You know how it all started for you. You grew up with dogs, loving dogs, and then one day a particular dog took you aback so much so that you HAD to have one. But you wanted to do right by the dogs so you learned all that you could, you might have been a junior handler, or just someone who was interested in showing, or someone who wasn't until they were taken by this breed. That's me. I have had dogs all my life. Our first dog when I was very young was a Standard Poodle, Tootie, who my mom got from one of her Arabian Horse friends. Tootie was a caution, she kept jumping out of the yard and going after the mailman. Drove him nuts. Why? Not because of the attacks, they weren't anything but jumping up, playful nips. The reason was he could never catch her out of her yard, and see our mailman was also the dog catcher for the town we lived in. Our next dogs growing up were Basset Hounds, a breed so special that I will always have one. Missy and actually a neighbors Basset, Dudley, that we took care of so much, he was ours. When Missy died though my mom was so heartbroken that she wouldn't have another dog. So when I was 20 and was working full time, I bought an Old English Sheepdog puppy (thank you Paul McCartney) and had to move out to keep him. He was my constant companion for 14 years. Towards the end of Duncans' life, I was working at a Vet Hospital and rescued a Great Dane, Jake, took him with the thought of finding him a home, I did...mine. Wanting to have an Irish Wolfhound, I made out a rescue app and the wonderful Gloria Barrick talked me into two more Danes, not all at the same time, but a female, Biddy. Then when I lost Jake, I got my Wolfie, Phaegan, and lost both the girls to cancer at 6. Then I rescued Eli, a giant black Dane and kept him all his life...9 years.The Giant Breeds were the most gentle, loving, loyal, sociable breeds on earth, they just died so early, it was so heartbreaking to me I decided to size down to one of the three breeds I had wanted since I was a little girl. So on my 40th birthday I got an Irish Setter puppy. The breeder is one of the MOST wonderful people I have ever met, I love her,Kim Lamontagne of Keliaire Irish Setters, her daughter Monica, well there aren't words for how much she has done for me, and of how proud I am of her. She's beyond brilliant with dogs. Monica and Kim and I started showing Kineely at dog shows and I got the bug...bad! A year later Kim whelped a English Cocker litter for Jean Kaul and Pat Janzen of Ebonwood Cocker Spaniels, and she kept the red boy, Oscar. Monica and I took him to all of Kineelys'shows that first year to socialize him and get him ready to show, which we did the following year. I showed them for a couple of years and then life set in. As I have always had Arabian Horses I was very much into every aspect of having them and breeding them. Seven years ago we moved to a small ranch on the northern part of the Palmer Divide in Colorado and life and work went along. I have always followed the dog shows to see who was winning, studied pedigrees as I am a bit of a pedigree nut...horses and dogs, and have been getting ready to acquire a show Cocker and a Norwich Terrier, okay, there are the three breeds I always wanted. Kineely, my setter and Oscar and I have lived on the ranch for 7 years,with my husband Mike. Kineely is still with me, he is a wonderful dog, but we lost our Oscar on May 28,2007, and I will miss that wonderful little dog the rest of my life. I have acquired Obi, Ch. Annalains' Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he's another wonderful little dog. We are learning to track and having gone Best of Breed, he might Special alright. We'll see at his first go with me as co-owner with Gail Miller of Annalain Irish Setters. Being a co-founder of my Arabian Horse Club and President I made the yearly jaunt to our fabulous Scottsdale Arabian Horse show every February. And much to the chagrin of my fellow horse people, they'd find me with the Norwichs and ECs that people had brought with them to the horse show MORE then I was with the horses. But being in Colorado, there isn't much opportunity to see a Norwich unless they happen to be at a show, so I tend to take time to be with any Norwich I can, wherever that might be as there are so few times to see them in the flesh here. I also have in common the same goal as all of you, to have the healthiest and correct, form to function dogs I can. I go to specialties, were while I take pictures and keep track of whose winning in what... all so I can go back and do more research, it gives me a great chance to network and talk to breeders. I want really good dogs, ones that the breeders do NOT want to give up. But that's okay, as I want these breeders to be in on all aspects of that dogs' life for the whole life of the dog. And don't get me wrong, I just want to start out with a male of each. I want to show them. As far as breeding them, I don't know think so, I much rather have someone use my males and then I can have a puppy down the line. But I'd like to have the best dogs, either bought or bred in this region. And since you all breed such good dogs I'd have to go that route to even be competitive in the ring with you all. I KNOW she would take such good care of us!
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