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By way of introduction, my name is
Jo Kurtz and I live in a small town in northern Idaho. I moved here from the
Midwest fifteen years ago. I’m a secondary school teacher by training and a
dog activity addict in my other life.
Three decades ago I bought my first dog, Bruce, a Rough Collie.
Realizing that he wasn’t a dog for the conformation ring, I decided to try
obedience with him. I signed up for the local classes and started meeting
people involved with the all breed kennel club. They were in the beginning
stages of getting recognized by the American Kennel Club. A tremendous
amount of work goes into this process. Detailed records have to be kept and
matches have to be planned. I joined this club and helped them plan and
carry out the matches that were necessary for receiving approval for the
first point show. We eventually completed the requirements and became a
recognized kennel club.
Bruce later received his AKC Companion Dog certificate and I began
training him for Open. However, his hips started to go bad and it was hard
for him to go over the jumps. We never competed in the open ring.
My husband thought a Great Dane needed to be added to the family. The comic
strip, Marmaduke, was a great favorite of his. I hadn’t thought about it
much but after a little research, agreed with him. A fawn male puppy,
Torhuter, came to live with us. His breeder thought he could be successful
in the show ring and I was willing to give it a try. He finished his
championship at the local specialty, owner-handled by me. That was quite the
thrill for a novice!
Torhuter opened the doors for membership in the local breed club. I
became involved with the all breed club and breed club, holding many offices
and working in many functions. I taught obedience classes and conformation
classes (my background and experience in teaching helped me tremendously).Pembroke Welsh Corgis were added when my mother-in-law decided that she
wanted one. I finished the championship on her dog and on my own,
owner-handled.
The next Dane to complete a championship, however, was
professionally handled since she didn’t like to behave for me in the ring.
This was Maggie who was the dam of my first Dane litter.
I currently have Maggie’s great granddaughter, Xena, and Xena’s
champion son who just finished at the age of two. I also have another girl
who is a Canadian champion here on the farm.
I breed infrequently and only to replace. I health test my breeding
stock and demand the same criteria on any outside stud dogs I use. My
interests lie in showing in conformation and obedience. I seek to mentor
those who have an interest in my chosen breed and hope to educate those
interested in dogs.
I would eventually like to get my judging license but that is a few
years down the road. I am always available to answer questions. I wrote the
information for this site to aid those who were at a loss when confronted
with the harrowing process of finding a puppy. I merely wish to guide you by
means of my experiences and to provide an explanation to sometimes confusing
language. I urge all to research and learn from several sources.
“Know Before You Buy”.
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