The Beginnings . . . 

As a youngster, my family ALWAYS had dogs.  Naturally, I HAD to have at least one as an adult.  I got my first “rescue” when I was in college.  My last one, Mariah, went to the Rainbow Bridge when she was 18.  Until several years ago, we had adopted Humane Society dogs.  They were good dogs and we loved them to pieces. But, after a friend of mine got her Maltese in Arizona, I was immediately smitten, so I had to have one of my own.  I won’t tell you what a bad example of the breed he was, but we  loved Bennigan to death despite his faults!  He was my pride and joy, smart and loving.  As I learned about the breed, I discovered his many conformation “issues,” so I had him neutered, and he is now doted upon by a widow with no children of her own.  I got to see him on a regular basis as he came for frequent visits prior to our move to Florida.

Our First Maltese-Brie

We immediately fell in love with  BriAnn (Brie-Brie) pictured above in our banner on this page.  She was acquired from Jane Bowers, a breeder in New York who has since passed away, and became the apple of my eye.  As my foundation bitch, she’s been terrific to me.  Having given me four beautiful bitch puppies, I ended up having her spayed as she needed to have the last two litters via C-section, and I promised her that she would never have to do that again.  This is the one little girl that I am entirely TOO attached to!

Somewhere along the line, I encountered a handler who turned me on to a show dog.  To make a long story short, this show bitch didn’t work out. . . neither did the handler, so I ended up with neither.  Nevertheless, I was hooked!  Dog show fever had struck!

Meeting Some Quality People

I first met Bobbie Linden (Bhe-Jei Maltese) when I signed up for an internet discussion list.  Having listened patiently to my travails with my “handler” and the agonies I had endured trying to get my first show dog, she told me about Glynnette Cass (Wesglyn Maltese) and Shelby Stevens (Kibet's Yorkies & Maltese) in South Florida who had this boy who looked good.  Bobbie had seen him while visiting Glynnette and attending the Miami Maltese Club Specialty.  Having vowed never again to buy a show dog sight unseen, I made arrangements to meet Bobbie in Atlanta where Glynnette would be showing Jack.  Well, he didn’t win that weekend, but I fell in love.  He was gorgeous, with a table flat topline, nice silky coat and beautiful black points; and I loved Glynnette, so I decided on the spot that this is the dog I wanted.  It was a great decision, for I became fast friends with Glynnette and her breeding partner, Shelby Stevens who has seen me through many, many “crises” with never-ending patience and guidance. I will always be grateful to Bobbie for introducing me to these wonderful people.

My First Champion Stud Dog, Kibet’s Jack the Ripper

CH Kibet's Jack The Ripper "Jack" finished in one month, start to finish, from the time he began his show career.  I had always been told that one should begin with a bitch because one can always “buy sperm.”  Generally that’s true, but here I was with Jack.  As it turned out, he has been a wonderful dog, with “golden sperm,” for as of this date he has thrown three times as many bitch pups as he has males.  Not only have they been charming little girls, they have been wonderful.

Little did I know that when I bought Jack, he came with his breeders, Shelby and Glynnette.  What a deal that was!  I couldn’t be happier!  They have been a god-send to me as they mentored the “newbie” through the various travails that are inevitable as one starts out.

Our First Litter

Jack’s first litter, CH. TaLin's Ringin' In the New (Darby) is my first homebred champion.  We were so proud of Darby when she made her debut at the Harrisburg National Specialty, placing her first time in the ring at the age of 8 months, when all I was hoping for was that she’d WALK!
 

Later that year at the Cleveland Classic, Darby won her first point IN SPITE OF the person on the other end of the lead, me!  I can look back and laugh, but I did learn one very important thing.  I do NOT like it in there.  I will leave that to my friend and handler, Glynnette.  She and her daughter Lesley are wonderful in the ring…a joy to watch!

Our Breeding Program Continues To Develop

Brie’s 2nd pup, CH.Ta-Lin’s Cherokee Summer (Cherokee) took    her first points and a Best of Breed from the classes at the Ravenna shows in August 1999, handled by my friend, Bobbie Linden.           She’s  a beautiful little bitch, but she surely didn’t like the lead on the “correct” side of her neck!  Cherokee finished in Manatee, shown by Glynnette Cass after our move to Florida.  To date, she is the ONLY dog of mine I have personally SEEN finish!  What a thrill that was!

Off We Go To Florida

Somewhere along with falling in love with Maltese we also fell in love with Florida.  We recently moved from the cold winters of Ohio to Brandon Florida, a suburb of Tampa.  This has given us more room to enjoy the beautiful warm weather as we pursue the love of our little white dogs.  Florida is a paradise with some of the stiffest competition in Maltese in the country!  I am extremely happy to go head to head with these beautiful dogs. 

Goals

I have never had lofty aspirations of wanting to be “breeder of the year,” own the “stud dog of the year,” or sell the most puppies of anyone.  When someone thinks of TaLin Maltese, what I am hoping is that they will say, “They breed beautiful, sweet, loving dogs.” We breed here for that certain look, temperament, coat and structure.  Healthy, happy, well-socialized little beauties are our goal!  We don’t breed often, but we do love having puppies around! 

In Appreciation