A BIT ABOUT CURIO

A BIT ABOUT CURIO...

Our first two Champions

CH Zebec Iron Eyes Cody and CH Zebec Passionella...finished on the same day going WD, BoW, BoB,Group 2,WB, BoS

Curio Italian Greyhounds began in 1987 with two wonderful dogs from Carl Sanders and Walter Greene of Zebec kennels. These two lovely dogs became CH Zebec's Iron Eyes Cody (Skeeter) and our first Top Producer, CH Zebec's Passionella (Nella).

Nella was bred to Skeeter once, producing CH Curio Ivory Coast, CH Curio Daytona, and CH Curio Savannah d'Salswift.

She was bred to Sally Smyth's CH Salswift's Sucess Story twice, producing CH Curio Sydney, CH Curio Kashmir, CH Curio Sicily d'Dancelot, CH Curio Brunswick O'Montrose, and CH Curio Fire Island D'Carousel. This secured her place in IG history as a Top Producer.

Her litter by CH Salswift San Andreas Curio never finished, due to unforseen personal matters at home, although two puppies from that litte, Curio Gold Coast and Curio Cote d'Ivoir were on their way. You can see these dogs in the section marked Our Past.

The acquisition, from Sally Smyth (Salswift) of the black and white Irish-marked dog who became CH Salswift San Andreas Curio was fortuitous. Richter finished quickly, being a dog that I merely had to place on the table without touching a leg or foot. He became a Top Producer in his own right, siring 13 Champions from eight bitches. Although much of his contribution came after he left Curio, I am still proud to have selected, owned and finished him, and to have shared my life and home with him. He is now living a full retirement life with a wonderful family, at the age of 15.

After having to place my breeding program on a back burner for several years, I basically started over. I acquired a seal and white bitch, Anthony's Tassa d'Oro, from Donna Emmett (Anthony) and a bit later, a lovely red bitch, Anthony's Manhattan, from her as well.

My second "foundation" bitch is the lovely CH Anthony's Allya d'Willowmere. The dam of two Champions and counting, this lovely black pied bitch has given us several lovely youngsters and grand-youngsters to proceed with. I didn't think any bitch could ever compare in my heart to my Nella, but Piper has carved a large niche of her own next to her.

We were then lucky enough to obtain a stunning seal and white dog from Donna, who finished very quickly to become CH Anthony's Kissing Bandit. Bandit is now retired and living with a lovely family.

Next came Willowmere Kissimmee Curio (Katy), who suffered a severe leg break just before her first birthday, ending her show career. She is proving to be an important part of our ongoing breeding program.

CH Willowmere Chianti Classico (Kenny) is Katy's half brother. He finished by going WD, including 4 BoW (three to majors) and 5 BoS awards, five days in a row on the June 2004 Montana Circuit. Both Katy and Kenny came from Bill Monohon's Willowmere Italian Greyhounds.

We have a beautiful black pied bitch out of Piper's 2003 litter, Curio Elliott Bay. Her first show outing was at the Willamette Toy Dog Fanciers Specialties in November. She not only won the 6-9 mo bitch class in the Sweeps (against a lot of foofoo dogs)...but went WB and BOS for her first 2 points! She gained 9 points owner/handled before being sent with a handler in the quest for those last few points. She came back to us with a leg so severely broken that she will never be shown again. She remains with us, and has given us some lovely puppies to go forward with.

We were VERY honored to co own one of the three puppies from Bill's FUTURITY NOMINATED litter out of his stunning Ch Piacere's Lavender Blue, sired by Kerrie's Ch Kimson's City Boy of Littleluv. We named this blue sprite Willowmere Lacey Curio. She was so VERY sound and true to type. Lacey is now at the bridge, waiting for us. She was killed shortly after going into a new home in October, 2006. I miss her tremendously.

Curio Shasta is a lovely black pied bitch from Katy's litter by Bandit. She has resumed her show career after taking a maternity leave this past winter/spring. Her litter sister CH Curio Boka Made U Look finished her AKC title in early 2007, and is partway to her Canadian Championship. She lives with the Schwartzenbergers in Michigan.

We decided that we needed to go a different direction in order to produce the quality that we strive for. We began with the addition of the "boys from Tennessee", acquired from Sherry Phillips at Logos Italian Greyhounds. CH Logos Afterlife Guarantee and CH Logos Bread Upon the Waters pretty much swept the shows on their ways to their titles, and we look forward to the impact they will make in our breeding program.

Sherry blessed us again by sending her lovely dark angel, CH Logos Ark of the Covenant to us. Named "Faith" in honor of the faith that Sherry continues to have in us. She finished her Championship in fairly short order under the age of 2 years.

We looked for nearly 7 years for a red Italian Greyhound nice enough to show. We had quite a few misses, but are very pleased with the acquisition of the stunning dark red Irish bitch, CH Logos Manna From Heaven. She is awesome and all we hoped for, beginning her show career for us at the IGCA National Specialty, and finishing her championship in just 14 shows with four majors.

2006 additions were a very handsome fawn boy, Logos Fire of the Lord, a drop dead gorgeous fawn girl, Logos Rejoice and Be Glad, and a nearly solid BLACK boy, Logos Let There Be Light. These kids are nearly ready to enter the show ring. Our newest hopeful is a clown of a red boy, Logos Judgment Tree. These two kids won't be ready until sometime in 2008.

