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SoftMaple is the name of a lake in Northern NY where my family had a camp while I was growing up. I used SoftMaple for my prefix when I bred my first litter of Irish Setters in 1980.
The lake is just a few miles from our home. It is a tranquil place where the dogs spend a good deal of the spring, summer and fall in the water and running in the woods. Often times we use the kayak and swim the dogs across the lake to an uninhabited island. All my dogs are very strong swimmers! The house is surrounded by acres of wilderness, criss-crossed by sugaring trails. Sally has developed a sweet tooth, and its hard in the spring to keep her from drinking the sap from the buckets hanging from every maple tree.
Our house sits on 4 acres of land. I have a full agility course set up all the time. Our house has a finished basement where I can set up an indoor obedience ring for the dogs. The drawback is we are so far out in the sticks that its a long way to most dog shows. Oh well, the dogs sure love the woods to romp in! And its all about the dogs. ;-)
I started in pure bred dogs in the late 70's. Through 4H, I trained our families Irish Setter to her American and Canadian CDX, American UD, with an all breed High in Trial along the way. I was hooked! I joined an all breed club, in which I held offices as Vice President, Recording Secretary, Public Education, chief ring steward and Obedience Chairperson for our All breed dog show. Not bad for a high school student. ;-) I remained active in 4H while in school. When I was off on College break I would help teach the obedience classes and later Judge matches. At that time I also belonged to the Irish Setter Club of America and two regional Irish Setter Clubs.
While I loved Irish Setters, I knew they weren't the breed that fit my personality and lifestyle. I wanted a dog that was more versatile and required less grooming. I was looking for a dog that my husband could hunt with, I could do performance events and show on weekends, and still have a companion that was easy to live with day to day. When I met my first curly, I knew it was the breed for me. I set out to find out as much as I could about this unique breed. After years of collecting information, talking to breeders, studying pedigrees and pictures, I got my first Curly in 1993.
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I enjoy doing agility with my dogs, obedience, have done some tracking. I trained the first AKC Novice Agility, Open Agility and Agility Excellent titled CCR. I also trained the first USDD titled CCR Agility Dog. My husband does personal duck hunting with all of our dogs. I work in a local community hospital as an RN. I have taken my dogs through the Therapy Dog International course so I can take them on Nursing home and Rehabilitation unit visits. We also have given demonstrations for Schools and scouting troops.
SoftMaple has dogs titled in Field, Conformation, Agility, Obedience and Therapy. Many SoftMaple dogs go to loving companion homes, or to personal hunting homes and are never shown. Titles do not make the dog, nor do they make a dog great.
Curlies do not do well as strictly Kennel dogs. They need to be part of the family, and around people. All our dogs are household companions. For the times the dogs need to be out without us, they need a safe secure environment. I do have kennel runs for times when my dogs need to be safe and I can't be with them. I do not keep a lot of dogs. I keep only as many as I can easily give personal attention to every day. Most times we have three dogs. All of our dogs live in the home. Yes, they are outside a lot, because we are outside a lot. I don't believe in keeping 20 or 30 dogs, then placing them when they are done winning ribbons for me. I have on occasion leased a bitch for a litter, who then went back to her own home, so you may see more pictures of dogs here than I own!
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Here's the age old question: Is temperament the result of heredity or of environment?
You have already done your homework into the backgrounds of the sire and dam; you've checked on temperament, trainability and stability. The job does not stop here. Do you want to take a chance that the greatest factor is not environment?
In a litter, you are lucky to get one or two good show dogs. You may get a couple of good field prospects, maybe even a future top obedience or agility dog. Every pup should have a super temperament because 90 percent of the litter will end up in pet homes. Their owners will not care about how many titles the parents won, at what age they got their first major, or how many tries it took them to get their SH or CDX titles. These people care that their dogs will be wonderful additions to their family.
When I plan a breeding, I take time off from my full time job to start another full-time job-- the one of raising a litter. It does not matter how wonderful and independent a mom your brood bitch is, you still have a full-time commitment with each litter.
I start working with the pups when they are 3 days old. I take each one and put it through a series of five exercises known as the Bio-Sensor method. (see the May 1995 AKC Gazette for an article on this) In brief, this is a series of exercises that stimulates pups in a way they would not otherwise experience at this early age.
Once the pups have their eyes open and start to venture out of the whelping box, the fun begins! Over the years, I have developed a "puppy playground." This is designed to introduce the pups to sound, texture, movement, vibration and music. It includes "swings" made from carpeted milk crates that hangs from the ceiling. The pups quickly find these and they are not bothered by the swinging movement when they are in them. Often I will find the swing jam-packed with pups sleeping and gently rocking! I also have low, padded and carpeted seesaws. The pups first reaction to these is usually to be startled when they walk up the low ramp and it moves under their weight. however, the puppy urge for exploration gets the best of them and soon you see 6-week old pups trying out their "sea legs" and balancing on the middle of the sea saw like expert agility dogs.
The playground also includes a variety of tunnels made of tall kitchen trash containers with the bottoms cut out. The pups race through these, roll them around, and then all pile in for a nap. There are also ramps of various materials and textures, milk jugs, hanging fleece toys and short steps made by stacking large wooden blocks. One object that the pups love is a fleece octopus with four squeaky arms. It hangs about five inches from the ground, from a rope that has a long line of sleigh bells attached to the top. The noise it makes! There are also low mirrors on the walls and an assortment of balls, toys and chews in the puppy room.
At about 6 weeks, the pups are introduced to water, under supervision. I take an extra large Vari-Kennel bottom, line it with rubber bath mats, and fill it with three inches of warm water. I place this in the puppy room, with a couple of rubber balls floating in it. The boldest pups are soon in there! There is no pushing or forcing; I just let them go at their own pace. Each puppy also gets individual attention every day during which they experience a variety of activities. They may drag around a short leash, be introduced to wings and birds, go for a ride in the car, or have their toenails trimmed.
The playroom setup enables me to sit and watch the puppies for hours to see which are the most adventuresome which have the quickest recovery time, and which are more hesitant. This helps me decide on the homes that will be best for each one.
Where are we?
SoftMaple Curlies
8282 Soft Maple Road
Croghan New York 13327
softmaple@curlycoat.org
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The Puppy room
All SoftMaple puppies are born and raised in the home enviroment. I have set up a puppy play room over the years to stimulate the pups. Tunnels, swings, ramps, stairs, and different surfaces are all part of the puppy room. (yea, it sort of looks like a puppy junk-yard!)
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The outside Puppy Pen is full of interactive things for the pups to play with. We add new and different toys every day.
I personally have shown several dogs to the CD level, a couple to the CDX level, and one to the UD level. I have won an all breed High in Trial. Multiple Match HITs. Match Group wins. I have shown many dogs to their CGC title before I became a CGC evaluator for the AKC. Now I don't do as many of my own dogs to the CGC, since I tend to always be doing the tests for others! I have shown 7 dogs to their Championships. (and helped put points on many others) Put a CKC Ch on one of my dogs, as well as a CKC CD and CDX. I put the first AKC agility title on a CCR. The First NA, the first OA, and the first AX. As well as the first curly to earn a USDAA agility title. I have put TDI's on a couple of my dogs, as well as ST (Stability Test title)
I don't show as much as I did, due to job and time constraints. And usually when I go to a national specialty, I don't take any of my own dogs, since as a fancier of the breed, I like to be free to observe what other breeders have been producing over the last year. Bringing a string of dogs to show... you just don't have the time to do that all important research.
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