I
first fell in love with the papillon breed in the 70s when I spent time with one
in the home of a friend. She had a
litter of tiny puppies, however, my
four children were small and I did
not feel that our home was appropriate
for a toy breed at that time.
My
inspiration to become involved in the sport of showing dogs came from my sister.
Throughout her life she possessed a
great love for animals in general and dogs in particular.
Over the years she owned and trained Shepherds,
Dobermans, Border Collies, and Min Pins. She
showed her dogs and there is a room full of trophies that reflect her successes.
I was ten years her junior, and often tagged along
behind her. She groomed dogs
beautifully for a living and was also the area “mid-wife” helping to whelp
many litters for her friends and acquaintances. She
conducted training classes for Obedience, Agility, and Guard.
She
devoted herself to her animals, and
her dogs were the loves of her life. She
trained them to do many remarkable things, too numerous to list here.
I
lost my very special sister, due to illness, several
years ago, and wanted to do something to honor her memory. My children were grown and had families of their own.
After much thought, I made
the decision to begin the search for my first show quality papillon.
I wanted to (hopefully) successfully show in the Conformation Ring.
After
searching for several months without much success, (it can be difficult for
newbies) finally, Laura Zade of
S&L Papillons kindly entrusted me with my very first boy.
I drove to Lincoln, NE and brought S&L’s
One Smart Cookie “ Cookie”
home. He was three months old and
weighed in at two pounds!!! Thus
the love affair began! Later that same year, I decided to add a second dog, and
while searching papillon web sites, I fell in love with the beautiful papillons
of FOREVR. I contacted Ruth Ann
Ford, and eventually added the handsome Forevr
The Mastermind “ Nero” to our family! In addition, it is now my great pleasure and privilege to
live with and show two more of the lovely Forevr Papillons!
Ruth Ann and Danny have been wonderful friends and mentors. I
have learned so much, and am still learning.
It has been loads of fun and I dearly love my papillions!!!! They live in our home as members of our family, and their
constant antics never cease to charm us!
My husband and I both enjoy them so very much.
We
cannot imagine our lives without these beautiful butterflies!
Welcome to I*N*D*I*G*O!
Mary
Hewes
Proud member of The Papillon Club of America, The Memphis Toy Dog Club
and the Greater Shelby Kennel Club.