I was blessed to grow up in an animal loving environment. My father was Welsh and raised on a farm. My mom is Irish and had a natural love for animals. We always had various dogs and cats while growing up in Livonia; one time having 5 dogs, 1 cat, 3 chickens, 36 pet mice (started with 3) and varying amounts of fish in a tank (the cat used to help himself). I never did get that pony I begged for though. I decided I wanted a Labrador when I was in the 6th grade. I had just read “The Dog in my Life” by Kurt Unkelbach and decided that was the breed for me. Convincing my parents of this was another story. My mom said no because Labs were too big. So they got me a Sheltie instead from a breeder in Woodhaven, MI. That was the first dog I used the kennel name of Woodhaven with one of my dogs. My brother went away to college and decided he had to have a dog. He asked me to find him a Lab or an Irish Setter. Well there was no way that dog was going to be an Irish, so I found him a Lab puppy. She was all of $50 and the pick of the litter. I know now how ugly she really was, but to me she was beautiful. She ended up becoming mine when my brother decided having a puppy at college wasn’t a good thing. DUH! I named her Satin since her coat glistened like the fabric. Her registered name was Woodhaven’s Lady Moondance. The first Woodhaven Lab.
        Yeah she was ugly and had a rotten temperament, but she taught me so much. I joined the local obedience club and jumped into obedience with her. I took conformation classes from some of the resident handlers and learned how to show a dog. Though Satin definitely wasn’t conformation quality she was still a great dog to learn on. We learned about tracking and field events with Satin too. When she started seizuring at age 4 she unfortunately taught me a lot about epilepsy. I always say if she was the pick of the litter, I’d hate to see the other littermates. *laughs* She cost me $50 to buy and prolly another $7000 to keep her alive
for her 14 years but she was worth it.
            In the fall of 1979 I was taking a tracking class along with a friend. I had been going to shows scouting out breeders for my next Lab which I wanted to show in conformation. I fell in love with a bitch by the name of Ambersand’s Electra and found out she was due to be bred. My friend and I went out to the breedre’s home so the breeder could meet me and put me on her waiting list.
            The following October my puppy was born. She became Ambersand’s Tupelo Honey or Jessie to her friends. Jessie was an original couch potato. I loved her dearly but the last thing she wanted was to show, do obedience, field or anything else. She’s the only Lab I have owned that I wasn’t able to get a title on.
However, she gave me the perfect gift. That was my Kelly.
            I met and married Terry in 1982. I’m not sure he knew what he was getting into. When we married I had 2 Labs, a Dalmatian and a Sheltie. He made me promise to get down to 2 dogs. At the moment I have 8 Labs here and co-own several more, so I’m a long way from just 2. However, he never said when I had to get down to 2 dogs so maybe by the time I’m 70.
            After researching on what I wanted to improve on Jessie, I decided on a stud dog. This started my friendship with the stud dog’s owner that has continued for almost 20 years. Besides a friend, she became my mentor. That breeding gave me Kelly, my heartdog, Can. CH. U-CDX, Woodhaven Amber Silk, CD, WC, CGC, TDI, Can. CDX, WC. Kelly completed her Canadian Championship in 7 shows, earned 12 AKC
points, including a major before she went on an incredible run of 19 major Reserves. We never did get that last major, but in my heart I know she finished that Championship. Kelly was everything to me and it almost killed me when she died of kidney failure at the young age of 10. I have never recovered from her loss.
            Kelly gave me Robin, Can. CH. U-CD, Woodhaven Silk-N-Silver, CD, WC, WCX, JH, CGC, Can. WC, CD. Robin was the sweetest dog ever born and one of the best natural bird dogs I’ve ever witnessed. All of my dogs go back to these dogs and we’ve managed to keep the athletic aspects of the breed to go along with the classic Labrador type and temperament. We’ve titled in conformation, obedience, tracking, field and agility. Dogs that I have bred, have earned 8 HRLRC All-Purpose Awards (titling in conformation, obedience/agility/tracking and field), a fact I’m very proud of. No other Lab breeder in this area has come close to that achievement.
            In our spare time (is there such a thing?) Terry likes to golf. I am the webmaster/owner of approx. 12 different websites and enjoy creating webpages for others. Photography has always been a hobby of mine and you’ll rarely find me without some type of camera. I also enjoy reading. Writing about my Labs is another hobby of mine and some of my articles have been printed in the Labrador Quarterly.
            One of my Labs, Shanny, is quite a character. Her nickname is the Shanny Monster. I wrote about some of her antics and put them on a website I created for her (shannymonster.com) . That led to creating stories where Shanny went all over the world and had fun escapades. She has driven around Europe, competed in the Iditarod, climbed Mt. Everest and won a surfing contest in Hawaii just to name a few of her adventures. Shanny receives email from other dogs and humans who love her stories. I was told more than once “you should write a book”. So I did. My first children’s book “Shanny gets her license – A Shanny Monster Adventure” is due out in mid- August. In it she learns to drive. The illustrations, by Sabine Wolff, are so Shanny. The artist hasn’t ever met Shanny, but had read my stories about her. She captured Shanny perfectly and really brought her to life. Maybe you’ll see Shanny and I on Oprah some day soon. I’ve met some wonderful people in dogs and one of the instructors at Satin’s first obedience class 30 years ago is still one of my good friends, even if she does own Dalmatians. *laugh* There is nothing like spending the day with dog friends and just talking dogs.

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