AboutUs (Maple Way)

I would first like to extend many thanks to my late friend and mentor Gloria Stubenrauch and her husband Phillip, of Staranch Great Pyrenees and Llamas in Washington State.

My family and I live in beautiful rural north central West Virginia.

We live in a beautiful little community in the foothills of the Appalachians. Wind Knob, a small mountain which is the highest point in the county, is located on our hollow.

We are in the process of moving to our 25-acre farm where the dogs can more appropriately do what they were bred for. This means the Pyrs will be able to patrol a larger, although still well fenced; area and the Cockers can spend time flushing game birds rather than our chickens. J

Of course they all love spending time with our children and the kids and their cousins are all great at socializing the puppies. J

Our farm is a portion we bought from the larger one that has been in my maternal family for about 100 years. They once raised sheep, cattle and hogs and we currently have horses, sheep and goats.

Maple Way began, in a sense, when I was six years old. We had just bought a satellite and playing regularly on Nickelodeon was the animated version of Belle and Sebastian.

I immediately fell in love with Belle (a Great Pyr, of course) and was soon saving my money to buy my very own Pyrenees.

Every day I would come home from school, sit in front of the TV eating supper and watch Belle, Sebastian and Poochie in their dramatic adventures. My Uncle, however, informed me that "there's no such breed", since he had never heard of it and it was on a cartoon. I kept believing, though, and then my Grandmother found some Pyr pups for sale. I couldn't afford one at the time so we kept the phone number and I kept saving. Three years went by and I finally had enough to purchase a Pyrenees puppy. However, I would have to hold on to it for another year and a half before I could actually buy one.

At the age of nine we contacted the breeder and found that a litter was due, then the mother (Pyr) fell ill and the medication that had to be given caused her to miscarry the pups.

A second litter (from another Pyr) was due and this time they were born healthy and happy on June 9th. I was now ten. I told the breeder I wanted a female, all white, just like Belle. And in the litter there were two females, when they were about eight or nine weeks old I went to pick mine out. One was pure white with beautiful black pigmentation, just like Belle and one was white with wolfgray markings & great pigmentation. I wanted one that looked like Belle and at the time didn't even know Pyrs could be marked. However, the pure white pup unfortunately had the head of a opossum so home with the marked pup I went and named her Belle (Magnificent McConnell Belle).

A few weeks later her breeder sent me several pictures of Pyrs (some very famous) with markings and a letter assuring me that her wolfgray marks were perfectly normal. (Looking back now I can see that my Belle was very beautifully marked, as I had thought at the time, though I'd been concerned that maybe she should be all white.)

Belle grew and I was interested in showing and breeding. Sadly, she died (November 20th) when I was sixteen, before we could do this. She was a beloved friend and guardian, though, and will forever be missed.

After she died I knew none would ever take her place but I also knew that I wanted another Pyr. We contacted her breeder but due to her personal health problems she had stopped breeding. We then found another breeder and I again started saving. This time, though, it only took seven months, as one earns money much faster at sixteen, even babysitting, than at six. On April 4th a litter of Pyrs were born and on June fourth I went to pick, again, from two females. Of course by now I preferred the marked Pyrs and wanted one that looked like MY Belle. (Earlier that year, in French class, I had already picked out the new pup's name, La Dame Belle----French for, The Lady Beautiful.)

When we arrived at the breeder's home a litter of pups were in an exercise pen, they were all HEAVILY marked, so much so that my heart sank. But almost the same moment I saw them and felt my heart break, I saw a beautifully, wolfgray, marked pup alone in another pen. My heart lifted. I kept walking.....past the other pups, and toward the lone pup. It was her. Her sister had already been sold and she and her brothers had been separated. My Mom and Aunt asked how I knew this was her, as I had walked directly to her. I hadn't exactly known, I just KNEW. J

She looked like my Belle but with something extra, this was my La Dame Belle, "Rajah". (Call name of the tiger in Aladdin.)

Rajah was a wonderful puppy and has always had something about her. She is a bit more loving toward me than Belle was and has a nicer look to her, which is probably the differences in their breeding, but I do still love Belle.

Rajah and I have shown on a limited basis. She also guards and protects "Africa"…..our Suffolk ewe, Jaf`ia.….our Nigerian Dwarf doe, the rest of our animals and us. (One account of her protecting me from another dog can be found on the "Stories" page. For this act, she received a Service Dog Award at the GPCA National Specialty 2002.)

With the Cockers, I remember my cousin having one when we were little. He was kind of unruly but I liked him. Someone else we knew also had one that was very well trained and I always wanted a dog like her. Then of course I saw the animated movie Lady and the Tramp, but the first time I really considered owning one in my adult life was while watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Their presence just thrilled me. I did my research on the breed and acquired my first merry gentleman, Shea (Where For Art Thou's Romeo MP). J

We went to some shows and I decided to purchase our foundation girl, Meka (Maple Way Avalon Juliet), who gave us six lovely puppies before her passing.

You can go to our Pyr Info and Cocker Info pages to read more about the breeds, our bloodlines and our breeding philosophy, then scroll down to view our dogs' individual pages with photos, descriptions and pedigrees.

Special Note: Our website address, maplewaykennel.com, conjures visions, for some, of row after row or concrete kennel runs. While I do not condemn those who have such housing for their dogs, let me say that after working in a place where I had to stand on concrete all day, I quickly decided that I would not subject my dogs to living all their lives on such surfaces. The pain and fatigue to legs and back in such an environment is awful. I cannot imagine what it would be like to growing or elderly joints and muscles, and do not wish to put younger mature dogs in such a situation either.

We are currently in the process of updating our "kennel area" but we believe dogs should be allowed to be dogs. They like grass and dirt, while I do like gravel (which "gives" as opposed to cement) to help keep them cleaner, but that's what soap and water are for.

Since Pyrs are a family/livestock guardian breed and Cockers are a flushing gundog breed, they do like room to run, in a fenced area to keep them safe, though some can be trusted off lead with no fence while under our supervision.

I do not wish to place any puppies or dogs where they will be housed on a hard, non-giving surface. I also do not want them going where their only source of water is from a "lixit" or "rabbit type" water bottle. Only bowls or buckets that hold a good amount of water that the individual dog can always reach. Again, not trying to condemn anyone but when I'm thirsty, I want a lot of water, right now. While we're on the subject, no wire or grate flooring either, no matter how easy it's supposed to be on the feet but then it is the rare reputable breeder that would use such flooring, in my opinion, with the exception of a "puppy pen" for Cockers at a show (to keep coat clean), those who have just given birth or who are puppies themselves but usually there is newspaper and bedding involved in those cases.

Our puppies are born in our home and raised with my children. The adults spend time in the large exercise pens, which they enjoy, and are alternated to the house. My kids and I enjoy spending time with all the dogs, taking them "on the hill" to see the horses, sheep and goats or just for walks, and playing fetch or "chase" with those who enjoy such activities.

Breeding dogs is not a business and not a "hobby" in the sense of something done occasionally on weekends.....it's a labor of love. Our dogs are our companions, first. For me, God, my children and my dogs are my life. They are what I enjoy.