Here's one of those funny stories:
So, it was a verrrry long drive from Tallahassee, Florida to Dover, Delaware on March 28th, 1992. Picture, if you will, a man exhausted from travel, newly in love, and a bladder that demanded attention.
Now picture an innocent young little doggess, locked discreetly in his Sister's house. Who was to know that her household isolation was due to a bi yearly increase in estrogen? Well, before you can take two shakes, the young man's fearless companion, Axel and Cleo, the innocent were tied.
June 2nd, 1992 Taittinger Filius Nobis was born along with some littermates of some little import. Taittinger was Luke's finest gift to Eric. Not to mention, Sue would have killed Luke had he not gotten at least one of these unplanned puppies out of her sight.
Thus completed the Vaughn/Edelstein family picture. Or so we thought.
Here's another of those funny stories:
Picture the rocky coast of Maine, a campfire, and testosterone filling the air. Eric jumped into a bookstore for the shortest split second, well, that was long enough for this guy to have stopped in his jeep and strike up a conversation.
As is turned out, before I started throwing any blows, the fellow was interested in breeding his Black German Shepherd bitch (Sarah) - who was conincidentally in heat! Mark (the guy) brought Sarah (the bitch) to our campsite that evening. After several ...bouts... Sarah let everyone know that she'd had enough by leaping into Mark's truck window in a single bound. From this instant and short lived love affair (as well as one the next morning) came Raizel. 62 days+5 weeks later, when we went to pick up a pup, we met Kara, a really cool and gracious young woman (and Mark's girlfriend - OOOPS!).
Luke narrates, Axel, well it's kind of hard for me to write about Axel, he has been through so much with me. Not only the usual changes one goes through in almost nine years, but also for me, some of these were monumental in my personal growth. Axel was with me through the great leap to happiness and a successful and fulfilling relationship. Together we went from a place of loneliness and rage to inner peace and fulfillment - this is the true incredible journey. To say he was always there, or licked my face when I cried, well - that's what any dog would do. Somehow his unwavering patience through the tough times strikes me as amazing. I believe that somehow he could see beyond my fear and find someone he loved. But don't misunderstand, my loving him is not mere gratitude. He is noble, beautiful, sly, mischievous, and has a great sense of humor!
Axel is the father of our other two dogs. He is distinctly different from both. He is mellowing as he gets older, so am I, this works out very well indeed. We are both happier in middle age than any other time before; thanks to Eric, who's love and patience have molded us into a cohesive family.
While we are very proud of our dogs, we would NEVER show them; It is our feeling that A.K.C. sanctioned shows promote anything but the betterment of the breed. I could cite numerous examples of wonderful breeds virtualy ruined by the show industry. The German Shepherd Dogs is, unfortunately one of the most affected. Dogs winning in these shows have bent pasterns, I have actually seen dogs winning in big shows that WALK ON THEIR PASTURNS, not their feet!! The narrow heads, lack of ribcage, temperment problems is so depressing. Trying to salvage this (and many other) great breeds of dogs is a lifetime commitment. Thankfully there are a FEW commited breeders that are working on this.Sue Coppola is one of the most commited breeders - she is breeding dogs with O.F.A. 'Excellent' hips!!