Blair and I both grew up with dogs, cats and/or horses in our lives. So it should be no surprise to hear that when we got married we wanted to have a dog as a companion. We had horses and had seen the cute little terriers that you normally saw around stables whose job was to keep down the populations of rats and mice. Intrigued by this little dog with all the spunk and fire of a bigger dog, we purchased one through our veteranarian, who knew of a litter. She is now almost 13 years young and still the princess of the house.
Having spent a good portion of my youth showing horses and because there were no shorty clubs, registries or shows, I started looking for a dog to show. So in 1997 we purchased our first show dog and foundation stud dog, Ch. Farmcliff Ben of Childs Play WC NHC, of the type which was to become the Parson Russell Terrier. So started our 12 year journey with the Parson Russell Terrier. Over the last 12 years we have bred numerous champions, a BOS Sweepstakes and Winners Dog at the National. Our foundation bitch, Ch. Childs Play Fat Lady Singin' ROMX (Buffy) is a Register of Merit Excellent producer and her children have gone on to produce champions as well. We also hunted them in the ground to live quarry. Ben and Buffy have proven themselves to be fabulous workers and have produced working terriers here in the US, and also overseas. There are many downline offspring who are carrying on Ben and Buffy's good old temperamentally and genetically sound working blood.
During our time spent with the Parson's, the shorty Jack Russell had been developed in Australia and was recognized across the world and here in the US. Clubs were formed, breed standards written and the breed had emerged from being one you would see in horse stables only. As fate would have it, the shorty Jack Russell Terrier came back into our lives through our good friend Liz McKinney of Falling Branch Kennel. Liz had imported several Jack Russells from Australia and we fell in love with them all over again.
The Australian bred Jack Russells are a calmer, easier dog to live with than the Parsons are and so we decided to switch our focus back to our original type of white bodied terrier. We will continue our tradition of breeding only quality dogs who are sound in mind and body. Our princess is very happy with our decision as she has always held herself aloof from the Parsons. She thinks we have finally gotten back to the right breed of dog and we have to agree with her!
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