History
Marquee Wheatens was established in 1984 when we purchased our first SCWT, Ch. Ballyhoo’s That’s Show Biz, aka Bizi from Everett and Frederica Keller. Bizi is the foundation upon which Marquee has been built and she has contributed her personality, intelligence and exuberance to each of the generations which have followed.
In October 2001, during the weekend of our National Specialty, we were fortunate to have our breeding program gain a new level of recognition when Ch. Marquee’s Tricks of the Trade (Chase) won Winners Dog at Devon on Saturday and Montgomery County Kennel Club on Sunday. At that time, Marquee Wheatens had approximately 25 Champions, many of them owner/breeder handled including Chase’s Specialty-winning mother, Ch. Marquee’s Spellcaster (Morgan) and her littermate, Ch. Marquee’s Magician (Mojo). The success of Chase would not have been possible without his Specialty-winning, Montgomery Award of Merit (AOM,) and Group-placing grandmother – Ch. Marquee’s Act Two (Ditto).
In 2002 Chase’s Group-placing success (BOB at SCWTCA 2002 National Roving Specialty) was challenged by the successes of his litter mates: Ch. Marquee’s Trick Question (Guess) with a BOB (BOS was mom Morgan) at the NCTA Group Show in April of 2002; Ch. Marquee’s Hat Trick (Wembley) went BOB at SCWTCSC Specialty in June; and Ch. Marquee’s Trick or Treat (Carmel) finished in early 2002 with majors over specials. Chase and Carmel finished the 2002 show year in Florida at the AKC Eukanuba National Invitational, while invitee Wembley stayed home.
Since then we have continued to breed and show SCWTs which we believe exemplify the breed standard. But even as veterans (dogs or bitches over 7 years of age) we have continued to have success. Guess was BOS at the SCWTCNC specialty in 2008 and received an AOM (Award of Merit) at the Roving that same weekend. That same year Marquee Wheatens moved to Alabama together with Ch. Marquee’s It Ain”t Baroque (Dublin), Ch. Marquee’s Which Witch is Which (Riddle) and Marquee’s Tax Exchange (Bama).
A great deal of our history and our success is the result of those who have cared for Marquee Wheatens. Although we have been fortunate in having many outstanding Marquee Wheaten owners over the years with whom we have co-owned our dogs, a few of them need to be mentioned.
We are privilege to count among our friends Brian and Mary Daily of Erindale Wheatens. Brian and Mary were the co-owners of one of our first Bizi pups: Ch. Marquee’s The Tempest (Spirit). It was from her first breeding to Ch. Doubloon’s Winter Wood (Woody) that we began our quest for the “perfect” Wheaten. Spirit’s daughter, Ch. Marquee’s First Act (Ticket), was bred to Brian and Mary’s Ch. Erindale’s Mr. October (Jackson). From that breeding we had two puppies, one dog and one bitch. From almost the first moment she was born, we sensed that we had not only a outstanding example of what we believed the standard described, but also our first true “show dog.” Ditto proved us right and produced 8 champions of record. She received her ROM in 2002.
A very important friend has been Marcia Weisman. In 1991 Marcia purchased one of Bizi’s last pups, a dog, Ch. Marquee’s Tell It To The Judge (Tucker). Tucker, under Marcia’s tutelage, was the high scoring obedience Wheaten in 1994. In 1997, Marcia made a 25-cent deposit on a pick bitch from Ditto’s first litter and is now the proud co-owner of both Morgan and Chase. Morgan received her ROM in 2008.
We look foward to many more years.