 1978 Nationals in Omaha, Ne. under judge Dorothy Burns and again in 1079 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin under Judge Mary Van Wagenen. He is the only Sheltie to ever make the Century Club undefeated!
   

     Eventually Thunder was sold to Japan. Steve was told Thunder would be going to a family that would love him dearly, only to find out years later that he was purchased by a dealer and advertised for sale in a Japanese magazine. Steve was devastated! The only compensation was finding out that Thunder did end up with the Miyama family. The Miyamas became good friends with Steve over the years, both in and out of dogs and made it possible for Steve to visit Thunder at his home in Japan and see first hand the rapport that he had with his last owner, who gave him the best of everything and made him as happy as Steve could have wanted. On Steve’s last visit to Japan, Mr. Miyama, who was then out of dogs, made a point to visit with Steve and show him a photo of Thunder’s final resting place. 

     One of the hardest things Steve was ever asked to do was to  handle Thunder for Mr. Miyama in the Veterans Class at the 1982  San Diego National. Thunder had become very arthritic in his old age.  All kinds of veterinarian knowledge, including acupuncture was tried and there was a little  improvement.
   Steve entered Thunder in the  National. There were a lot of people there who had never seen Thunder in his youth. Steve recalls that Thunder was so stiff he could hardly walk but true to Thunder,  when  he got into the ring  he had a great time...just like old times. He had no idea that he couldn’t get around as effortlessly as before because he was eating up the applause and the standing ovation he got.  There wasn’t a dry eye on anyone that had known Thunder over the years.
    Steve will never forget what Judge Marlin Roll said when Steve put Thunder on the table for him to go over,   “He sure hasn’t lost his head, or his heart!  

   Thunder won the class!  But then, Thunder never doubted it for a minute.