Adamasdor Labradors Beginning

ADAM

His spirit was free and he loved the field. A walk in the Magaliesberg was his best thing and his little habits became a treat to demonstrate to visitors to our house in Kilner Park, Pretoria. His personality and intelligence soon made me realise that this character must be from a breed of dog that is really extraordinary. Adam was my mate and I will never forget those special times with him.

Adam (registered as “Jupiter”), born on 21 March 1987, was bred by Mr Warburton and I bought him from Cleve Kennels in Pretoria when he was 3 months old. In later years, with the establishment of the first kennel name in co-ownership with Mona-Liza Lottering (July 1992), Adam’s registered name was changed to add the new suffix: Jupiter of Lizanier.

Adam’s (and my) show career started around 1990. Dog shows were not his idea to spend the day, but it soon became a favourite hobby of mine. I began to plan and dream about establishing my own Labrador Retriever kennels. Adam needed a companion and I needed a foundation bitch to start my kennels.

In June 1992 Leon and I moved into our house in Rietfontein Pretoria, where we had enough space to plan for the arrival of Martha (Bardale Enchanted Storm of Lizanier) in January 1993. Adam was never used at stud, but with the registration of the Adamasdor kennel name in February 1995, his name was made part of every dog ever bred or owned by us. Martha’s first litter, born on 7 October 1994, was registered with this prefix. The name Adamasdor still symbolises to us what Adam was and we can only hope that all the puppies bred under that name will do justice to his memory. The ones he knew - he must have known they bear his name - he taught them all they needed to know. He not only left his footprints on this beach (picture left of Adam’s spoor on Gordon’s Bay beach in 1998), but also in our hearts.

The Legend that was "Adamastor":
The idea for the kennel name also came from Adamastor (with a "t"), a Greek-type mythological character invented by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his epic poem Os Lusíadas (first printed in 1572), as a symbol of the forces of nature Portuguese navigators had to overcome during their discoveries. Camões gave his creation a history as one of the Gigantes of Greek mythology who had been spurned by Thetis, now appearing in the form of a threatening stormcloud to Vasco da Gama and threatening ruin to anyone hardy enough to pass the Cape of Storms at the Southern tip of Africa and penetrate the Indian Ocean, which was Adamastor's domain. Adamastor became the Spirit of the Cape of Storms. Adamastor has figured in much poetry of the Cape. In The First Life of Adamastor, a novella by André Brink, the writer refashioned the Adamastor story from a 20th-century perspective.

Adamasdor Labrador Retrievers