Belmark Shelties is located on a few acres in the center of farming country. We have lots of space with fruit trees and old oaks. Above all it is peaceful here with kids in swings and shelties running to their hearts content, what more can you ask for?
We are a small hobby kennel established in 1986. We limit our numbers to about 30 adults, so that we may spend plenty of time with each one. We have an ample main kennel building 35' x 20' in which our dogs are housed. They are crated for feeding and have free access to a large 50' x 75' grassy exercise yard.
We also have 13 indoor/outdoor runs, please see our Kennels Page for more details. These runs come into our insulated, heated building on concrete, for easy cleaning. We also have a large yard the length of the building; 50' x 50' in the front where the dogs can also run and play. This yard also has kennels that come out from the building where they can all be separated if need be. This yard also boarders our driveway on the rear side so they have plenty of opportunity to meet and greet. It also has shade trees and a swimming pool in the summer for play and relaxation. On the side there is a 20' x 20' area that opens up to the rear door of the kennel building. Both entrance sides have awnings installed for shade in the summer.
The whole kennel is fenced at every entrance and all the runs open
to the inside of another chain linked area. The whole kennel on the
outside is on gravel, except for the play yards that have grass. We
have an additional building on concrete with 4 indoor outdoor runs
for quarantine and when coming back from shows, for new dogs, for
after bath time and so forth. We also have a large two story building
that houses our adolescent puppies where they have a large yard,
with children's play equipment, toys and plenty to keep them busy.
All buildings and kennel spaces have lights, electric and are temperature controlled. We also have a chain link fence that encompasses the whole property, home kennel and drive. All of our pens are double or triple fenced with 6' high chain link kennels for maximum security. A lot of time and thought has gone into designing and putting together our home and kennel. We work from home, so we are able to spend lots of time with the dogs. They also take turns in the house as space and time allows.
We have averaged about 40 weeks a year at dog shows in the last few years. So we are always on the move and out with the dogs. We own a large Class A motor home, and a Ford Transit high top that we take to every state of the US. This allows us to travel with the kids and make it family time as well.
Our priority is the comfort of the dogs and enjoying our time with them. We are very proud of the competiveness of our dogs, they are kept in condition and show groom at all times.
This photo of the kennel building was taken in 2020. The play yard comes out from the kennel, it is about 50' wide x 50' long. This is the front of the kennel.
The back of the kennel matches it, with another play yard pictured below.
To help keep our dogs in the top most condition we make sure that the dogs have their shots up to date, that they get Advantage Multi, Heartguard, Interceptor or Iverhart Plus preventative for heartworm and or flea and tick control (we routinely rotate these for better strength) on a regular basis and year round. We feed a high quality dog food, ProPlan Sport 30/20 Performance for all life stages. This is fed to puppies and adult dogs and it keeps them in wonderful shape, weight and coat. All dogs are micro-chipped and every dog gets home time regularly.
Puppies are whelped in our living room, in a Midwest air puppy pen, where they remain for close monitoring until 3-4 weeks of age, then they are transferred to our puppy room in a 4' x 4' enamel coated wire playpen. We have three 4' high chain link indoor/outdoor kennels on gravel outside our back puppy room where the older puppies go while not in the house and before entering our puppy area. Also this side entrance, (shown to left) is fully enclosed with a 6 foot high privacy fence all around and measures 50' x 50'. This is a great shade providing shrubbery it serves as a nice sized play yard for our house dogs.
In the house we also have two puppy/grooming rooms where our puppies are raised and dogs are kept while grooming and moms are housed until puppies are whelped. We spend a lot of time here grooming and having fun with the babies. Both go out to the same wooden fenced area.
All puppies will be shown when young to get them accustomed to all the hustle
and bustle. Our main objective here at Belmark is to enjoy our dogs. My fiancé
and I have four young boys and three girls, although some of the kids are now
grown and gone, we still have a houseful and many come home from college from
time to time. The children are the best puppy socializers. They ensure that the
puppies being raised are exposed to every possible noise! I have seen a drastic
change in the boldness and fearlessness of our dogs compared to homes without
children. I have been told by many puppy buyers that their puppies arrived at their
new homes with impressive self confidence which lasted well into adulthood.
National specialty show with friends.
We are very blessed and hope to be able to continue to do this for many years to come. People ask how "long have you been doing this", and all I can say is ... well as long as I can remember I have been in dogs since my parents bred dogs before I was born. I have been very much blessed and hope to continue to service the breed and the people that I deal with now and in the future.
In the most recent years I have become an AKC registered judge for shelties, this is a job I greatly enjoy, it is the next stage in a long life in the sport and life of purebred dogs. I'll recently judged the ASSA National specialty show in 2022.
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