"new" member

[VizLuv]

Hello fellow members

I was a member a few years ago, then life got in the way and this forum was forgotten. I have recently checked in again and re-joined.

I will tell you a little about myself and my animals. I have been married 10 years, and we have 3 kids. We also own a total of 8 dogs, but not all live with us full-time, and we have a cat, one very brave cat!

We got involved with purebred dogs about 9 years ago, and started breeding 5 years ago. I have shown dogs for 7 years now and really enjoy it. I started showing around the time we decided to sell our dairy farm, where we raised and showed our cattle. Both my husband and I are competitive, so showing dogs just seamed a natural switch. Once I started, I didnt like the idea of showing dogs that others have bred, and wanted the joy of showing dogs that we bred and raised, that whole "pride of ownership" thing I guess. We started out with 2 breeds, German Shorthaired Pointers and Hungarian Vizslas, but recently we decided to concentrate only on our Vizslas. It is difficult to breed two different breeds properly, this way we put all our efforts into one.
My husband is from a hunting family, so we both work on training the dogs to do what they were bred for, which is find and point birds. This spring we were able to get our first dual titled dog, in both show and field, we are now working on our second.

We still have two GSP's, Trixi and Baron are littermates and 5 years old. Our Vizslas are Brin, who is the oldest, at 8, and the mother of 2 of our others. Xena, Brin's daughter, is 4. Monte, Brin's son and full brother to Xena, is 3. Vanna, my newest show dog, is Xena's daughter, and will be 5 months the end of September. Penny and Copper are Brin's latest puppies, they are almost 4 months old. Copper and Xena live in foster homes, and we are still looking for the right home for Penny. Our poor cat, Bear, was a stray that showed up on our farm, and we took him in. He is the king of the castle here and tells all the dogs to behave.

Our dogs are always handled by us both in the show ring and in the field. This summer I was finally able to talk my husband into entering the ring with a dog, and I handled at a field test for the first time this month.

So far we have been able to earn several top awards in the ring. All but the oldest dog and the puppies have their show championship, and we were the proud breeders/owners of the #5 Vizsla in Canada in 2009 (Xena) and the top Vizsla puppy in 2010 (Fergie, who is now in Vancouver). Several of our dogs have won best puppy in group and/or placed in the sporting group. We have also won Best puppy at our National Specialty both times we brought puppies to that show.

We breed about one litter a year, and our puppies are born and raised in the house with our kids. Daily handling is important to us, as are trips outdoors and visits by friends. We are proud to be able to produce happy healthy puppies that are a joy to their new owners.

I look forward to "meeting" all of you and having some thoughtful discussions.

Mary-Ellen