My sister had a ltter of 14 Boxer pups and we were introduced to them upon a visit that summer. They were just adorable and to my sister...so many!! I'm not certain who wanted us to have a puppy more my sister or me. Funds were limited to our young family, so we agreed that I would trade her a few of my household electronics for one of her gorgeous puppies. This little girl fit right into our home. I had never know a dog to be so intellegent, have such a genuine heart and such an amazing personality. Unfortunately, my son developed an allergy to her and after a year and a half we has no choice but to place her into a new home. Once my son outgrew his childhood allergies, in 2001 we were more than ready to fill the void that was left in the absence of our Boxer. After contacting many breeders we finally found a girl available at Varsity Boxers and drove half way across Alberta to meet her. The breeders, Amanda & Kevin Felix, wanted their girl to be shown and we learned that we would have to share our girl with the Show Ring. I had no knowledge of Dog Shows but gladly agreed. I would have sold my soul at this point to be able to bring this beautiful Boxer baby home. Cleo "Tricker's Hearts Content" was our long
dream finally come true.
I attended the Dog Shows that Cleo was participating in that season. Amanda showed Cleo and what a feeling it was to watch Amanda & Cleo strut their stuff. Little did I know that our little Boxer friend was about to introduce us to not only the Dog Show World but also to many new experiences and a whole new breed of people...Boxer Lovers!!! I began to show Cleo myself during her second season and really enjoyed it. After watching at ringside for over a year I never thought that I would be in the Show Ring showing my own dog. I don't think that I would have been brave enough until Amanda handed Cleo off to me at a show were she has two Boxers go into the ring at the same time. No time to back out, there it was and I had no choice. It turned out not to be as scary as I had worked myself up to thinking. It was great and I was hooked!
Not long afterwe purchase our second Boxer, Weasley "Falconhurst's Hot Off the Press". He came to us in the fall of 2003 from Laurie Schmidt of Falchonhurst Boxers. Weasley is our first male and just a joy to own. He recieved his Championship at 14 months of age and in just 3 weekends of showing, handles by Laurie Schmidt and myself. Weasley is definately the clown of all Boxers but works hard at keeping his energetic under control in the Show Ring. Sometimes he is quite successful and has been named the energizer bunny by a few of the judges he has shown under.
Our third Boxer also came to us from Falconhurst Boxers. Piper "Falconhurst's Gift to Showdown" is the little lady of our Boxer Family. Piper also recieved her Championship after 4 weekends of showing at the age of 13 months. Piper knows that she is all that and puts on her "look at me, I'm so cute" act when she enters the ring. She is simply a treasure to own, a joy to show and a great addition to our breeding program.
Our first breeding took place in the Spring of 2005. Cleo "Tricker's Hearts Content" was bred to Weasley "Falconhurst's Hot Off the Press" and produced 1 female and 3 male puppies. This litter taught me so much. It definitely was nothing close to what I had expected. It was Cleo's first breeding and she experienced a few setbacks just as she was going to whelp and became unwilling to accept her new family. The first two days we spent hand feeding every two hours until we found a surrogate Mom for our babies. Jetta "Falconhurst's Just Plain News" owned by Laurie Schmidt, was able to surrogate them and did so with very little hesitation. Jetta is Weasley's Mom and grama to this litter. In my eye's she is the most amazing Boxer. The laugh around the litter boxer was, "Mom won't take care of her kids so send them to Grama's house". I will never forget what Laurie and her Jetta did to give these babies a chance at life.
All four of these beautiful puppies will be entering the Show Ring in the 2006 season. The boys have all been placed into wonderful homes. We decided to keep Cleo's girl to carry on our breeding program. Sugar "ShowDown's Sweet Victory" is owned by myself and Amanda & Kevin Felix of Varsity Boxers. We are all very excited to have Sugar out showing. She is a very nice girl and sure to do some amzing things. Amanda & Kevin graciously accepted to co-own Sugar with us and we are thrilled. Not only have we all become friends but they made such a difference in our lives the moment they introduced us to the Show Ring.
We are please to share her with Amanda & Kevin and carry on with them what
they first started eight years ago.
The most recent addition to our Boxer family came as a surprise on my 40th Birthday (Feb 2006). I had the opportunity to witness Laurie's litter being born in January and a what a wonderful experience to see the birth of puppies. There was one fawn boy born out of the litter of eight and a very nice boy. I thought that he would complete my foundation quite nicely. Karle and Laurie were quite successful at conspiring together and surprising me on birthday with the gift of owning this bundle of joy. Boz "Falconhurst's Hidden Secret Showdown" is everything that I feel I was missing from my breeding program in order for me to complete my idea of what I Boxer should be.
I am proud to say that I have based my foundation of Boxers from "Falconhurst Boxers". Laurie Schmidt has become a huge part of my everyday life with not only my Boxer family but with our human Families as well. She has become my mentor, teacher and a great friend. Laurie's knowledge of the Breed, the Show Ring and her experiences over the past 20 years are valuable to me as a new person coming into the Boxer World. I never imagined there to be so much to learn that came with showing and breeding. I am quite certain that there were many times that I must have made her wonder by my inexperience and lack of knowledge. I often sit back and recall some of our conversations and the questions that I asked. They must have knocked her socks off! I feel very lucky to have found such a gem of a person, a knowledgeable Boxer Breeder and a patient and willing mentor as I have found in Laurie Schmidt. Her dedication to the breed comes through in the Quality of her Boxers. They are such a huge compliment to the Show Ring and the Boxer World.
The Boxer World has become a whole new way of life for us. Our entire family looks forward to each show season. Quality Family time used to be difficult to fit into our busy Oilfield lifestyle. Who would have known just how much enjoyment our little Cleo
would bring, both in the Show Ring and into our everyday lives.
