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Our Papillon Journey
 I have shown, trained, imported,
competed with, and bred German Shepherd dogs for more than a
decade. I had grown up with both German Shepherds and
Poodles, and always loved an intelligent, willing, soulful,
and fun dog. I have dabbled in several small breeds,
and none seemed to fit my personality and goals well.
Grooming is not my favorite thing to do, so that eliminates
many smaller breeds, and with trainability a huge
requirement, that eliminates most of the others. My
love for the Papillon breed started in 1997 when I really
took a look at the breed in the ring and also in the
obedience ring. Finally, a highly trainable, graceful,
wonderful small toy breed without too much grooming!!
My love for the breed was once again rekindled in 1999 when
I saw "Ch Loteki Supernatural Being" take Best In Show at
the Garden. In 2002 at a show in Boise
with our German Shepherds, my daughter saw the Papillons in
the ring and fell in love as well. The timing was not
right, but it was getting closer. Again in 2002 I was
brought to the breed while staying at a friend's house who
also bred German Shepherds. Her daughter was the proud
owner of a well bred Papillon that she did competitive
obedience with. She purchased the male (of course)
from a well know kennel in Oregon and told me the hoops she
jumped through just to attain him and how she would have
never been sold a female. In 2005 I got to spend the
weekend with two very good Papillon breeders while attending
a breeding seminar in Coeur D'Alene. Coming from
German Shepherds, where the breed and information is shared,
breeding is freely discussed, stud dogs are offered for
public use, puppies are advertised, females are offered with
breeding terms, and things are much more upfront and open, I
was disappointed to hear how close-minded and controlling
that the breeders maintaining the Papillon breed seemed to
be. So, at that time, I chose to once again hold off
pursuing one of these fine little dogs to show. After
more than 10 years in German Shepherds, showing our dogs
Internationally, winning not only in the US but several
other countries, winning not only at shows, but performance
events as well, we chose to add the Papillons to our lives. It started with simply finding a dog for my
daughter to show in Juniors, and then a dog for my son, and
then of course I wanted to get a dog for myself. What
is the fun in going to a show with only one dog?? Even
with all of our success in the German Shepherd breed and our
experience with showing and even holding various positions
with our local AKC Club, we still found it very difficult to
find a breeder that would trust us with one of their girls.
Luckily, after much communication with several different
breeders, we found wonderful people to work with. So,
our Papillon Journey has begun. Breeding is not our
main focus, and if we do breed, we will do our best to breed what is only correct
and sound. We will breed per the breed standard for
something for ourselves first. We will be upfront, honest, and open with
anyone who is contacting us about our dogs. This is a
wonderful breed, and while it should not be bred to support
a "Pet Market", someone wanting a nice companion shouldn't
have to end up going to a back yard unethical breeder to
attain a Papillon.
........................... .............Farrah Wines
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