A BIT OF BACKGROUND

How We Got Started

     Ross & Eileen are Oregon natives but from opposite ends of the State--Eileen from Portland and Ross from Eagle Point.  They met while on separate assignments to the American Embassy in Manila Philippines--Ross as a U.S. Marine, assigned to security and Eileen on her first assignment as Diplomatic Communications Officer.  They married (November 1966) while still on assignment and soon after returned to the United States where they pursued their educations at So. Oregon College, Washington State and Portland State.

     It was in Ashland where Ross & Eileen acquired their first pure bred dog, a magnificent, but already spay St. Bernard.  In obedience school Ophie (Fair Ophelia Von Siskiyou) finished at the top of her class with a near perfect score.  Obedience work was fun and interesting but as Ross and Eileen's circle of acquaintance within the dog fancy continued to grow so did a desire to show for conformation, for which Ophie, as a spay female, was not eligible.  

     In the mid-1960's, it was difficult to find competitive, show quality St. Bernards.  In contrast, a small number of Newfoundland and Great Pyrenees breeders were producing sound quality puppies.  One such breeder (Cavalier Great Pyrenees) was not far distant in Seattle.  We went north to pay a visit. 

      There is nothing quite like winning to spark interest and with first one then two quality Great Pyrenees, we were hooked.  So much so in fact that when Ross was offered a position as Kennel Manager at Little Bear Kennels (then one of the country's top breeders of show Newfoundlands), we packed up the car and headed east to Connecticut.  At the time, Ross was exploring the possibility of becoming a professional handler and the job seemed a good fit.  That move however, which placed them in proximity to our nation's capital and reacquaintance with old Foreign Service colleagues, quite unexpectedly became the catalyst for wonderful careers in no way related to dog fancy.

     Inspired by their past work at the American Embassy in Manila they began to re-explore career opportunities that would expose them to traveling and living in foreign cultures.  This ultimately led to Ross earning a commission as a Foreign Service Officer and Eileen returning to her position as a Foreign Service Communications Officer.  For the next nearly forty years, the past-time of dog showing would be a happy memory and a dream for the future.

     While the essentials of the sport remain as they were, much in the world of dog showing changed during those intervening years.  Notably the number of breeds recognized by the AKC had nearly doubled.  The old "Working Group" had split into the Working & Herding groups both comprised of more breeds than the Working group of yesteryear.  Much to our delight, among the breeds earning AKC recognition were the Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier.  Both are closely tied to (and frequently confused with) the Jack Russell--a breed we had fallen in love with many years ago while vacationing in Scotland. 

     After a bit of research and study we found the Russell Terrier more in line with our taste.  We preferred the shorter legs and compact body style.  The more powerful prey instinct common to the Parson Russel also pushed us toward the Russell.  As we began the search for a reliable breeder with a reputation for consistency in producing sound, quality Russell Terriers, one kennel name repeatedly came to our attention--Dog Branch Farms or DBF.  We purchased Stumpy in the Fall of 2015.  We could not have been happier and two years later we returned to Candace and Frank and added Button and Zipper to our family.  A puppy photo I took of them at four months has become the logo for our website.

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