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Y Me Kennels is currently located about 4 miles outside Belle Fourche, in western South Dakota, on a 14.57 acre ranchette. In addition to our 3 Weimaraners, we have 3 children, 2 horses, a myriad of tropical fish and plenty of wide open spaces. Wildlife and livestock abound. We are minutes away from Orman Dam (one of the largest earthen dams in the United States), the Black Hills, Wyoming and Montana. We are born and raised South Dakotans, and simply cannot imagine being anywhere else!
I started out raising Shetland Sheepdogs and did so for nearly 15 years. My goal was to breed a quality Sheltie, suitable for show, herding and whatever its owner wanted it to do. My kennel was rather successful and I shipped Shelties all over the world, including such locales as Argentina, Peru, Canada and as far north as North Pole, Alaska. Sir Ruger de la Onge, my first (and last) stud dog, sired in excess of 80 litters. He was an exceptional dog and one of those critters that comes through one's life that makes him unforgettable. Ruger passed over the rainbow bridge November 1, 2007 after being mauled by a mountain lion in our yard.
(Yes, mountain lion. With the re-introduction of the mountain lion to western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming, and the influx of people, and the development of the lion's natural habitat, and a variety of other factors, we hear about mountain lion sightings near human dwellings and IN town on a weekly basis. We now have a mountain lion hunting season.)
I also raised and trained horses, until a freak training accident occurred wherein I broke my knee and didn't walk for almost 6 months. We do still have my 10 year old BLM Mustang I've owned since he was 4 months old; and a 23 year old pony mare I've had for nearly 15 years. I cannot remember the last time I rode a horse and occasionally yearn to go riding. But, I do not yearn getting hurt again, so stymie the craving!
We have had a myriad of dogs come through our lives, including a Doberman (Filo), a Husky (Baloo), a Great Dane (Sheba), and a Boxer (Dexter, who just passed over the rainbow bridge on 1/10/09 at the age of 12). When we were down to just Ruger and Dexter, we decided to get another dog...and possibly raise them. I knew I really didn't want a dog smaller than the Sheltie, so we ended up with the Weimaraner.
As soon as our decision was made, people started warning us away from the Weimie. "They're so high-strung!" "They're so hyper!" We heard these two phrases a bazillion times. Considering I've heard the same thing about Arabian horses, and THE best all-around horse I ever had was a purebred Arabian gelding, we ignored them and figured we'd see for ourselves.
Par for the course, once the choice was made, we couldn't find any pups in the area that weren't outrageously overpriced or that did not have a spay/neuter contract attached. (I'm sorry, but I sure wouldn't pay thousands of dollars for a dog that I couldn't show OR breed! More on this later.) It just so happened we were traveling to Mitchell, South Dakota to play in the State Co-ed Softball tournament and found a large Weimaraner breeder about 3 hours' drive time south into Iowa.
I would guess they had 10 breeding Weimaraners and 3 litters of pups - and the most ingenious kennel I'd ever seen. As luck would have it, I chose GracE (Gracie), one of the older pups. She is the most phenomenal dog!! We loved her within 5 minutes of getting her in the pickup.
GracE proved to be sooo smart and sooo loving and the only time she was "high-strung" or "hyper" was when it was time to eat or we let her in the house after being gone all day. Dexter, Ruger and GracE would play for hours. When GracE decided she had had enough, the little smarty-pants would jump up on the kids' trampoline and sleep. Neither Ruger, nor Dexter, could get on the tramp, so she was content and could snooze without interruption.
The time came when we decided we wanted a litter of pups. Again, par for the course, we couldn't find a stud dog to lease that wasn't exorbitantly overpriced. So, we went on the hunt to find her a boyfriend that would just live with us. This time, we found a small kennel in Nebraska, a 12 hour drive, that had ONE male pup. Sight unseen, we bought the puppy, loaded the 3 kids in the car, and drove straight through to Nebraska. There we loaded Sam E. in the car and drove straight back. It was a LONG trip, but certainly well worth it!
Sam E. had not been raised "in the house" and hadn't had much contact with people. He was rather old for a puppy that was to be a "house" dog, about 16 weeks, and had no potty training or other such manners. Sam E. didn't know how to go up and down the stairs. He didn't understand about feeding times. He couldn't get on and off the couch. He had never been in a car, except for trips to the vet. He was VERY shy. We decided he just didn't like people, and hoped with tons of affection and love, he'd learn that people weren't so bad.
He was housetrained within about 10 days. He learned how to go up and down the stairs in 5 minutes. He is protective of his food dish and will "tattle" on the other dogs if they get into HIS food. Considering we had another intact male dog at home, we were ready for territorial fights that never came. Sam E. has the uncanny ability to simply make a person smile. He is still leery of strangers (GracE would go home with the UPS man) and prefers to be mauled with affection by strangers. Sam "checks" to be sure we haven't been around strange dogs. If we allow him, he'll come right up to our face and sniff all over. Once he's assured we haven't betrayed him, he'll give us a little kiss on the nose. I'm sure if he did this to an outsider, it might scare the beejeezies out of him!
And then there's Zeek E. G. Zeek was pick of the litter of our first litter born July 29, 2008. We were amazed no one snatched him up right away. We called him "Big Z" after Carlos Zambrano, because he was so much larger than the others, even though he wasn't the first born. (Ok, all the pups were/are "named" after Cubs players - Jeff is a HUGE Cubs fan). Months went by and we still had Big Z. It came to the point where he needed to be named, otherwise would come to "Big Z' forever. Jeff researched former Cubs' players whose names began with Z and found a Zeke. Big Z became Zeek.
I DID find a home for Zeek. After losing Dexter, I decided I would keep Zeek. We're a three dog family. We will stay a three dog family. He's such a character and yes, I"m attached.
We raise our Weimaraners for families. We only have the one breeding pair and we certainly won't be breeding GracE every time she goes into heat. If you want a dog for hunting or showing or trials or obedience or for your handicapped daughter, we will do our very best to match you with a pup we feel will be perfect. Because we know the pedigrees of our pair and know there are no genetic flaws or health issues, we do not normally sell our puppies with a spay/neuter contract. There may come a time when one of the pups is undersized, a white spot comes along, or has an unfortunate umbilical hernia, that we may place a spay/neuter term on the purchase agreement, otherwise you are free to raise Weimaraners if you so choose. In our opinion, it is simply wrong preclude others from the joy of raising Weimaraners because you're afraid someone will buy their next puppy from THAT breeder instead of you. If you don't know that your dogs are of breeding quality, then you shouldn't be breeding dogs.
And finally...why the name, Y Me Kennels? Weimaraner is just too darned hard to pronounce, let alone spell! So, I went looking for something easy to remember and easy to spell, thus Y Me.
Y Me.
Weimie.
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