The Rahdy breeding program started back in 1982, 45 years ago. Barbara and Dave Goldfein bought their first Doberman, Romal (DOB 7.6.72) through Joanna Walker of famed Marks-Tey Dobermans. Barbara was actually the one who truly wanted a Doberman, while my father, David, wanted to buy a Rottweiler. Romal was a big black male with a beautiful standard head for a Doberman Pinscher.

My father started showing Romal and got points on him, but never obtained his championship. After buying Romal, they decided they wanted another show quality animal, but this time they wanted a bitch. Thus, they went to Lee and Dorothy McHaney, whom they had gotten to know through Joanna.

The McHaney’s owned a bitch that had been bred to Ch. Gra-Lemor Demetrius vd Victor. The bitch that my father and Barbara bought turned out to become Ch. Stacey’s Deborah of Marks-Tey “Julie”. My father went on to show Julie, and when she got her first points everyone was so excited that others around the ring thought that she may have finished! My father went on to special Julie, and together they were a great team. The missed the Top 20 by only 1-2 points, which is amazing because back at that time to get into the Top 20 you needed to achieve 500+ points. Truly, Julie became the foundation bitch of our kennel, Rahdy’s Dobermans. The “Deborah” in her registered name became the inspiration from which the Rahdy kennel name was created from- “Rah” from the last part of Deborah, and then it was supposed to be “de” from Deborah, but Barbara didn’t like how it looked, so she used a Y instead of the E.

Julie was bred to Ch. Brown’s Life with Riley which produced Ch. Rahdy’s Ginger Fizz “Ginger,” who was shown in Alaska, but then later moved back to Iowa. Ginger was bred to Ch. Mira’s Mist Prince of Landown WAC (an Alisaton/Demitrius pedigree which was owned by Gary Beck and specialed by Dave Goldfein). In 1984, Barbara and David bought Ch. Stormhaven’s Desert Wine “Brady” from that Mist x Ginger breeding. Brady went on to win her 12-18 class at the DPCA Nationals against a tough lineup of bitches. Brady was later bred to BIS/BISS Ch. Electra’s The Wind Walker GHC which produced a litter of five puppies- all of which went on to finish with ease. Out of this successful breeding came a bitch by the name of Sable.

Multi BIS/BISS Ch. Rahdy’s Sable v Deserae was campaigned by my father and came out to be the number one bitch, with eight Best in Shows under her belt. After two years, they retired her following back to back Best in Shows, and decided to breed her. Sable was bred to Multi BIS/BISS Ch. Brunswig’s Cryptonite twice, resulting in two accomplished litters. Between the two litters there were ten champions. One of those was Ch. Rahdy’s Sail the Seven Seas “Sinbad”.

Sinbad went on to become a top producing stud dog with 44 AKC Champions with various working titles. He stamped his puppies with an unmistakable smoothness. At the 1994 National, one quarter of the placements in the Puppy Futurity classes were Sinbad get. Sadly, just as he was becoming recognized as a producer, Sinbad’s stud career was cut short when he developed prostate problems. Two dogs sired by Sinbad were Ch. Cambria’s Cactus Cash “Eddie,” top producing stud dog of all time, and Multi BISS Ch. Legend’s Extravaganza v Deco CD, “Chaos,” who went on to win the DPCA Top 20 as well as become a DPCA National and Host club Best of Breed winner. Both Eddie and Chaos followed in their father’s footsteps, becoming top producing stud dogs as well.

In 2001, Dave Goldfein married fellow dog show handler, Jennifer Vickers. Jennifer grew up showing in juniors as her mother, Sherry Dixon, bred and showed English Cockers and Irish Water Spaniels under the kennel name Swathrun – a line which Sherry and our family continue with to this day. While not a typical situation, Barbara stayed on with the family, becoming Aunt Barbara to me and my sister. She shares dinner with us every night, and manages the home and dogs when the rest of us are on the road showing.

Flash forward to 2012 and you come to the miraculous litter out of GCH D’s Diva on Fire WAC, “Diva,” bred to twenty-year-old frozen Sinbad semen. That litter of five was whelped on January 18, 2013. Four out of five went on to become champions, and all of them hold multiple titles, with four of them going on to the various levels of grand championships. Out of this litter came GCHB Rahdy’s Beyond the Veil of Mist RATI. “Sheila” is my own bitch that I handled to her championship, and Bronze Grand Championship myself.

Her siblings are GCH Rahdy’s Valley of Diamonds RATM – “Scarlet,” GCH Rahdy’s Son of Sinbad RATI – “Stosh,” and finally UCH, UAGI, AKC GCH RATCHX Rahdy’s Lost Treasure NA, NAJ, CA, WAC – “Sailor”. Sheila and I currently compete in juniors alongside my sister, Sabrina, and her bitch “Cyndi.” Cyndi is a Gaza daughter, and Chaos/Oozi granddaughter, named Ch. Rahdy’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun RATCH, CGC, WAC. At a mere 12 years old, Sabrina went on to earn Cyndi’s championship from start to finish.

In 2013, our family went out to dinner. Barbara decided to stay home to rest following a day spent with her mother. When she heard a pounding noise, Barbara went upstairs to fuss at the dogs for messing around. What she thought was the dogs playing was actually the third floor falling in from a fire! Thankfully, two men stopped and assisted Barbara in getting the dogs out of the kennel which was right off of the living room.

Tragically, we still lost three dogs that were in the living room to the fire – “Diva,” the dam of the Sinbad frozen semen puppies who we owned with Tony and Sheila DiNardo, Ch. Rahdy’s On the Floor – “JLo,” who was my uncle Randy and aunt Lilya’s bitch, and Ch. Manarjj N Gra-Lemor Doozi – “Sitka,” owned by us and Mary Leahy. The house was a total loss. One of the things that we still mourn the loss of, is our photos and dog albums. That is why some of the photos in this article are scans from old Doberman magazines that were donated to us- those are the only keepsakes we have to remember those dogs by. The photo included here of Sinbad is the only one of him that we have left.

Aunt Lilya, who I mentioned above, is the wife of my father’s brother, Randy. While she started with one Doberman from David and Jennifer, she now has seven and plays an important part in the Rahdy breeding program.

My sister and I together, compete in various events with our dogs, putting multiple titles on our bitches. Both of us have been to dog shows since we were babies. Dog shows have been a part of our lifestyle since day one! My bitch “Sheila” was bred in 2016 to Ch. Gallant’s Scandel v Ciden D’Tales Alisaton WAC – “Kane,” which resulted in a litter of eleven puppies on March 3, 2017. Out of this litter came Rahdy’s Shameless – “Frankie,” which is my fawn bitch. Frankie will be coming out for only her third time in the ring at the National alongside her sister, Rahdy’s Hot Lips Houlihan – “Margaret,” who belongs to Sabrina.

Dog shows have become a family event and I truly hope that the next generation, including my sister and I among many other talented juniors, continue in the sport with the intent to better it and continue the legacy.