Now Celebrating Our 6th Champion!   By Dee Silverstein, Online Editor The Beginning Silver Trails Shelties is located in Loxahatchee, Palm Beach County, Florida, and has been in existence since 1994. We grew up loving all animals and enjoyed owning many dogs throughout the years. Our first encounter with the breed was dog sitting my brother, and sister-in-law's sheltie, Sandy, while they were on vacation.  We fell in love with her and had to go right out and get one of our own.  Of course, we knew nothing of where to purchase a puppy and went straight to the local pet outlet where we purchased our first purebred breed/conformation show dog, NOT! To our surprise, he was not a show prospect at all and immediately realized that we needed help educating ourselves regarding shelties. We experienced fear biting, spinning, nervousness, neurotic behavior such as excessive barking, general aggressive and destruction. Furthermore, lack of coat prompted us to do  testing for thyroid which was practically non-existent. Oh! Did I happen to mention he was oversized with numerous faults? Some good came out of this experience however as we have virtually dedicated our lives to improving the breed.  At the turn of the century, we left the suburban life and moved to the country to follow our dream. Our home is attached to the air conditioned indoor kennel which leads to the outdoor kennels through a doggie door. We like a home environment for all of our dogs however we have two separate runs; a 6x8 exile bitch run for visiting bitches and/or bitches in season and a 10x25 exercise run for all others. The runs are covered and designed to reflect the Florida sun. In this way, the dogs stay happy, clean and safe. The dogs are allowed to run the acreage periodically throughout the day but only under strict supervision. The Realization My calling became apparent. My mission... to find breeders of top quality shelties producing sound temperament, good health, beauty, structure with great show enthusiasm. Where Do I Start? With our friends sponsoring us, John and Christy Clark, we joined the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Southeast Florida. We listened and learned.  We attended numerous seminars teaching us grooming, health care, structure and handling and continue to do so every chance we get. Shortly thereafter we purchased from Royl Marchwind (Cheryl Willacker and Mary MacDonald) a most regal sheltie, Royl Marchwind User Friendly "Spanky." On January 2, 1998, at 1 & 1/2 years of age, Spanky finished and thereafter was campaigned racking up 42 Best of Breed wins and 12 Group wins.  He was in the top 20 four years in a row. Spanky retired recently,  year (Y2K) #9 in the country.  Many thanks to: stud owner Cheryl Willacker who presented us with our first show puppy prospects; the professional handlers of the past, Cheryl Willacker, Mary MacDonald, Nick Joines and Joel McCarthy for all their hard work and effort during the championship and specials campaign of BISS Ch Royl Marchwind User Friendly "Spanky"; Meredith Hector and Karen Salvage who sponsored us to our memberships with the ASSA; Jimmy Efron and Dr. Cindi Bossart who are currently campaigning our show dogs and with their expert handling skills have finished Ch Alfie, Ch Darla, and Ch Bucky; first points on Kiki, an Alfie/Kiara daughter, who should do well as soon as she comes into her "big girl" coat; points and a whopping Group 2 on Annie, our new Canadian import - you go girl!; The co-owners of our show dogs for without you we would be alone in these endeavors. You are the Fairy God-Fathers and God-Mothers of our kennel. The stud owners that have cooperated and eased us through the various breedings throughout the years. Our Priorities 1. Health - our highest priority. To breed healthy dogs you must breed healthy dogs.  2. Temperament - if I can't live with them, neither can you. To breed good tempered dogs you must breed good tempered dogs. 3. Showmanship - strength, outgoing personalities, brave and regal. 4. Type - the quintessential sheltie with sweet expression, head detail and excellent body structure. 5. Moderation - size. Our Goals I should have called this "My Wish List" LOL, but my immediate goal is to champion my home bred kids. I consider breeding an art form and although it is a very fulfilling endeavor, it can be difficult and disappointing at times. Anyone that breeds shelties can attest to that statement.  Realizing such goals as ROM (Register of Merit) AOM (Award of Merit) and CC (Century Club) takes a great deal of cooperation and endurance. I am very grateful to those of you who have helped me through the years... always considering my agenda which is so very rare these days. So when you see me out there, know that I have done my very best by continuing my education to improve the breed. The universal support we have received (pet and show prospect sales, product sales, creating websites and maintenance therefor, grooming and  pet sitting services) is greatly appreciated.

FUNDED IN PART BY THE PURCHASE OF 

THE SHELTIE/COLLIE ONLINE GROOMING SEMINAR