| About Me... |
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| First of all, I'm old! OK... not that old, but I've been married for 27 years (to the same man!) and we were just blessed in 2006 with our first grandchild. Our daughter, Susan, is married and out of the nest, and our 18-year-old son, Daniel, is a freshman at the local community college. I'm a bookkeeper by trade, but my "thing" in life has always been animals. My father had a small pet shop during my formative years, and I delighted in caring for and learning about all the different animals in our store... I was cheap labor, but thought it was fun! Our store was predominantly tropical fish and small pets --- we never dealt in puppies or kittens. Being a small "mom and pop" establishment, responsibility, good care and treatment of the animals was stressed moreso than the petshops of today. At this time, we have dogs, rats, one rabbit, a recently adopted kitten from the local shelter, a Bearded Dragon, and a Tarantula (what can I say... she was a poor rescue looking for a home). If it's not soft and cuddly, I find it's at least interesting and worth observing. I have been training, showing and breeding Border Terriers since 1997, though I don't produce pups on a large scale. We have had only 5 litters, breeding only to continue our line or to sell puppies to those on our waiting list. We do extensive health tests before breeding (OFA hips/elbows/knees/cardiac and CERF eyes) and each of our dogs are AKC champions, pointed, and/or have obedience titles or the AKC Good Citizen Certificate. Quality, health AND temperament are ALL important when breeding any animal. I am a member of our breed's national club (Border Terrier Club of America), recent past-president of the regional club (Great Lakes Border Terrier Club), and treasurer of the local AKC club (Kishwaukee Kennel Club). I recently started Agility training with one of my dogs for the first time. I dabbled in raising and showing Holland Lop rabbits for about 3 years; I found it difficult to have a decent-size breeding program in my limited space (I have no out-buildings and had to maintain my rabbitry in my basement). I also found it discouraging that the dwarf breeds have difficulty in delivering their young, C-sections are common (and expensive) and otherwise difficult deliveries usually have an unhappy ending. I decided to leave that hobby to those who have barns --- and stronger stomachs... In 2003, I was surfing the internet and discovered there were people who were as serious about breeding (and showing!) rats as those who show rabbits and dogs. At first I found this extremely humorous (raaats??!) but I had never had a rat for a pet or even touched one. and decided I'd like to get one. OK, I found out I had to have two, because one can't be lonely. I somehow found Claudia Nix, talked her into adopting two of her baby boys to me, and drove to her place to pick them up. (I wonder if she could tell I was somewhat afraid to pick them up??) My husband (bless him --- he helps out with whatever mischief I get myself into) and I followed the directions on the Camelot website and made this huge cage out of wire shelving material. A pretty nice cage for rats --- however, it's very heavy and a bit difficult for us female types to lift at cleaning time. Anyway, I outfitted and decorated it with hammocks and toys and such for Angus and Flint, and surely you realize by now... they grew on me. They were such cuddly squishes, and I loved to let them run about while I did my bunny chores. When Angus and Flint passed on due to their ages, I found Claudia was taking a temporary hiatus from breeding. I wanted more rats, and thought rather than searching out more breeders in distant cities, surely there can't be that big a difference in rats... I'll just buy some from a pet store. Ugh... bought two from Petco, and both were sneezers; got some antibiotics, but it was too late for one of them --- he died a week after getting him. Bought another from a different pet shop that has been "ok", and also took in a rescue... BUT -- none of them have had the nice, mushy personalities that my "good breeder" rats had. It seems the quality in rats and their breeding is just as evident as it is in good dogs! As an animal breeder and rat enthusiast, I found this very interesting. In spring of 2006, I had the opportunity to attend the NIRO show; I watched the judging, perused the displays, chatted with breeders at their tables, took my chances on the raffles (no luck!), and got reacquainted with those "squishy" rats at the "public relations" table. I got back in contact with Claudia and told her I was looking to dive a little deeper into the rats, and she generously offered to mentor me... she and Debbie of Sweet Genes have helped me select foundation stock for my own little rattery, and in 2007 I participated in the NIRO show as an exhibitor. Hang around and watch us grow. |
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