This is the site for and about our dogs.

When I was a child we always had dogs. The first dog I remember was a black miniature poodle named Sissy.

A few years later, when I was seven years old, we got a white miniature poodle. Her registered name was Snuffel but we called her Snuffie. She was an intelligent dog and had to endure a lot from me. I constantly wanted to teach her new tricks and she participated willingly. Once, she walked through the room on her hind legs dressed in a red, knitted doll's dress. She died at 11 years of age.

When I was 15 years old, a Malinois Groenendael mix girl came into our lives and we named her Donna Bella. She was a spicy lady, a real Malinois in character. When I was 18 years old, Donna and I participated in our 1st obedience class at our dog school, KC Hoogeveen. Donna reached 9 years of age before dying of cancer.

By 1983, even though Donna the Shepherd was still with us, Snuffie had been gone for almost a year and I missed her greatly. A colleague of my dad had a silver-grey miniature poodle who was about to have an unplanned and unwanted litter. My father said that I could have a puppy but it had to be a girl and I had to take her with me when I moved out. Well, that was no problem. There were 4 puppies born, 3 boys and one girl. Since the litter was not planned, the owner had already booked and paid for a vacation, so they wanted the pups picked up at the age of 5 1/2 weeks! We picked up our girl and she hardly weighed a pound. She was so small. I put her on the ground fearfully, hoping Donna wouldn't hurt her. Donna opened her mouth, grabbed the puppy and took her to care for her as if she was her own. We called this little one Cindy. In March 1984, my husband and I got married and Cindy came to live at our place.

Later that year, an 11-month old Bouvier came to live with us, too. Her name was "Dominique Brendy van de Sportvelden" and I did one obedience level at KC Hoogeveen with her. Unfortunately, this dog had health issues and she died at the age of 3 years.

On March 28th 1986, our daughter was born, followed by our son on July 10th 1988. We decided to wait until the kids started elementary school before getting another large dog.

So in 1994 Branka the Bouvier came to live with us when she was 8 weeks old. She had a magnificent character. I did several obedience levels, Flyball and agility with her. She was my best friend and I loved her so much! Unfortunately, she had Hip Dysplasia and had constant intestinal infections. When she reached 5 years of age, we had to let her go. At that moment we decided not to have a dog again, it was simply too painful.

Well, people who have dogs themselves know you can say that but in time you will want another dog. After about 6 months without a dog, I could not take it anymore. We decided not to get a Bouvier this time but a smaller breed. After quite a search, we eventually came up with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. There was a couple at our club who bred Cavaliers. They had a Tricolor bitch I liked a great deal so it had to be one of her pups. I asked for a Tri Color girl. When the pups were finally born the breeder told us there were 6 puppies, all boys. I was in tears; after all the waiting I still would not have a puppy. We had always had girls and had never thought about having a boy. Eventually we decided to try a boy this time. That boy is "Jaron Flavor van Veurmekoar", a magnificent little guy. I have done two obedience levels, show training, clicker training, doggy dance and agility with him.

When Jaron was 1 year old, we decided to get a Bouvier again. This was "Kyra Puck van 't Wie Dach-ie" from a litter of 3 girls and 5 boys. She was a nice spicy lady. We did several obedience levels, show training, clicker training and agility with her; unfortunately she also had health problems and died when she was 6 years old.

Now in 2008, we will have our first Shiloh Shepherd. I have read a great deal concerning the breed, talked with Shiloh owners on the Shiloh Shepherd forum and read Tina Barber's (the breed founder) book on how she created the breed. I have decided to help Tina to bring the Shilohs to the Netherlands (and Europe) by becoming a breeder myself.

After looking at some photos, I decided that I liked many of the dogs from the Solace Shilohs kennel. So I contacted Laura Kathryn and had my name put on the Saber/Gunny puppy list. On April 10, the pups were born, 5 girls and 4 boys. We got the only Plush girl; her name is Shima Dutch Pride of Solace. Shima means mother in Navajo, and we hope she will be the mother of our first litter of puppies.