Who are we?
Roberta and James Jamieson Our CKC Registered
Kennel Name "LEPUS" is latin for "hare". There is also a
constellation in the night sky of the same name (Lepus the hare) Of course, Whippets, besides being used for Rag Racing, were
also bred for hunting rabbit and small hare! Jim acquired our foundation Whippet
bitch back in 1976 from Tuck Turner, Denroc Whippets. She was Ch. Denroc
White Witch, T.T., otherwise known as "Blueberry", a.k.a. "Blue"! Of
course, she was a white & blue brindle parti-colour! Although Lure
Coursing was just in it's infant stages at the time, Blue proved to be
very adept, and by the time it became a well known, practical event, she
was older & course wise, but still enjoyed showing the young'uns how it
was done!
We acquired our
Borzoi foundation bitch in 1989 from the Laba Kennels ~ Almine
Laba Shadylane. "Serena" passed on to the rainbow bridge in June of
2001 in her 14th year. Our last borzoi litter was
born in October 2000 and it was our final litter. Dorian, was our "swan-song" dog....he was
a Conformation Champion, Specialty Winner, #10 lure coursing borzoi in Canada in
2002, #3 in 2003 and #1 in 2004, finishing his Field Champion Excellent
title in mid-2005! He was an awesome dog with a wonderful
disposition and incredible soundness and stamina. He was a joy to behold running full out in the field....absolutely
breath-taking! You can read more about him by clicking on "Visit
our Borzoi Page" in the left hand frame. Dorian and his
sister Dulcinea, left us in February 2012, both in their 12th year, both
due to cancer. We miss them every day.
We strive to
breed for preservation, health, temperament, soundness, beauty and functionality in our Whippets and Italian Greyhounds. We feel you only get out
what you put in...we take great care to choose our breeding stock. We
start only with outstanding females and use males who are sound and
compliment our bitches in every respect. On several occasions we
have imported males from Europe and Ireland, to keep bloodlines diverse,
and retain correct topline & size (height), as in general North American
Whippets have been getting far too tall, many losing their lovely
S-curves. We test for clearances as
well. We do not breed frequently...we are striving for QUALITY not
quantity! We believe the secret to great progeny does not lie in the
pedigree, but rather with the individual parents. Pedigrees are tools
to help us calculate our "co-efficients of inbreeding", which we like to
maintain below 6% as a rule. We can estimate the probability of
certain traits coming out in puppies, that were evident in past
relatives. It is important to see sound, correct
dogs and bitches, in our pedigrees. We have, and continue
to breed excellent Coursing/Racing dogs, both Whippets and Italian Greyhounds who are very competitive
both on the field and in
the Show Ring. Our Whippet, Ch. Lepus Willow Ufgood, FCh., ORC, ORCh,
SRCh, RChX6 has been the #1 Overall CARA Racing Sighthound & #1 Race
Whippet for 1997, 1998, 1999 & 2000! You can see & read about him by
clicking our "whippet link" in the left frame. As well, another four of the
Top Ten CARA straight race whippets are from our breeding. Italian
Greyhound Mikey ~ Ch./UCh. Rhamah Lepus Hey Mikey, RChS, ORM, ASFA & AKC field
pointed ~ was #1 CARA racing Italian Greyhound in 2007, 2008 & again in
2009, as well as being Best of Opposite Sex Overall Iron Dog (3 day
racing event) for 2007 & 2008 & #3 Overall Iron Dog 2009!
Great food &
daily exercise are the other important keys to raising sound, healthy
dogs! At Lepus we feed only Natural raw foods, which consist of raw meats,
raw meaty bones, marine (fish) proteins high in EFA's, a variety of fresh
greens,
fermented greens, along with the addition of some herbs and kelp. This is a very important
consideration for any prospective new home for one of our dogs, because
we only place our dogs in raw feeding homes (we give plenty of help and
on-going support to newcomers to the raw method of feeding!) For more
information on this, see our "About Natural Rearing" page.
Our dogs have
more than an acre of fenced yard, live in our home in a pack
environment, and go out most days for a good run in the back fields and
to play in the ponds -- they are of
course together & running free. We are with them and
everyone has a wonderful time! They especially love the ponds in the
summertime...the Borzoi loved the icy cold water in the fall, winter & spring!
Especially after a very hot & tiring run!
When we do have
puppies, they are well socialized & physically handled extensively from
birth on to ensure good stress & illness resistance and recovery as adults
(we practice
Early Neurological Stimulation). At
around 12 weeks of age they start coming out with us to show handling
classes, where they meet other people and dogs. They continue with
this, as well as the occasional Sanction Match. They are ready to go to
their new homes from about 14 to 16 weeks of age. We prefer this
because we know their mother and the other adult dogs have a great
influence on their "doggy" social education as well as our influence of
"human" socialization through classes and visitors. This offsets any
possible problems due to lack of proper socialization during the
critical period of development between 3 and 16 weeks of age. Although
we will provide access to raw meats, raw milk, etc, for the pups from a
very early age, our bitches wean the pups without human interference at
anytime between 9 and 12 weeks. We allow our pups to be raised and
weaned pretty much as nature intended.
Over the years we have been owned by a few
other breeds, all of whom we love & cuddle with, some of whom we
exhibit, race, field trial and/or hunt with. We have had several
Italian
Greyhounds since 1990, although did not breed any litters, until the
spring of 2008. Our earliest Italian Greyhounds were Oscar, Dusty, Ethan (whom we rescued and placed in a
great home) and Frankie, who passed away at over 16 years of age
in the spring of 2004. In October of 2004, we were blessed with a
new Italian Greyhound addition to our family: Ch./UCh. Rhamah Lepus Blue Diva (aka
Diva)! She came all the way from Georgia and we are thankful to
the Marlowe family for entrusting her to our home! Subsequent to her
arrival, we now have 3 of her 1/2 brothers: Splash (Ch./UCh. Rhamah Lepus
Make A Splash) & Mikey (Ch./UCh. Rhamah Lepus Hey Mikey), and
Mikey's full sibling, George (Rhamah's George). We
also welcomed Aero's father Piper (UGRCh/Can.Ch. Orion's Pied
Piper At Les Beau).
Diva was bred to Aero and had a lovely litter of 5 Italian Greyhound
puppies. Aero
(Ch. Les Beau Lepus
MMMChocolate) is now living in a wonderful pet home.
We also bred
diary and then meat goats for many years, bred a few cattle, owned
several horses over the years, still keep and breed egg
& meat birds (chickens, ducks and geese). We have raised
these livestock, on and off since the late 1970's.
We are also
"owned" by several cats. All of
our cats are also completely raw fed.
Well, there you have
it...if you have any questions or suggestions please E-Mail us: lepusreg@gmail.com
The
Jamiesons
Ontario, Canada
Phone: 613-707-3088
Email:
lepusreg@gmail.com
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