Animal Friends
As a little girl growing up in Mississippi, I remember having cats…lots of cats. I did not realize at the time how my mom must have sacrificed to give me the money to feed all those cats, but she did. Thanks, Mom! As I got older, I was way too interested in partying like a rock star, or with rock stars, or disco dancing the nights away…so I did not have any animals in my life for a very few years. Something was missing.
Then I re-discovered the world of dogs and never looked back. When I got my first purebred dog, Krinkle Dog, a not-very-originally named Chinese Shar-Pei, I also found the world of dog shows and developed a serious case of dog show fever.
In the early 90s I got my first French Bulldog, Joker, and was besotted with the little bat-eared gremlins. For almost 20 years years I ate, slept and breathed French Bulldogs. I even went to work for two different French Bulldog magazines as production manager and designer. For more on Jackpot! French Bulldogs, click and have fun. Over the years I bred and showed some of the country’s top Frenchies. We had several Top Ranked and Number One Frenchies, Best in Show and Best in Specialty show winners and bred one that won THE French Bulldog Club of America National Specialty show. And to top it off, both of Martha Stewart’s French Bulldogs, Francesca and Sharkey, were bred, born and raised right here at Jackpot! French Bulldogs. I have pulled back from actively showing and breeding Frenchies, but we still have Frenchies and Steve and I agree…we will always have French Bulldogs in our lives. We DO still have our annual Frenchie Fun Camp here at the resort every year…and that is a HOOT! Contact me for more info on that great event. I have also written a book on Frenchies and been interviewed in many of the nation’s top dog magazines.
When we bought the resort I got my Newfoundland, Deuce, my gentle, wonderful best friend. This past July, on the day after my birthday, Deuce passed on to the Other Side. I feel him with me and miss him everyday. Then came Nyker, my mini-horse and in 2006 the alpacas joined the family followed by Zoe, a Great Pyrenees, who was supposed to guard the alpacas, but she would rather be a resort dog. To to it off, as you can see by my logo, I now have a Yak and I am smitten! Kundun is like a big dog and I adore him. I have a page for him all his own!
The unconditional love we receive so limitedlessly from our animal friends brings tears to my eyes…luckily there is usually a dog around ready to lick them away.
