HISTORY
Jane Hammett, as a child was quickly captivated by the dog show world when her family became involved with Collies. After several years of Junior Handling and helping her father, Dr. Hammett, finish his collies, Jane came into herself as a teenage proficient handler in the South-East. Big time sheltie breeders and handlers, Tom Coen and Steve Barger would, on occasion, send their home-bred dogs down South to show with Jane when they were committed to clients’ dogs. Shadow Hill Shelties became an idea when Jane met Steve’s BIS/BISS CH Chenterra Thunderation ROM. She was especially captivated by the dog’s temperament.
At the time, the typical temperament of the shetland sheepdog was nowhere near as stable as it is today. They were easily spooked, lacked confidence, and were disinterested in anything once startled. Thunder was completely to the contrary of that time’s norm. He loved people, he loved to run around, he was obedient, he played frisbee and fetch off a lead, and he loved to show. Having come from a Collie family, Jane Hammett was already into the collie look. Her living situation, however, did not afford her the necessary space to keep one. This made having a sheltie a much better option. Meeting Thunder completely confirmed it for her.
Due to Jane Hammett’s extremely young age, Tom Coen was unwilling to accept that she would be committed to showing and caring for a shetland sheepdog throughout its life. After waiting and pleading for three years, Coen finally agreed to sell Jane a Thunder daughter, the first Sheltie to carry the Shadow Hill kennel name. CH Shadow Hill Macdega Daydream was very quick to finish her American Champion title. Soon after, Jane acquired Macdega Under the Rainbow, another Thunder daughter, to produce the first Shadow Hill Litter.
The first litter was a Macdega Under the Rainbow/Banchory Reflection cross. This magnificent breeding resulted in Am/Can Shadow Hill’s Blue Dynamic ROMC, CH Shadow Hill’s Sunrise, and CH Macdega Time Square. As it happens, this first Shadow Hill litter contained an ASSA National Best of Winners dog and Reserve Winners Bitch. There was another member of this litter that would have gone down in history as well had it not been for its blue eyes resulting from the fact that it was a Sable-Merle.
Since then, Jane Hammett and her Shadow Hill shelties have taken Breed, Opposite Sex, several Award of Merits, and numerous Class Placements at the ASSA Nationals.