I grew up with Fox Terriers, but fell in love with that Disney movie as a child. When I got married I had to have a dog, and the only breed I really wanted was a Dalmatian. My first Dal was from a backyard breeder, It had one blue eye/one brown eye, and almost no spots. Hey what do you want for $35.00. This dog was the stereo-type hyper Dal. (Much of which I now know, was my own fault).

Because of the above mentioned dog, I swore that my next Dal would not be the same and would be Obedienced trained. So when the time came for our next dog, I did more research etc. bought from a breeder, and started this dog in Obedience classes, then eventually joined the training club. The Dal I had purchased was not a show potential ( small amount of missing trim) I became very involved with Obedience. Then one of the other club members who also had a Dalmatian was looking for a conformation handler. She asked if I might be interested. I told her I knew nothing about handling a dog in Breed. In that club though, there was an old man who bred Boxers, he over heard us talking and said he thought that I would make a good handler and offered to show me what to do. So with after few lessons from Brownie I got started showing. The bug bit.

I would have to say my favorite dog was Clancy, the Obedience dog. He was a "charactor" to say the least. Super personality, outgoing, and the biggest tease you will ever find. He lived until he was 17. I have not ever had another dog that could match this dogs personality.

He was bred by Dee Hilen, Indalane.

Temperament, temperament, temperament, and health.

I do believe my most recent one( July 22, 2004) will be the most successful. The structure on the entire litter was super. Temperaments are good, and I hope several will be finished.

Perserverance, stupidity. Seriously, I have never thought of myself as successful. I set limits on how many dogs I own. All my dogs are house pets that I show, and my house limit is 4. I'm sure when my name is mentioned, most say, Who?

Over the years there has been a rainbow of body types. You can see that just in the differences across the country. I've seen temperaments go in the dumper and slowly come back. There is more color accepted now, than in the past. For those of you that do not think type changes, try "sitting out" for a few years, like I did. I didn't show for almost 10 years. My first show back, I was shocked. My thoughts were " OMG, what have they done to our breed." Today you see many more dogs being shown with a blue eye than in the past. I still see plenty of dogs that "pitty-pat" in the ring.

Temperaments are starting to be much better. Fronts still need work. As for the blue eye - I think that is best left as No Comment.

Nope I'm my own mentor and worse enemy.

Take into consideration the entire litter when you breed, not just how many show potential pups you may get. What type of pups are the pet ones going to be also. AND not all pups in the litter are show pups just because they do not have any outstanding faults. A show pup is one that really stands out in the litter.

Yes, LIGHTEN UP FOLKS. We all want to win, but we can still be pleasant to each other and have fun doing it too.