After a keen interest in dogs her whole life, Jane imported her first Portuguese Water Dog in the 90’s.  She had a successful corporate career, which incorporated getting her first university degree and then her masters degree, but the whole time really just wanted to work with people and dogs.  Heading for a tree change a few years ago, her and her husband headed to a bare paddock 68 acres in size, where they established a property purely for dogs.

Imagine a facility especially designed for Portuguese Water Dogs!  It is an ongoing project and during this time Jane has started a boarding kennel and cattery which helps support her dog habit.  The great thing about this work is that Jane not only has a lot of experience in Portuguese Water Dogs, but a substantial amount of experience now in many other breeds.  This additional experience in understanding and working with other breeds makes her a fountain of knowledge across many dog related issues.  Jane is often heard to say, “the more I learn, the more I realise how much more there is to learn.”

Her facility has been recognised within the community with other dog people being told to “visit and take note” as to how a pet facility should be established and run.

Because of the amount of work Jane puts into each and every litter, she has severely restricted the number of pups she breeds each year.  Jane is also very strict about where her puppies go, with the aim of never having any dogs bounce back or end up in the pound.  Jane says, “I don’t want people to feel insulted that the process for getting a puppy is hard, but this breed does not suit everyone, and it’s important for both the community and the pup that it goes somewhere where the owners will put in the required amount of work to end up with a joyful and well behaved companion.”

Jane wants you to think long and hard about whether this breed is right for you.  Jane does not place dogs as therapy dogs nor as “companion” dogs for children.  Jane’s extensive dog and general life experience has shown her time and time again that dogs are for adults with closely supervised, trained, and managed children sometimes being allowed access to them.  This is how she helps ensure dogs are not dumped as soon as the child loses interest, or left neglected in the backyard staring longingly through exterior windows, or causing lots of destructive and noise issues in the back yard.

One of Jane’s disappointments these days is she doesn’t get to show her dogs as much as she wants.  Her work commitments means she is busiest running her facility most weekends, and it’s important she can be there for her clients.  “Showing dogs is a luxury, and it is rare that I can afford to have a day away, especially in the busiest time of the week.”

Jane has two hobbies:  her dogs and her fitness. This means that almost every day will see Jane committing time to her health and fitness, and she definitely welcomes anyone to come and join her for a run or bike ride!  And yes, you can discuss dogs as much as you want whilst you exercise with her.  This is Jane with her medal after completing the Gold Coast marathon again.

With 18 marathons under her belt, and 7 Ironman events, with another 3 on the schedule for the 2019/2020 season, Jane needs a little bit of notice for visits to allow for both work (7 days a week) and training schedule.  You can always join her for a run, as long as you run “really, really slowly!”

Jane competes mostly domestically, but does the odd international event if she can work out a really cheap way to do it.  (no, there is no prize money.  ever!)

Jane is also an accredited “Technical Officer” with Triathlons Victoria, which means she’s off helping the sport of triathlons grow whilst helping to officiate at events. So make sure you talk with her on the phone first, you’ve emailed her and told her all about yourself:  jane@bluegrace.com   – and give her as much information about your expectations as possible.  Working full time and training up to 24 hours a week, any spare time for her dog hobby is spent with her dogs. This is also hampered by the problem of people either not turning up to set appointments or running late.  So Jane will talk with you carefully and swap emails and text messages before visits to ensure that you are pretty close to a fit for this breed.

Please note:  Jane does not have the time to meet with people whose intention is not to get a pup.  This means if you have well meaning family members or friends who are really enthusiastic to see what pup you’re getting, there is no availability for Jane to offer time to entertain such unless of course they are happy to help her with her ironman training.  Sometimes people call or text to visit because their friend or relative who is hoping to get a pup, but hasn’t even called Jane, are just getting so excited.  sigh.  The focus must be on those who are getting a pup.   Clearly the only reason why this paragraph and the others here have been written is because of issues in the past.

Sometimes people purchase pups from other breeders and can’t get the help they need.  Jane’s best advice:  if you want support from her, get your pup from her.

Check out this article here on Jane’s first marathon attempt:

https://www.facebook.com/victorianrunningnetwork/posts/996116287144090

Jane is Australia’s first specialist Portuguese Water Dog judge, and now has her licence for Group 6.  She is her dogs’ worst critic and firmly believes that in order to breed better dogs you must be intimate with both their strengths and weaknesses.

Each year she endeavours to see the breed overseas, and attend dog shows there, and to help other breeders develop their lines.  For the most part, Jane imports her stud dogs, insisting on a wide gene pool selection for the best genetic diversity.