My History in Shelties
The little girl in this picture is of me and my very first dog Joe (who as you
can tell is a Boxer). Joe started my love for dogs and it has never wand. As a young girl I collected all the Albert Payson Terhune books
and lived from one book to the next. I also collected collie statuettes, which
has now turned in the shelties.
My involvement with Shelties started with a summer job working at Val-Valle Kennels in Dimondale, MI. Val-Valle was owned by Frank and Artie Mainville.
I was 18 when I started working for them and Artie was to become my mentor (if
an 18 yrs would ever listen to anyone) Artie raised and showed Shelties and
later on Belgian Sheepdogs. Frank was a reporter for the Lansing State Journal
(the local newspaper), and had German Shorthaired Pointers. His main focus was
his Out Doors column ,but he also devoted a column in the Sunday edition to dogs
and legislation.
Through Artie's generosity and patience I learned about the Shetland Sheepdog. If I had it to do over again I would have listened more to her and followed her advice.
I made all the mistakes one can make starting out in dogs.
Pictured
to the left is Artie with Ch. Val-Valle's Sonsee
The two dogs pictured below are Val-Valle's August Moon, Auggie (on the left), and Tanglewood' Enchanted Elf, Tang. Auggie was breed
by Artie Mainville and was mostly of the Merrywood line. Tang was a combination of Hi-Hope breeding
and bought from Tanglewood kennels. 
Auggie's pedigree, Tang's pedigree
Valgard's Moorland Harp "Misty". ( Valgard was my kennel name from 1969-1973 when I changed it to Breakaway.) Misty was a daughter of Tang and
Val-Valle's Calumet. Misty was the love of my life and a pet from the start, she was never show quality, but she stole my heart.
Having learned
the hard way from Auggie, Tang and Misty, I started to go through all of the old
Sheltie Talk magazines and subscribed to the Pacesetter. I spent hour
going over the pictures and pedigrees. In 1972 I joined forces with Eileen
Salmond. Eileen had Irish Setter and I started to learn about showing and
grooming setters. Eileen taught me how to read a pedigree and even though she
didn't have shelties the knowledge worked for any breed.
One of the hardest things is to be single work full time and try
to show and breed dogs on your own. Through the years I have been
fortunate to meet a lot of wonderful dog people.
Graham and Priscilla in 2007
Can, UKC Ch. Woodland Farms Touch of Blue
Misty
Fun at the 2005 National