Our latest "homegrown" hopefuls include Curio Natchez Trace, Curio Sherman and Curio Normandy Coast. These three youngsters are growing up to be very lovely, and we have high hopes for them.

Our 2006 hopes were dashed with the untimely loss of our two very promising litters to parvo in May. We hope to breed one of our bitches to the sire of this litter, CH Salswift's Dragon Fly, at some point in the future. In the meantime, we will enjoy the dogs we have and recover emotionally from this devastating tragedy.

We have been fortunate to have bred our bitches to some wonderful dogs, including: Ch Zebec's Iron Eyes Cody, Ch Salswift Sucess Story (Top Producer), Ch Salswift San Andreas Curio (Top Producer), Ch Salswift's Secretariat (Top Producer), Ch Anthony's Stompin atthe Savoy, Ch Cana-Hora A Lesson Learned, Ch Kimson's City Boy of Littleluv (Top Producer), BIS Ch Ciel-Rohan's Sizzlin Hot (Top Producer), CH Logos Through a Glass Darkly, CH Salswift's Dragon Fly, CH Anthony's Kissing Bandit, CH Logos Bread Upon the Waters, and CH Logos Guilty As Sin.

My sincere thanks go out to all the breeders that have helped make Curio what it is today, through allowing us to own dogs from their bloodlines, and to breed to their stud dogs. The list includes Carl Sanders and Walter Greene (Zebec), Sally Smyth (Salswift), Donna Emmett (Anthony), William Monohon (Willowmere), Kerrie Schlag (Kimson), Carole Wilson (Cana-Hora), Mark Lucas (Integra), and Sherry Phillips (Logos).

Our philosophy of "Quality without Compromise" is one that we take seriously. We know that there are no perfect dogs. However, we do believe that one has to be resolute in their vision. There have been a few others along the way in our search for the right dogs and combinations to build a bloodline. Some we pointed before deciding for whatever reason to cut them from our program. You can see their photos in the section, "Our Past".

We usually handle our dogs ourselves. Steve went from having never owned a dog of his own to being very involved with our dogs when we married in 2000. He is the official puppy socializer & couch spud companion in addition to training, handling, and all the rest of what comes with this hobby. He has become a quite proficient handler in his own right, finishing CH "Splash" and is currently showing two of our dogs.

I have never let color get in my way of choosing a dog for my breeding program or the ring. This started with my first phone call in 1987 to Carl. When asked what sex I wanted, I said "I don't care"...when asked what color, I said "I don't care...I just want something I can show proudly". Carl didn't fail me...and when it came time that I wanted a second one...Carl and Walter were there to help again. My belief is that a good pied has as much chance of winning in the ring as any other color, so we have several pied IGs in our breeding program. My husband says that I'm just a "sucker for a white dog".

To date, we have either owned or bred the following AKC Champions:

CH Zebec Iron Eyes Cody

CH Zebec Passionella (Top Producer)

CH Curio Daytona

CH Curio Ivory Coast

CH Curio Savannah d'Salswift

CH Curio Sicily of Dancelot

CH Curio Kasmir o'Montrose

CH Curio Brunswick o'Montrose

CH Curio Sydney

CH Curio Fire Island d'Carousel

CH Anthony's Allya d'Willowmere

CH Anthony's Kissing Bandit

CH Willowmere's Chianti Classico

CH Logos Afterlife Guarantee

CH Logos Bread Upon the Waters

CH Logos Manna From Heaven

CH Curio Boka Made U Look

CH Logos Ark of the Covenant

We have also piloted the awesome dog CH Logos Guilty as Sin to his Championship in stiff Northwest competition. OJ finished in short order before being returned to his owner, Sherry Phillips.

When I Am Old

         I shall wear Turquoise and soft gray sweatshirts... and a
bandana over my long, silver hair.....and I shall spend my Social
Security Checks on Sweet Wine and My Dogs.......and sit in my house
on my well-worn chair and listen to my dog's breathing.

        I will sneak out in the middle of a warm Summer night and
take my Nero for a run, if my old bones will allow... and when
people come to call, I will smile and nod as I walk out and show
them my dogs...and talk of them and about them...

        The Ones so Beloved of the Past and the Ones so Beloved of Today....

        I still will work hard cleaning their runs and mopping and
feeding them and whispering their names in a soft, loving way..
I will wear the gleaming sweat on my throat, like a jewel ..
and I will be an embarrassment to all...and my Children ... who have
not yet found the peace in being free to have dogs as your Best Friends....

         These friends who always wait, at any hour, for your
footfall...and eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep, to
greet you .......as if you are a God.

         With warm eyes full of adoring love and hope that you will
stay and hug their big, strong necks...and kiss their dear sweet
heads...and whisper to them of your love and the beautiful pleasure
of their very special
company....

         I look in the Mirror...and see I am getting old.... this is
the kind of woman I am...and have always been. Loving dogs is easy,
they are part of me, accept me for who I am, my dogs appreciate my
presence in their lives...when I am old this will be important to
me...you will understand when you are old....& if you have dogs to
love too.

Author Unknown