My Story
Welcome to Butterball Farms Hunt Terriers. Dogs have been in my life since I was able to walk. Living in downtown Miami there were no ponies in backyards. So my dog Jip became my 4 legged make believe pony. I learned at an early age to care for my dogs. Yes more than one. My mom was a firm believer in 2 of everything. As I grew up my dogs went everywhere with me and yes I was finally old enough to get a pony too! It was that pony that led me to my life on a farm.
I learned to trim his hooves and started to trim other horses and soon had so many accounts there was hardly anytime to ride my pony and care for my dogs. One of my accounts was a man named Jerry Sanstrom. He had several horses and we became friends and the rest is history. We married and moved from Miami to Ocala, Fl. With horses and dogs and our family we moved to heaven.
As the years passed life was hard at times but we worked hard and I was given a male and female Basset Hound. We had several litters of fine puppies which I sold and used the funds to care for the other dogs. In our 18th year of marriage I lost my Jerry to cancer. It was devastating to me and our children Jodi and Justin. We had dogs and horses and a trucking company. I became the person behind the phone working the business and the kids kept care of the horses. The dogs mostly stayed with me in the office. I had remarried to my present husband Pete and the love of dogs and horses were evident as Jodi was showing the horses and one day brought home a Jack Russell. I was so in love with that girl dog. She was so smart and sweet. Everyone loved her. By now I was able to spend some time with my dogs out of the office. I found a really nice male Jack and soon I had several girls. It has been many many years now of breeding. I turned the trucking company over to Jodi and her husband. I wanted to only raise dogs and that is what I did.
Butterball farm had been the name of our farm since 1965. Internet opened a new opportunity to learn about other breeders and share my passion for Jack Russells. These little dogs were so much fun and as the years passed they were my constant companions as my days did not stop when the sun went down. Jodi took over the operation of the horses and I did the trucking and the dogs. After 911 happened I retired. The company business was hauling aircraft and that commodity took a sever hit. I put the company in Jodi and her husband name and decided to run the kennel. My dogs were spreading all over the USA. Almost every major breeder of fine Jack Russell's were looking my way as the name BBF was coming up in many a dogs pedigree. I refused to show my dogs. I never was a show person and today's winners go in retirement very quick. I want an affordable dog to become a family member.
I retired unplanned in 09. I had no choice due to an illness to give Jodi the Butterball Farm Kennel. My heart broken and health deteriorating I backed out of breeding. Months later as my strength returned I brought to my new home all the old retired ladies and studs I could keep. about 27 of them. We enjoyed life together. Built fences to keep the dogs safe. I was good and sad as these great dogs in their own world lived a happy retirement. Then one by one they turned old. My vet helped me make their last days pain free. Sadness took over as each lady went across the rainbow bridge. My heart breaking seeing my girls pass and my pillow at night filled with tears as I wept quietly trying to keep that stoic image when inside I was falling apart.
Then one day I saw this Black & Tan puppy on my friend Lois Griggs Facebook. This little dog she called a Hunt terrier was a puppy from the past. I thirsted for knowledge to know all about this gorgeous tiny rottweiler looking puppy I had to call Lois and get the skinny and I did do that. Soon my home was once again filled with laughter. I researched and looked and did all you do when you cannot get enough of something. I am old now I know it. I think dogs and children keep you young. I have the use of 4 stud dogs. Oscar and Dutch live here on Butterball farm. Tatuur lives at Jodi's and Toby lives in Knoxville, Tn with my niece Kim. I have Linz which is a Lois Griggs puppy first girl I bought. The Mattie from Michelle from Meadow Pond farm. Oscar and Sugar are full siblings out of the same litter. The are from parents shipped in from the UK. then Margaret and Lilly full sisters from Happville in Ga. American bloodlines . Then Dutches and Chanel daughters of Mattie and Dutch. A year old and growing. Next is Hilde from the Netherlands and later this year Kassie came for the Netherlands too. So you see how my passion grows and I follow my mothers words. Never get one of anything. If you can not afford what you want you get out and make it. So this is my fairy tale in a nut shell. I left out all the good dogs I have had. The tears I have she for dogs and people. The love I have known and the joy I have seen as a child gently hugs his puppy and whisperers in it's ears I love you. Those are the sweetest words in the world. It is that amazing feeling when that puppy you have wanted and needed and loved before you have touched it appears out of the crate and begins to shower you with kisses. gives me chills. This is my story and to tell it would take years to write but this is it in a nutshell. No matter the color or sex and what we invest the best bargain yet is the puppy you get.
About Our Hunt Terriers
Raising Hunt Terriers is a well thought out process.
Temperament is the most important quality our dogs have to possess. Sweetness (Friendly to a fault!), calmness, and lots of smarts. Personality is already a given as the parents already have been screened and their personalities approved. A visit to our facility will show you the gentleness of our adult dogs and how the mothers welcome you to visit their young. With that said and done...we proceed with the mating process and wait for the puppies to be born. Normally 63 days later we have a birth announcement to make. Nearing the birthing date, the Hunt Terrier mothers are moved to the nursery to give birth to their puppies. This nursery is specially kept warm for birthing puppies only. Heat is very important during birth and for the 10 days following.
The Hunt Terrier mother stays in the nursery caring for her young while they are nursing. Hunt Terrier mothers nurse their puppies 99% of the time the first week or so. As the pups get old enough to wattle around on their legs, they venture out of the whelping box and onto mats on the floor. At this point they start eating soft food. Up to this time the Jack Russell mother is both food dispenser and janitor. When the
puppies start eating solid food and their stools change form, the Hunt Terrier mother quits her janitorial duties and looks to us for puppy cleanup services.
Then the fun begins! The switch from mom to man usually occurs at 4 1/2 weeks up to 6 weeks of age. Some mothers will still clean up after her pups longer, but usually it is at least at 5 weeks. At this point in their growth, they move into the main kennel which originally was a very large horse barn with a 24' isle in the middle. We converted it into a state of the art dog kennel for Hunt Terrier's several years ago. The new home for mom and the pups allows the mother to teach her young to use a shavings area at the rear of their pen and sets the stage for growth and development. This is the first step in potty training as well. To distinguish between the living area and bathroom. Once the pup realizes the difference, it is a learned trait for life. As the puppies grow, they play with mom and siblings until the time the mother would rather leave and go to her other life. As this time approaches, she will become irritated and bare at them.
Time for relief! She then stays out during the day and in at night with her pups. This is okay for a while, but then she will decide she would much rather remain outdoors at which time the pups will then be weaned permanently from their mother. With this happening, the pups then become independent and their personalities are easier to see. We welcome you to come and visit the kennel and see what we do. Your puppy just was not born by accident. It is a labor of love and a dream come true. Each and every puppy deserves the best home and you deserve a great puppy.