This family of dog lovers………since 1975. ….. Originally breeding and selling Irish Setter and Collie puppies…. we switched to Standard Poodles in 1990 when our daughter showed some allergy issues. One of the other gals who showed Morgan horses with us, Joan Caserta, always had these great dogs with her.  She maintained the Brookview Kennels for years and was a great resource when I switched to standards.  I  have never regretted that decision. The wonderful aspects of non-shedding, hypo-allergenic, no dander odor, coupled with beauty and intelligence and great dispositions make for a wonderful family pet. My four year old  granddaughter Ella and  20 month old granddaughter Lia interact five days a week with Nobility’s Faith Hill aka Katie (7year old black) and Nobilitys Gabriella Americana,aka “Gabby”(4 +years old blue). The house dogs,as we call them, greet the girls each morning with kisses and hugs and plenty of tail wagging and ofcourse enjoy some tidbits of eggs or waffles or cherrios that get slipped down to them.

Standard Poodles make such great family members. With a little effort initially, crate training, and using common sense with a routine, they adapt to a family’s busy schedule quite easily.

They also make great “therapy”dogs. Two of my pups are activily visiting our recovering soldiers and the elderly.  “Ricky” was even voted into the New Jersey Dog of the Year for his tireless visits to our soldiers during 2010.

This is the 15th year the Animal Hall of Fame has picked pets from around the state to be inducted.  “The reason dogs are so great at helping humans is their connection to us,  it is so important for them to please us.” said Dr. Kathleen Furth, a veterinarian at Schoolhouse Animal Hospital, in Burlington County.  She has known Ricky since he was a puppy.

I have met so many great people through the Morgan horse breed and selling Standard Poodle puppies to folks all over the country.  My last Morgan is a Palomino mare Meadowlark Palo Dura.  She hails from Loveland, Colorado and is an exceptionally sweet, talented mare.  She was saddlebroke and gentled by Amanda Brantmayer, Quarterhorse trainer and wife of my farrier  Tom Brantmayer.  Can’t wait to put my little Ella on her and have some fun.  Meanwhile I am riding her and long lining her around here.  My big Nobility’s Harry Potter (the cafe au lait on top of the picnic table) runs circles around her for fun too.  Could life be any sweeter?  Probably not.

One of the activities that has evolved from my experiences with great people has been my oil painting.  It started out with a few classes from a local artist instructor to an obsession of sorts.  One thing led to another and soon I was painting pictures of my friends’ animals.  Above is a painting I did of  my Dolly Parton and a friend’s mini  horse Leonard and my daughter’s Boston Terrier Ruby.   I have also painted several paintings of pets for friends.

 

Sometimes I work on furniture in acrylics, other times on canvas with oils.  I usually work from a photo because I am no Van Gogh working out of the genius in my head.   I need the crutch of a photo.

 

I have painted several paintings on canvas of my puppies as they have grown up for buyers.  It has always been great fun.  Having spent thousands of dollars on paintings of my horses over the years, I try to keep the cost of these as reasonable as possible, plus it gives me a great way to “keep” my puppies and stay in touch with my buyers.