Well, where do I start.  It all goes back, really, to 1973.  I was very pregnant with my third child.  I had bought my husband, Dennis, a Saint Bernard puppy for an anniversary present.  He had grown up without dogs and had always wanted one.  I had always had dogs as a child, and felt he had really missed out.  Neither of us had ever been to a dog show, and in those days you never saw them on the TV.  But the breeder had talked us into making a “pic-nic in the park” Sunday, and that was all it took.  We were hooked.  In the next couple of years we continued to show and acquired a couple more Saints.  But became VERY discouraged by the health condition of the breed, so decided to make a change.  In 1978 we bought our first Bearded Collie.  Blythe was a mediocre representative of the breed, but we had fun anyway and she did do enough winning to keep us interested.  The breed was so special.  Smart, GREAT with kids, healthy and oh, so easy to live with.  Over the next several years we became fairly successful, breeding or owning ten Beardie champions.  My daughter, Kirsten became one of the top Bearded Collie Junior Showman.  Perry, our bred-by stud dog, became number ten in the country owner handled and only on the west coast.  In 1986 we showed at what was to be our last show.  We had decided because of our personal life directions at the time, to retire from the showing and concentrate on our family. 

 Perry lived to be 16 years old.  He was a grand old guy who never lost his Beardie spirit.  A couple of years past, but we just couldn’t stand it.  We all missed the sites, sounds, and, yes, the smells of the show ring.  We got back in with all fours (no pun intended).  I originally decided to try something different and so acquired a P.B.G.V. puppy.  But we quickly found we missed the herding dog personality too much.  We made some phone calls and found that we had not been forgotten.  We were offered a co-ownership on a Beardie puppy bitch from a great kennel, Britannia.  Michele Ritter  was very helpful and honest.  We got Carly (Ch. Britannia Made You Look) and she’s been everything we expected.  She finished, owner handled by Kirsten, with three majors, even winning a Group one from the puppy classes.  We’ve since added Leo (Britannia Lunar Eclipse), who is affectionately known as “Fooleo”. 

 But over the years, age has played havoc with my joints.  I found that I had to relegate the act of going in the ring to Kirsten and my Grandson, Christopher.  My knees would not allow me to run any more.  But   sitting on the sidelines was not for me.  I needed to be out there.  So, I started the process again.  I found an article on the Havanese.  Sounded sort of like the Bearded Collie.  I found everything I could on the breed (which wasn’t much)and I visited the Havanese ring at shows when some were entered.   I decided that this little dog was made for me.  A LITTLE Beardie that I could walk with in the ring.  So the phone calls started.  After a REALLY slow start, Lynn Nieto of Los Perritos Kennel was willing to work with me and I got Zoey.  Cute as a button and she got off that plane from Florida like she’d been flying for years.  Since then I’ve acquired  Mambo from Lynn as well, who finished at a year.  Mambo and Zoey had their, and my, first Havanese litter June 11, 2001.  And I have plans for increasing my Havanese family soon with two more.

 And it’s become a real three generation lifestyle.  Christopher, Kirsten’s son, has taken up Junior Handling and is doing exceptional.  He started showing one of the P.B.G.V.’s and is now handling Carly in the Junior ring.

  We travel a lot to the shows, mostly in California, but have hit Washington state and New Mexico.  Kirsten and Christopher usually are with us.  Christopher has become, like his mother, quite a successful junior handler in his own right.  The Beardies live with Kirsten and her family and the Havanese live with Dennis and I.

 So here we are,  Beardies and Havanese.  Maybe an unlikely combo to some, but believe me they are more similar than you’d think.  BRITE, SMART, FUNNY, FRIENDLY,BOUNCIE, AND YES, HAIRY.