| A little about us....... |
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Well, where to start? I (Jerrie) was born on a small ranch, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Calaveras County, California. Calaveras county is in the heart of the Mother Lode gold chain along Highway 49 (see detail map). There are lots of old abandoned gold mines, but I tell everyone that they do not call California the golden state because of the gold that was found here, but because that is the color of the hillsides in the summer. |
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Besides gold there are also copper mines in Copperopolis. There are other small towns here with funny names, like Mokelumne Hill and Tuolumne; these are from local native American tribes that lived here. There are lots of things to see if you are a visitor, like the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, Bear Valley Ski Resort, and several natural caverns. If you like to water ski or fish we have plenty of lakes, New Hogan Reservoir, Camanche, Pardee and New Melones to name a few. We also have some nice wineries (or so I've been told) and golf courses too.One of the most famous visitors to Calaveras County was Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). You may have read one of his short stories about Calaveras Co. " The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Because of this story we now have Frogtown, near Angeles Camp and our county fair is based on this story. If you are in the area the third weekend of May stop by for the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee. Double Springs, the town I grew up in doesn't exists any longer, but at one time it was the county seat. We do have a historical marker that shows where the old courthouse was. I am the youngest of four children (quite a bit younger). I attended the same school all the way from kindergarten to graduating from high school. My parents had been married for 45 years when my father passed away. In fact I live in the same house that my parents owned when I was born. Are you bored yet? My given name really is Jerrie, not Geraldine, not Jerry or Jerri. My Mom has a creative way of spelling; I have yet to meet another Jerrie that spells their name this way. I was supposed to be a boy, my name was to be Jerrie Clayton (after my Dad), but as you can see I tuned out to be Jerrie Ellen instead (after an aunt). I can still be a bit of a "tomboy" at times. I consider myself mostly Scots. My maiden name was Lang. My paternal grandfather James Hawker Lang was born in Glasgow Scotland. He married a first generation Canadian, of Scots parents Lucille Louise Gordon. (Someday as me about how my grandfather got to Canada form Scotland.) My maternal grandfather, Floyd Glenn Millard, had a French trapper father and an American native mother. He met and married Georgia Edena Windsor, of Scot and English descent. Of all the kids in this family I think I lucked out and inherited the best of the characteristics. My two sisters have dark drown hair and eyes and sunburn easily; my brother got the dark hair and darker skin. I have blue eyes and blond hair, but boy do I tan well! My Mom says that by the time she got around to having me, she had run out of colors. |
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My love for animals started at a very young age. My Mother has raised Chihuahuas since before I was born. There is hardly a picture of me as a child that doesn't include at least one of them. The picture to the left is me with Candy, my first Chihuahua and one of the orphaned deer that lived in the field behind our house. My Mother loves to tell stories about how I used to drag home all varieties of warm and cold blooded critters. (Yes, including snakes - which can be risky, since we have native rattlesnakes. Something else you learn early, which is which). |
My love of animals started at a very young age |
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This is my oldest sister and I on one of the ranch horses. That is my Dad standing next to us. |
Being ranch raised I had to learn that not every animal could be a pet. So I had to learn that cows, pigs, sheep and chickens were not the best ones to become attached to. My Dad and I raised horses and my Mom had Shetland ponies, but those too have to be sold from time to time. I became very involved with 4H and later in FFA. These organizations do more than teach you how to raise meat animals. My first taste of genetics was in coat types and color, not in dogs but cavies (guinea pigs) and budgiers (parakeets) |
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Animal husbandry is a way of life when you are raised around an active ranch. There is always babies being born and new ideas on how to produce the best animals with the least amount of effort. Which boils down to only using the healthiest and soundest breeding stock available. I have tried to carry this knowledge over into breeding dogs. I purchased my first show dog just after I was married. A Cocker Spaniel of all things! My next dog was a Springer Spaniel, because my former husband wanted a "real" hunting dog. Well, his "real" hunting dog turned out to be my first Best in Show dog and she wasn't allowed to be out in the sun, because it bleached out her liver colored coat! I also had a champion Silky Terrier before I settled on Cairn Terriers. |
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This is Bill at about age 5 |
Being raised around dogs, I have always been a big advocate of kids and dogs being together. My two children went every where with me, to both dog and horse shows. Both Jennie and Bill did quite well as Junior Handlers. But as kids will do, they both grew up and moved on with their own lives. |
This is Jennie winning Best Junior Handler at the CTCNC Specialty. She won this honor three years in a row. |
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Jennie and Bill are now 24 and 22 years old (boy does that make me feel old). They both live and work in Pendleton, OR. Neither of them have a dog right now, but I am sure they will once they have settled down some where. They both keep asking me when I will give them a puppy and I tell them when they can afford one; you know the basics, food & vet care. |
Jennie, Bill and I in Oregon - I'm the short one in the middle |
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I have always enjoyed showing my own dogs. I have finished the championships on all of them myself. I have shown or finished quite a few different breeds (Belgian Tervuren, Italian Greyhound, Otterhounds, Chinese Cresteds, Afghan Hounds, and various Terriers and Sporting breeds) for other people too, but I have avoided becoming a professional. I like to keep this fun! Though I finished Riley, he has been the only dog that was actually handled by a professional handler. At first Peter was only going to take Riley to Westminster in New York for me, then my Mother had become very ill and needed someone at home most of the time. So Peter showed Riley and took Ben to some Specialties for me, while I stayed home with Mom. Over the years I have had the opportunity to do many things; I've been involved with underground gold mining and processed the gold into ingots, driven heavy equipment, ran my own business (photography, framing and video studio), breezed Quarter horses on the track, just to name a few. I have lived on both coasts and had gotten to travel through a majority of the US and Canada. I worked for years as the Administrative Assistant for a small manufacturing company in the Bay area. That is just a fancy name for a jack of all trades. Beside working in the office I would fill-in when the shop was short handed too. |
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1990 |
As you can see I have gone through some changes over the years. Deciding to move back to Calaveras county was a big decision and the biggest change in my life came when I finally decided to start living one day at a time. I have managed to remain happy, joyous and free with the help of some very special people, which include these wonderful ladies. |
1997 |
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I remained single for 17 years and when I finally met Mr. Right who decided to join the dogs and I in our adventures. I am the first to admit it had to be someone special who likes the dogs just as much as I do. Who else would put up with sitting up all night whelping puppies, having the babies next to the bed for the first four weeks, getting up at 3:00 am to make an 8:00 am ring time, helping to collect and ship cooled semen. Dog crates in just about every room, a grooming table in the kitchen and dogs sleeping on the bed. Someone who understands how important it is for me to travel across U.S. for a Specialty. |
| Jerrie |
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"There is a smile in my heart that I have waited my whole life for." Anonymous |
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March 30, 2002