It all started with "Stretch", known on these pages as "Alex"a very winning wire dog. I remember the day that I first saw him standing with his handler, Shelby Williams, some years ago at an Oklahoma dog show. My daughter and I had wanted an Ihound for some time, so I walked up and said "Shelby, I think I would kill to own that dog", to which Shelby replied "I don't think you'll have to go as far as that...". The next weekend, my daughter Kim met "Stretch" and owner Kathie Cox. It was love at first sight for Kim and Stretch, now dubbed "Alex". Kim had wanted a show dog, but her experience in the show ring was gained mostly on horseback, so we expected a slow start. Imagine our delight when their first foray into the ring ended with a Group 4 under judge Judy Doniere. Alex and Kim followed that group placement with several more, and I had the opportunity to add a couple, but Kim had met her future husband Jim, and Alex's schedule was very relaxed.  Nonetheless, Alex was among the top 10 Ibizans (all breed) for at least three years.   Eventually Alex retired to Ontario, Canada with Kim and Jim, where he stays fit by maintaining a 100% squirrel-free yard.

Ruffienne 

A few years after finding Alex, I started the search for his perfect mate. I wanted to find a highly refined and beautiful female who would produce pups with her elegance and Alex's superior strength, balance, movement, and structure. The litter that really caught my eye was bred by Susan and Peter Vivieros - and the puppy that I liked most was available! Alice Mirestes and I drove to Rhode Island and picked her - Ruffie - up. I had more than enough dogs at the time, so Alice agreed to co-own and show Ruffie, which she did brilliantly. Ch Ruffie is a very happy hound.

Ice Pups

The Alex/Ruffie "Ice" litter was whelped on 4/21/2001. We were only expecting 4 puppies, so our litter of 9 was a huge surprise, but more than welcome. Alice and I have enjoyed the pups enormously, and are always excited to receive a photo or bit of news about one of our babies. As you'll see on the "Ice Pup" page, one pup has learned both obedience and agility, 5 have finished their conformation championships and another lacks a single point. One took the points and won Best in Sweeps at the 2002 national show, and two others raised the bar in Texas coursing events. Best of all, all of the pups are with great families, and have demonstrated happy, outgoing dispositions. We're exceedingly proud of the Ice Pups.

Moon Litter

The Liam/Ruffie "Moon Litter" was conceived on 9/11 and whelped on 11/9 - no joke - and what's more Miss Ruffie went into labor during a lunar eclipse.  Some of these pups have gotten off to a slow start in the show ring due to a variety of accidents and sheer bad luck, but two of them were very successful at the 2005 nationals.  Since then, we're optimistic that we've gotten the bad stuff out of the way and are ready to get on with the good....

Rum's Chaotic Conception Litter

The Rocky and Rum litter, co-bred by Alex Mitchell, was very exciting and very nearly didn't happen. After months of planning, with daily blood tests towards the end to see exactly when the sperm bank needed to send us our precious vials, they were finally shipped and the insemination appointment was set. Unfortunatley only Rum and I arrived at the office that day. Rocky, or at least his little representatives, had been misplacede by UPS. The people at the sperm bank were wonderful and at the 11th hour they shipped two more vials, to be implanted on Monday morning. My vet had kindly offered to be available over the weekend, but the second shipment wouldn't arrive in time. On Monday, Rum and I once again arrived at the animal hospital, but that time the vet was missing. The trainee receptionist had made an appointment for us, but it apparently wasn't for that particular Monday. By that time panic was setting in. I phoned MSU's vet school and asked if there was a repro specialist to could inseminate Rum. When they told me he was out of town for a few days I realized I'd probably reached the end of the road. That was it, we'd never get her bred....and after so much work... I guess the nice lady at MSU could sense my despair, so she asked me to hold for a second - then came back on the line and suggested I speak with a Dr. Schultz, who would be inseminating one of her co-worker's great danes. Dr. Schultz and his staff were phenomenal. They got Rum right in, did the necessary tests and by that afternoon Rum was bred and Alex and I were holding our breath. We were told there was about a 60% chance of conception, and already knew that a nice litter size would be 3 or 4 puppies. The rest is now history. Rum delivered 10 puppies, two stillborn, and the other 8 were simply fabulous. It was worth every new grey hair.

MedeaLitter

I co-bred Medea's litter with Eva Partida, who imported Medea from Spain, which is why you'll see both Tekoneva and daVinci puppies in the litter. Medea's breeding was uneventful, right up until the end. A few weeks prior to whelping, my daughter, with whom Medea lives, took her to a local veterinarian for an ultrasound. She was definitely pregnant, the puppies were large and healthy-looking, but there weren't very many of them - probably 3 or 4 - and definitely not more than 5. That wasn't bad news at all from my perspective, since Rum had just presented us with 8 babies. To cut straight to the chase, we had that ultrasound repeated by Dr. Schultz when Medea came to Michigan to whelp, because she was so HUGELY pregnant. He laughed when he heard that we were expecting 3 or 4 puppies and told Kim that the number would be a lot closer to 10. A week later Medea gave birth to 11 beautiful, healthy babies. WOW!

email: julie@ibizan.us