My life is now all about my dogs, with some time set aside for my husband John. I have lived and worked in Southern California, the island of Oahu and now reside in central Texas about an hour east of Austin. I have spent my college years working part time as a lab tech and in retail clothing (Saks 5th Avenue and Nordstroms). I dropped out of college and started my career in Travel, where I worked
as a travel agent and office manger. This was really to feed my addiction to travel, which I did. I have travel to Japan, Hong Kong, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Mexico, western Canada, and cruised the Caribbean, Canada and Alaska. My love and experience with Doberman Pinschers goes back as far as I can remember. I had always been impressed with the breed and in 1984 purchased my first Dobe. Like so many of you, I was just looking for a pet. Knowing next to nothing about dogs of any kind, I based my first purchase on price and location of breeder. I had looked in the local paper and found a litter in the same town I lived in for what I thought was a price that would guarantee some quality. Well that was not how things worked out and while I loved my “Coal” and thought him as good as any of “those show dogs”, He was anything but. I now look back at my photos of him and can see that as a young adult he was both undersized and already suffering from skin problems. However even with all his issues he was my constant friend and companion, enduring our move from Southern California to Hawaii (including a 4 month quarantine). While living in Hawaii I met my husband, John. I think I fell in love with him when his answer to my question: “do you like large dogs” was: “Yes I like large dogs, in fact I use to own a Doberman”. John soon became my husband and “Coal’s” doggy daddy. We lost “Coal” to Wobblers in 1991. At that time we tried to look at other breeds, but none touched us in the same way the Dobes did and that is when we found “Jet”. “Jet” was joined a few years later by “Rusty”, our first red Dobe. John’s enlistment with the Navy was ending and we then made the decision to return to John’s home of record: Texas. I headed to Austin, TX. early, as Jet was expecting and needed to settle into our her new home before the puppies were born. Being the daddy’s girl that she was, “Jet” waited until the night John arrived to whelp. Little did we know at the time how lucky we were to have all the puppies born within 4 hours, all at good weight and health. It had to be beginners luck. We kept two of the girls out of Jet and Rusty’s litter and a few years later bred their daughter: Pepper. Pepper’s pups had problems from early on, including the loss of one boy within 48 hours of birth and the loss of another boy and a girl some weeks later. Our vet determined death was due to some type of intestinal infection and we were able to save the remaining pups. John and I were so traumatized by the losses, that we stopped breeding for over 7 years. During those years we continued to study and learn all we could on the breed, especially genetic linked diseases. The dream to breed my own champions remained dormant until I met Michelle Bohonak. Michelle has owned and bred many champions and currently owned Wynterwynd’s World Series (Series), who was sired by the top producing Doberman sire: “CH Cambria’s Cactus Cash” and was out of the famous top 20 bitch “CH Cambria’s Carmen”. “Series” had produced one litter for Michelle, who had kept one of Series’ daughters: “Lizzie”. Unfortunately, “Series” had developed a bit of a problem getting along with “Lizzie”, not a good thing as “Lizzie” grew up to be larger than her mom. After several talks and visits, I convinced Michelle to sell me “Series”, Michelle then went on to assist me in setting up my first breeding of “Series”, by recommending me to Luci Newsome, one of “CH Mariah’s Monogram von Koepsel (Hero)” owners. My first “Hero” - “Series” litter produced 3 Champions:
Am CH San Martino’s Marciano
Can CH Armani
IABCA CH Wyldwood's Rockn Prezley 4 Ali
“Hero” then went on to win the very prestigious and much coveted DPCA Stud Dog award for 2005. Luci remarked to me: “Of all his wins, this one means the most to me”. I repeated this breeding with “Hero” and “Series” in 2006 and it is with these pups that I made the big leap from breeder to Breeder/Owner/Handler and dove head first into the conformation show ring. Tina Marshall had always encouraged my involvement in the training and showing of my pups. It was with great trepidation that I went into the ring. From my first show I received the advice and support of the country’s top handlers:
And as they say: “the rest is history"
Look for me around the ring with:
AKC pointed: Wyldwood’s Lady of St. Ives (Ivy)
AKC Major pointed Wyldwood’s Crush On You (Crusher)
Puppies:
AKC pointed: Wyldwood’s Storm Stryker (Stryker)
AKC pointed: Wyldwood’s Crystal Storm (Crissy)
AKC pointed: Wyldwood’s Rainbow in the Dark (Rain)
And check us out on new website:
http://wyldwoodkennel.wordpress.com
About my latest endeavor: Doberman rescue
I have become active with Doberman Rescue groups. I am available to do home visits for prospective adopters and shelter visits to evaluate dogs. Bless all the wonderful people who are able to help our Dobes.
