Touchstone Whippets is located rurally on 3 acres outside of Athens, ON which is located between Brockville to the south, Kingston to the west and Ottawa to the northeast.
Like most breeders, I have always loved animals and particularly dogs. That love affair began when I was 5 years old and was given a Cocker Spaniel for my birthday. That was a love affair that lasted until I was in my 20's, when Shawn left me at 17.5 years of age. He was my playmate as a child and my confidante as a teenager and no one has ever had a better listener than him. He knew of my love of animals and was always helping me to bring home more (much to my parent's dismay). He brought me baby squirrels, bunnies and even a couple of baby birds, carrying them very gently in his mouth, to be put in my hand. In short, he was my best friend and he taught me many, many things.
As a young adult, I acquired a Shetland Sheepdog, and soon my interest in them led to a breeding program based on one of the top Sheltie Kennels in Canada. I showed Shelties and bred occasionally for 18 years and it was during this time that I first met whippets. I occasionally showed a brother/sister team and I fell in love with the breed. I swore that 'someday' I would have a whippet of my own. Family problems led to the dispersal of my Shelties and it was years before I would have another dog.
Of course, a person with a total love of dogs cannot be without them for too long (and I never forgot my vow, that someday I would have a whippet of my own). When the withdrawal symptoms got to be too much to ignore, I started reading everything I could about Whippets, talking to many breeders, going to many shows and putting my hands on as many Whippets as possible, trying to find a kennel that bred dogs that looked like and moved like, what I pictured the 'ideal' whippet. During all of that, of course was a lot of time put into convincing my husband, Kevin, that we just couldn't live without 'a whippet' in our lives. (Note: to anyone who is interested - Whippets are like peanuts, you cannot have just one - as Kevin found out).
I found the Whippets that looked like my ideal, along with the English bloodlines that I admired, with Lanny and Mick Morry, Avalonia Whippets. Since then, they have spent many hours with Kevin and I, in person, on the phone and by email, generously passing on their knowledge of whippets and whippet pedigrees.
I will be forever grateful to Lanny and Mick Morry (Avalonia Whippets) and Jalynn Almond (DuMond Whippets) for all the help and guidance they have given me and continue to give me. But most of all, I would like to thank Kevin, who puts up with these wonderful Whippets and their antics. Without Kevin, Touchstone Whippets would not be possible.
And to the dogs who have brought us to where we are: 'the matriarch' - Cdn Ch Ch Avalonia Blueberry Lemonade, Cdn Ch Avalonia Trixie Smith and Cdn Ch Avalonia Bondi At Touchstone - because of these dogs, the future is looking good.
