My love of all animals, but especially dogs, began when I was a small child. My parents owned a Boxer named Duke when I was born and I loved that dog dearly, as well as my grandmother’s miniature poodle, Jacque. Over the years we had many pets, including dogs of many different breeds and crosses, usually gotten at the dog pound or found by my dad on his routes as a truck driver for Exxon. I always loved these dogs, but my parents tired of them quickly so they didn’t stay long.

Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, I was a city kid but spent most of my weekends and summers on my grandparents’ three acre homestead deep in the woods of Kentucky, playing with the variety of farm animals they owned and dreaming of one day owning my own farm. In the meantime I collected a large menagerie of pets, including dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, fish, a flying squirrel and a couple of pet goats.

When I was 14 years old I began an apprenticeship at a dog grooming shop. I worked there for 5 years, first bathing, brushing and blow drying dogs and cats and eventually learning to groom all breeds. I encountered a large variety of breeds through this job, including a few LGD breeds such as Great Pyrenees and Kuvaz. During this time I also began breeding Cocker Spaniels and bought my first horse, an Arabian gelding, with the money from my grooming job. I also paid his board and all his expenses with my own money. I’d been asking my parents for a horse all my life. They always said no so I finally bought one myself. That was my first lesson in not waiting around for others to make your dreams come true, but instead to do it yourself.

When I was 19 I got married and moved to Florida. My husband was in the Navy so over the years we also lived in Guam, Florida (again), Maryland, Virginia and California (twice). I continued grooming dogs in the various places we lived, owning my own dog grooming shop, Island Pet Grooming, when we lived on Guam. (I was the only groomer on the island for a period of time.)

I bred Cocker Spaniels, my favorite breed at the time, for many years and owned a variety of horses, mostly Arabians, as well as a large variety of other pets and farm animals. We rented a 4 acre “horse property” in Maryland for a time, where I was finally able to have my horses living at home. We later owned a farm in Virginia for a few years where I had my horses, dairy goats and a variety of poultry, as well as dogs and cats. Eventually we gave up the farm in order to move back to California to be with our oldest daughter who had gotten married while we were stationed here. 

Back in California our horses went back into boarding and my dreams of owning a farm were put on hold again, until my husband finally retired from his 40 year Navy career. In late 2015 we bought my “dream farm” in Lemoore, California. I started out planning just to have my horses at home and add a few dairy goats and chickens. But I soon began breeding goats on a larger and larger scale and adding more horses and other farm animals.

Because we live in an active predator area I needed a Livestock Guardian Dog to protect my animals, so we bought our first Maremma, Olaf, soon after moving in. I soon fell in love with the breed, eventually loving them as much as my beloved Cocker Spaniels. In 2017 I bred my first Maremma litter. All those puppies went to working homes and raising and training them was such an amazing experience that I was hooked.

Over the years I have worked on my breeding program, acquiring dogs from the best breeders in the country, eventually becoming a Maremma Sheepdog Code of Ethics Breeder.

I have always been an avid reader and researcher. As a kid, I studied every book the library had on animals of all kinds, making notebooks full of notes, drawings, and diagrams, planning my eventual farm I would have someday.

As an adult, I homeschooled my six children, so I continued to educate myself in addition to them, taking out stacks of library books and amassing a huge library of print, digital, and audiobooks.

I couldn’t begin to remember all the books I have read on animal care, breeding, and training, but I’ve listed the ones I remember below.

I’ve also found formal courses very helpful as a breeder and trainer. I began with taking the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Trainer Foundations course in 2021. I’ve taken several courses through KPA and other programs.