Toy Fox Terriers O'BJ

"Puppies with a future - from dogs with a past!"

CH. FANNIE MAE O'BJ

Ch. Fannie Mae is the result of a fortuitous call from a Toy Fox Terrier mentor-friend in California who told me that a very exceptional male was available.  His owner was having a problem with the young male psychologically challenging his aging sire. 

The young dog was UKC Ch. Goldenhill's Gone With The Wind (Winston) and his sire was the famous National Grand Champion Apava Jet Setter, already the #1 Sire of all time. 

We jumped at the chance to acquire such a wonderful dog and thanked Susan McCoy profusely.  He was already a UKC Champion and we quickly finished his AKC Championship.  Winston is pictured above winning his AKC title and then showing off at home.

He lived with us until his sire passed away.  Susan called.  "BJ would you consider letting Winston come back to his owner?"  The answer was yes.  Of course.  But he was to us, the epitome of top west coast breeding, not just in his impeccable pedigree but in his outstanding structure, soundness, and temperament. 

I wish we could have kept ALL of his kids but I think we chose wisely in keeping his beautiful daughter Fannie Mae out of my Zippo litter.  Zippo is pictured at left (O'BJ Strike A Match Phoenix) and she was one of our very best bitches, never shown due to a torn tendon as a puppy.

She gave us Fannie Mae and we gave her a home with a terrific family but I have often regretted letting Zippo go because at that time, my head was more into showing and I thought great Toy Fox Terriers came easy...

Well they don't and I have often regretted letting Zippo go but am comforted knowing she was loved and lived a good long life as a treasured family dog.  sigh...  back to Fannie Mae.

AKC Champion Fannie Mae O'BJ finished her title with top honors.  

Fannie had just taken a big win, the judge bent forward, praising her as I posed her for the show photo and she jumped up to kiss him!  He was still laughing when the annoyed show photographer said "just hold her" so I did.  It is one of my favorite dog show photos.

Fannie was always curious about my new Bengal cats but accepted them.  She loves to wrap herself up in a fleecy blanket.  And then pant.  Go figure.  We call her "Burrito" and make sure she has a blanket year round.  She's quiet, not a barker, not at all hyper but like all Toy Fox Terriers, Fannie Mae loves to show off. 

This may not impress you one bit but she loves to pay "Monster" with Hal.  He is 6' 4" tall, a big man who has learned to love my dogs.  He built them a "play station" so we could watch their antics from the sunroom.  He like to go out and sit there with the dogs and as usual, Fannie started dancing around, inviting him to play. 

What can I say?  We all do silly things when dogs bring out the child in us!  This 73-year old man got up and all hunched over with long arms reaching out to grab her, he "aped" Frankenstein - and Fannie went nuts!  She barked, danced around the monster as he stumbled about making threatening sounds.  The other dogs were frozen, big-eyed, wondering what had happened to their two friends. 

I started outside to explain that he shouldn't scare them when suddenly, Fannie darted in and shook him by the pants leg!  He laughed, she wiggled and wagged, he thumped his size 11 boots at her and the game was on!!!  Now she always makes Hal play the monster game when he's out with them and truth be told, he has as much fun as they do. 

Champion Fannie Mae has given me wonderful puppies.  I kept one of her little girls sired by Lucky Dog.  Her name is Guicci Girl O'BJ and she's the most like her mother.  And so is was time to let Ch. Fannie Mae go so she could have her very own family at eight years old (48 in people years) which is old enough to be sensible and young enough to be as much fun as a puppy.

Fannie is keenly intelligent, which okay, all Toy Fox Terriers are, but she makes direct eye contact in a way few dogs of any breed do. 

So while she's still young, fat, and yes, sassy, I did the best thing for Fannie - gave her very own family. 

And the Truesdales got a bargain that made Fannie the queen!  How much better could it be for everyone?  She was born August 2003 so she was less than half-way into the average life span for a Toy Fox Terrier.  She had only been to the vet twice in her life, for rabies shots.  We took these photos last April as she played Monster, danced on the play station and then came in to cuddle with Hal.

Fannie deserved someone to snuggle with every night.  No matter how much I love them, and how much they love each other, live goes on and I am ever so grateful for the little girl Fannie gave me, and for meeting people like Diane Truesdale.