I have "met" so many great new friends, from all over the world, since I have been on-line, and particularly since the beginning of the Hoflin list, and feel like we have known each other for years, but since we haven't all really met, here's a bit of my "story".

I am a retired nurse, mother of a son and daughter, and two grandchildren, the youngest of which is 17.  I am a full time, stay at home “dog mother”, now! <BG>

I was introduced to Miniature Schnauzers in the mid 60's while we were showing horses.  A friend had a Schnauzer (I had a Poodle at the time).  I was so impressed how easy her dog was to care for!!  I decided then that I would get a "wash and wear" Mini Schnauzer in the future (in retrospect - this dog was one of the "old wiry coated guys").  In the late 1970s I decided (in a fit of depression over my Father's Alzheimer's Disease) to go buy one of those "easy care" dogs.  I bought the first one I found in the paper - and proudly took him home.  He did seem to have more hair than I remembered<G>)

It turned out that he had some good bloodlines and I connected with a grooming shop that had actually bred and shown his grandfather.  I loved that little dog and got his "puppy shots" but that was in the early days of the Parvo epidemic, and a neighbor had a visiting puppy that died of Parvo, along with my neighbor’s puppy and my Bo.  I was devastated and wanted to get another - but was told that I had to wait a year and then probably not get a puppy because of the Parvo at our house. 

Because of the contacts I had made with Bo, I learned what bloodlines were ”good”.  After a while, I again began to search.  My search led me to Jerry Oldham in Portland.  She had a year old male, the first son of Ch. Regency's Right On Target, who was pointed, but had gotten too large to show - so Shooter came to live with us.  By now I've figured out this dog definitely has more hair than I remember! <BG>

I met Chris Levy in Obedience class and from her, got the show bitch, Abiqua Naughty Marietta, who was to be my first champion.  I hadn't planned to breed Shooter, and didn't until he was nearly 7 years old and he had earned his CDX, in spite of my “help”.  I had discovered, that although he wasn't within the 14 inch standard, he was an extremely nice and well-bred dog.  I decided to take a chance by breeding him to Marietta.  Three puppies from that breeding finished their championship.  One of these girls is behind almost all of my dogs, today.

A year later, I had repeated the breeding, and Jerry O bred Shooter to a Bandsman bitch she owned.  To my horror, I lost Marietta and her litter of puppies with a whelping mishap. (Read Veterinarian malpractice).  Jerry’s litter arrived and survived, and I got a male and female from that litter - and started again.  Four dogs from Jerry O's bitch finished.   Shooter is behind all of my dogs, either through Marietta's daughter or that Bandsman son, Ch. Jerry O's Sharpshooter O' Daree.

Soon after this, I decided to see if I could breed a black MS with the qualities of a good S/P and still maintain the good black color.  Since neither Jerry O or Chris Levy wanted any part of this venture, <BG> I headed into "blacks" without my mentors.  I have been fortunate to have had several black champions, and continue to breed them, but my first love is, (don't tell best buddy "Raven") and probably always will be, the Salt and Peppers.

This has sometimes been a hard road, but mostly I have been privileged to meet wonderful people and see some of the "Great" dogs - "Target", "Rep" and "Barnabus" (who made me fall in love with a black in the beginning).

I have been fortunate to finish a number of dogs and meet some terrific people along the way, in showing, meeting “adoptive families”, and now on the Hoflin List.   I think often of all the wonderful owners who have made my babies a part of their family!  I won’t name any names, because I would miss so many!<G> 

I have never wanted to breed large numbers of dogs, striving more for quality than quantity.  I normally have about 4-6 adults and some puppies, because, I want to be able to give them the attention I think they deserve.

After almost 20 years of showing, I have decided to take some time away from the show ring and sit back and watch the youngsters be shown by others!  I am especially thrilled to see the increasing numbers of Daree dogs in obedience.  Since this was where I first started, I find it particularly rewarding! 

Without the “pressure” to crop the ears of that good “show prospect”, I’ve decided to try something “new”.  In the past 2-3 years, I have been making an effort to breed good “natural” ears! <G>  This has been very challenging, since my line of dogs has been cropped for generations, but I am having fairly good success.  Half of my dogs, at my home, are now uncropped and have acceptable, even nice ears!<G>.

Gwen Mulheron  Daree Miniature Schnauzers
Salem, Oregon             

DareeSch@aol.com

This is a photo of Gwen and her "Ymeline" who is a daughter of Gwen's favorite fellow, "Raven", Ch. Daree's Once Upon A Midnight.  "Ymeline" was bred by list member, Brigitte Monfort, of Belgium and crossed the ocean as a young puppy to live with her sire and Gwen.  She brought a pair of very nice natural ears with her, didn't she?