A high-speed comfort hog, Kristull Talisman of Sheba, AKA Sheba, was my introduction to the Windhounds. She came to me from breed founder Francie Stull's Kristull Kennel at the age of nine months, and is now the queen of Talisman Hounds. Sheba walked into my house, housebroke herself in one day, learned all the best people to charm into giving her food, and formed a strong emotional attachment to my couch.

Sheba has had a limited show career, since she would rather choose to either race, eat, be petted, or spend her days upside down on the couch than show. In her single show outing in 2005, Sheba took American Bred Bitch at the 05 Western Regional Breed Specialty. She is shown here handled by breed founder Francie Stull.

Sheba's kids do not share her snooty attitude towards showing, and her "Lost Civilizations" litter has proven to be quite the force in the show ring in their limited outings.

Loki , Multiple Best of Breed, Best Puppy in Show winner, Rarities Int Ch IABCA UCICB Int Ch Talisman's Viking Kumbaya src ptd, achieved his Ch in one four-show day at the age of 9 months, going Winners Dog, Best Puppy in Breed, Best Puppy in Group and Best Puppy in Show. He's had multiple Best of Breed wins as a Ch. He's also now a licensed Therapy Dog, and is making his rounds as a canine ambassador!

Ronan, Multiple Best in Show, Reserve Best in Show, Multiple Best of Breed, Rarities Int Ch, IABCA Int Ch Talisman's Byzantine Empire src ptd, won multiple Best Puppy in Breed and Best in Hound Puppy Group at IABCA shows in Antioch Ca 05, and has since gone multiple Best of Breed, and Reserve Best in Show and Best in Show in Rarities !

Sazi, Multiple Reserve Best in Show , Multiple Best in Specialty Show , Multiple Best of Breed winner , ISWS IABCA and Rarities Int Ch Talisman's Anasazi Sunrise CIC , SRC ptd, has a Winners Bitch under noted AKC Best in Show judge Ed Gilbert, author of K9 Structure and Anatomy, and a Rarities Silken Windhound Specialty BISS and Reserve Best in Show win under Rita Seibel , as well as a Best of Breed at an ISWS Specialty in 07! She's also won her ISWS racing Championship, the SRC, and gotten her Coursing Instinct Certification ! Sazi also got Best in Specialty Show at our largest Western Regional Specialty yet in Oct 07 ! She's now only the third dog ever in the history of our breed to be a Dual Ch!

Calantha, Talisman’s Dream of Atlantis, took 2nd in Companion Bitch at the 05 Western Regional Specialty.

Sony, Talisman's Scythian Huntress, co-owned with Alison Brendel, had her first show at the Western Regional Specialty Show in Lafayette Ca. At 10 months, over a very large entry, she took Best Puppy in Show, Winners Bitch, and went all the way to Best in Show! Since then, she's also gotten her CGC !

Abby, Talisman’s Aliende, from Sheba's first litter , took 1st place in Companion Bitch at the 03 Western Regional Specialty and second place in Companion in 07.

Sheba's "Mythos" litter has followed in their previous siblings footsteps, and several of them have made it into the ring.

Helios , Multiple Best Puppy in Show winner Rarities and IABCA JHA Int Ch Talisman's Light of Helios is the youngest Silken to ever achieve a Rarities Ch , at just 7 1/2 months of age! He also got his puppy IABCA Ch in January of 08! He's also won a Reserve Winners Dog in ISWS Specialty Show in April of 08 in stiff competion, and in his very first race weekend, ran his way to high points and got 6 points towards the 12 needed for his ISWS racing Ch !

Phoenix , Rarities Int Ch, IABCA JuA Ch, Talisman's Phoenix Fire SRC ptd , in her first show weekend, got her IABCA JuA Ch, and at her first Rarities show weekend, she came away with two five point majors towards her Championship and finished her Championship with majors easily on her next show outings at just over a year ! She's also won Reserve Winners Bitch in an ISWS Specialty show in April of 08!

Teddy , Rarities Int Ch Talisman's Ursa Major SRC, strutted his way to his Ch in a set of Rarities shows in the NW in 07, becoming the second Mythos pup to get his Ch at under a year in age! He also got his first straight racing champion points as a first time entry dog at a race in the PNW, and got his Straight Racing Championship in less than a month and a half, making him the youngest Silken ever to achieve this title at just shy of 15 months old ! He's also taken on agility!

Sheba is an avid hunter. I found out the first time I took her walking in Golden Gate Park that Sheba will jump 6 feet up a tree going after squirrels if I let her. She will also chase any non-dog small feathered or furry animal in the yard. She also managed to empty a small pool of goldfish all on her own one day, standing in and over the water, plunging her head in past her ears to catch fish a lot like an egret would. Oddly enough, while cats are not to be tolerated on her territory, she has let cats at other people's houses walk right over her head with no fuss.

Sheba finally has a less hair-raising way  to show off her prey drive! She couldn't be more pleased with her new career as an ISWS racing hound. In 2005, the ISWS partnered with participating LGRA clubs to create the ISWS racing program, which is a venue for Silkens to competatively race in, and Sheba got her first ISWS racing wins towards her Straight Racing Championship!

Sheba has an incredibly long memory for positive and negative experiences, an amazing instinct for self preservation, and a strong drive for her own comfort. All this means is that she knows exactly the pitch and caliber of crackle her favorite bag of dog treats will make, as well as knowing exactly what object, her brush or the dog nail trimmer, I am picking up from the shelf no matter how hard I try to hide the sound. Sheba believes with all her heart that food, especially any kind of fish, is the best thing in the universe, and that she can never have enough of it, and that nail trimming is the most horrible torturous cataclysm ever foisted upon the world of dogs by people.

Her pedigree incorporates some of the most diverse lines used to create the breed. From her Borzoi side, she gets her fabulous big happy grin and her love of cold weather, from her Whippet side she gets her obsession with lolling around in the sun. She is a balanced girl with lovely angles, substance, a beautiful long and well carried tail, an excellent bite with full dentition and a strong lower jaw, sound movement, lovely head with rich black pigment and very dark eyes, and a gloriously thick and wavy Borzoi type coat.

Sheba's littermates live all over the world, with two of her siblings residing in Europe (Siru and Teal'c), one in Texas, and one in New Jersey. Sheba herself has had three litters of gorgeous, very sweet puppies. Her first litter was born in 2001, and you can see the pups here. Her second litter was born in January, 2005, and puppy pictures can be found here. For her third and final litter in 2006, Sheba was bred to ISWS and Rarities Int Ch Tangaloor Captain Sinclair AKA Connor , puppy pics can be seen here .

Sheba remembers which person is the most talented at giving her belly rubs, and which person gives the best ear rubs. She is polite and her gentle ways when greeting new people is wonderful with people who are a little afraid of dogs. Of my Silkens, she tends to be the most reserved with people and dogs she does not know, usually only approaching them after my other dogs have mobbed them, but she loves all small babies and cannot stop herself from giving them kisses when she sees them.  

Sheba's Pedigree

DOB : 2/7/1999

Height : 24 inches

Reg # 2000-40/03

MDR1: Clear

OFA Thyroid : Normal SWH-TH4/85F-PI

OFA Cardio : Normal SWH-CA6/85F/P-PI

CERF: Normal SWH-114/2005--83