Page 392 - ShowSight - December 2019
P. 392

                 THERESA GOIFFON
How I got started in dogs? I have owned dogs and cats my entire life, not to date myself but that is over 50 years. We have owned mixed breeds, purebreds, small and large breeds. I guess I passed on my “love for animals” gene onto my daughters, because like me, have been involved in animals their entire life as well. However, it wasn’t until our family moved to the country and I retired from my
banking career to raise our daughters that we became serious about showing and breeding dogs. Our quest then began to find the right breed for our family.
What made me know that this was what I wanted to do? My youngest daughter, Ellie, was watching the Westminster dog show on television when she was eight years old and said, “Mom, I want to show dogs.” It was then that our extensive research in dog breeds began and what breed would best suit our family and our lifestyle.
We researched several breeds and narrowed down our initial search to the Australian Terrier, as well a few others, but finally as a family we decided on the Australian Terrier. It was quite the task, those many years ago, to find a reputable breeder that would not only sell us a breeding/show prospect but that would mentor us in the breed as well. Having years of experience in dog ownership helped, but we also read everything we could about the breed as well as contacting Australian Terrier breeders abroad.
Who were my mentors? Most of our breed mentors came from long time breeders in Europe and Australia. As I mentioned above, it was difficult finding a mentor in the USA, in our breed, the Aus- tralian Terrier, as they are not a common breed. Also, there were not many breeders that had websites at that time so access to finding quality breeders was limited. We reached out to the parent club as well to no avail.
We attended a few local dog shows but at that time there weren’t any Australian Terriers exhibiting in our area of the country. Those days are behind us and now we have a great network of Australian Terrier breeders and friends within the USA and abroad.
We did join our local kennel club, the Cambridge Minnesota Kennel Club and were introduced to Mr. Wayne Harmon, AKC Judge and Delegate who was extremely helpful and to this day he remains a dear friend and mentor. Having attended the World Dog Show in Finland, where there were over 100 Australian Terri- ers exhibited, also provided us with in-depth hands-on experience where we gleaned knowledge from judges and breeders that were represented from all over the world.
Early on, we were fortunate to find helpful professional handlers who had taken us under their wing a bit, to provide us with some tips on grooming and showing. I suppose our early experiences have formed us into the breeders that we are today. It is why part of our mission includes being a resource for educating others on our breed whether it’s questions about health, grooming, training or breeding, regardless of where their Australian Terriers came from.
We feel it is important to embrace new people in any breed and eagerly mentor them. I believe it is imperative that experi- enced breeders’ mentor new people, make themselves available and share openly their experiences with others. It will become those new people who will continue our legacy after we conclude our breeding career.
The best thing about being a breeder? Some reasons are obvi- ous such as; to sustain and promote our breed, being a resource
for others and raising healthy, sound and well socialized puppies. That being said, as important and with much personal gratification, the incredible life-long friendships we have made with families that have our puppies and the tremendous joy we see that we bring to their families through our puppies is a highlight for us.
The toughest part about being a breeder? I was told years ago, if you breed long enough, you will live through some difficult times. Losing puppies, I would say has been the most difficult. Finding quality lines in our small gene pool also has its challenges. A lot of work and expense goes into breeding properly. You must have the time, and financial resources as well to commit to your dogs and puppies. It is a life-style choice to be home with your dogs to provide them with the best care. Going on vacation without your dogs for example has its challenges.
Do I work outside of the home? No. I retired from a successful twenty-year banking career to raise my daughters which provided me with the ability to stay home and also focus on breeding. We could not possibly breed and raise puppies as we do if I worked outside the home. We spend a great deal on time socializing our puppies. We were doing activities with our puppies similar to the Puppy Culture before Puppy Culture was created. Which I might add Puppy Culture is a wonderful program especially for new breeders raising puppies.
Is my family involved? Yes, two of my three daughters have been a huge part of our breeding program since the beginning. We make breeding decisions together, pour over pedigrees and whelp and raise the puppies together. Now that my daughters are grown and no longer live at home, their involvement is limited. But without my daughters our dog show career would have never been as successful. My husband is a great help in funding our hobby as well as helping care for our dog’s day to day routine as well, particularly when we are away at dog shows.
Am I involved with a breed club or all-breed club and held posi- tions within the club(s)? Yes. I am very active and have been for over ten years in the Cambridge Minnesota Kennel Club. I am a board member and hold the secretary ‘s position. I am also the edi- tor of their newsletter and their webmaster as well as keeping up on their social media. I volunteer where there is a need and help at our annual cluster show including stewarding. It’s truly a great club with many dedicated volunteers and very welcoming to anyone new. I am not a member of our national club.
My kennel/exercise areas described: we don’t have a kennel; our dogs live among us in our home. Most of my dogs sleep in our beds or our bedroom and all get along. We have a whelping room just for raising puppies in our home. The purpose of this room is for the mother and the puppies first two weeks of life to keep them extra warm, the room has in-floor heating and a separate thermostat and away from the normal routine and other dogs. We also have a room off our kitchen that has a crate set up for some of our younger dogs when we leave the house or for girls in season.
We live on over 140 acres and have a fenced in area that is approximately 3⁄4 of an acre for our dogs that is adjacent to our home, basically our back yard. Our dogs have a great space for run- ning and because of our terrier breed we had non slip concrete steps constructed with the right height for them and brought in liter- ally tons of stone and boulders into our backyard landscape, which they love climbing on and exploring. Whenever possible we take our dogs for walks or off leash runs on our property. We believe in a well-rounded dog, not only is their physical activity important, but so is their mental stimulation in order to keep the traits they were bred to do strong and viable.
How did I come up with my kennel name and is it registered with AKC? Our kennel name is registered with the AKC as Dun- ham Lake. We struggled to come up with a name we could all agree
Breeder Q & A
  388 • ShowSight Magazine, DeceMber 2019
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