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update Feb 22 / 10
the five puppies of our most recent litter 2 weeks old
a confederacy of tervurens
Del Rio tervurens taking shade
a tervuren "en haute noir"
only 8 months old and already breathtaking
update Feb 12 / 10
two of our tervuren puppies have recently had some difficulties as you will see in the photos below...
Shpilkis Del Rio
Vexatious Del Rio
Shpilkis Del Rio and his sibling Vexatious Del Rio are Tervuren puppies recently born here and adopted by a new owner who was found to be feeding them commercial kibble and bagged dry dog food contrary to the agreement he made with us.....Ernie Del Rio and I rescued these two puppies, but as far as I'm concerned the damage has already been done. See the next photos....
Sad though these puppy photos are, I think they need to be seen.... the changes are subtle and not everyone will notice them but as an experienced tervuren breeder I can tell you that the changes are definitely present.....a certain sparseness and coarseness in the coat, just a tad bit of unsteadiness around the knees, uncharacteristic loss of enthusiasm for galloping and chasing, inordinate thinness and what seems to be a lack of energy, some confusion about general direction, and an almost imperceptible drooping of the ears and lack of that special tervuren intensity around the eyes... a sad situation....
....the fuel you put in is going to go a very long way in determining the happiness and performance you get out.....if you feed a puppy the food meant for goats like parched corn in kibble you are going to get a decrease in performance, health and lifespan.....a well bred Tervuren puppy fed on a kibble diet is going to seem like its only half there and will not reach its full potential..............
love and training are the other 2 foundation stones of a happy tervuren but they rest first upon good rounded wholesome diet of real food consisting mainly of good quality home cooked meat...................
update Feb 9 / 10
I'm pleased to report that Heather Del Rio has just had her litter of puppies....as is my hands-off custom I interfere with my new litters as little as possible during the first 72 hours, making sure only that everybody is warm and dry and carefully hidden away and has access to food and water, and then I'm gone....Heather Del Rio is in a frame of mind that I have observed with my other female tervs at this tender time and for which only one word comes to mind - ecstasy
update Feb 5 / 10
Emmett Del Rio age 8 months lives with his new mommy Amanda........ Emmett Del Rio is an very handsome puppy.........when I see Emmett like this it seems to me that he could be capable of solving math equations in his head....Emmett has the confident sleek thoughtful well-kept appearance of a properly fed tervuren receiving real quality meat food and love on a daily basis...
Emmett Del Rio......who replies with wordless eloquence when recently asked if he might want to leave Amanda and return to Quincy FL and the old man who birthed him.......
update Jan 24 / 10
Bob Del Rio at Christmas 2009 age 3 years.....Bob Del Rio lives in Peru with Tom....Tom believes that Bob Del Rio is very likely the only Tervuren in all of Peru......such a magnificent dog as Bob Del Rio deserves a girlfriend and we're going to take care of that soon......
Bob Del Rio at Halloween 2009.......pretty scarey guy....if you happen to be a peanut butter cookie....
Bella Del Rio age 5 months.......Bella Del Rio lives with her new mommy Trina.....this perfect little girl puppy is as lovely as they come....
Bella Del Rio......
update Jan 16 / 10
.....the following is printed in the newspaper today...
Chanel, a wire-haired dachshund, died at her owners' home in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island, N.Y.
She was just six-weeks-old when Denice and Karl Shaughnessy adopted her from a shelter.
They nominated her for the title of world's oldest dog after noticing the Guinness World Recordsbook was lacking the record.
The pooch was presented with a certificate at a birthday bash earlier this year, which took place a dog hotel and spa in Manhattan, complete with a peanut butter cake made especially for dogs.
"She once ate an entire bag of Reese's peanut butter cups, and, you see, she lived to be 21, so go figure," Denice Shaughnessy said.
But Chanel's owners put her long life down to more than just her daily exercise and home-cookedchicken meals.
"Dogs are God's angels sent here to look out for us," Shaughnessy said.
....I consider this article to be important because the Shaughnessys have summarized in 2 elegant sentences two of the most important truths about dogs (1) that a dog contains a spark of the divine. In the person of their puppy the Shaughnessys discovered an angel in their midst and thereby confirmed the spark of their own participation in the divine. A dog knows no avarice, speaks no lies, is exempt from greed, is infinitely forgiving, never holds a grudge and returns only good for evil. A harsh dog reflects only the man who owned him, not his own nature in almost all cases. and (2) the secret to a happy longlived dog is good proper real food. Commercial dry kibble and canned dog food in all its forms (but kibble in particular) is the worst killer of more beloved dogs than all other causes combined and is one of the least questioned and largest frauds perpetrated on man and dog in living memory. Kibble kills most dogs by the seventh year and often sooner, and makes the intervening six years miserable, causing a host of cancers and degenerative diseases. The best kibbles taste like dampish cardboard and the average kibbles have a sour burned taste. A diet of kibble is the abuse of a loving friend, family member and angel....
update Jan 9 / 10
Zack Del Rio and Sandy wish you all a Merry Christmas! .....when you have an elf like Zack Del Rio around then every day is Christmas Day! ....and so say all of us!....
update Dec 28/09 here are very recent photos of Kona Del Rio age 14 weeks........
Kona Del Rio
Kona Del Rio dreaming the most delicate of dreams....age 15 weeks
Kona Del Rio and her new mommy Gwen
Kona Del Rio is that kind of heartsqueezingly sweet delicate female tervuren that can turn you right around...
if all goes well we are expecting a litter of puppies from Ernie Del Rio and Heather Del Rio near the end of February....if the creeks don't rise new puppies will be available 12 weeks after that.....they are an extraordinary pairing yielding the most dramatic puppies.....
update Nov 22/09
finally got a working computer! from a few days ago here are 2 photos of Esmerelda Del Rio in the back seat of the car going home with her new Mommy.....................a puppy to die for...........
Esmerelda Del Rio.......age 12 weeks
update Nov 21/09
I have not had a working complex computer here for several weeks...hence no recent updates....even now still can't process any new photos but coming soon.......all available puppies have been placed but new litters are expected in the New Year......please check back when you can, as I expect to be able to properly update the site soon, as new computer is ordered and on the way....
update October 10/09 some new photos of recent litter
Del rio puppies taking their rest on a hot afternoon.....14 weeks of age...................relaxing in the philosopher's corner......like so many ancient sphinxes
Mojo Del Rio at 9 months of age.....magic captured in a bottle
Mojo Del Rio at 9 months....flashing the secretary his bedroom eyes...naughty boy
update Sep 25/09 I've been asked from time to time why I give my puppies away at no charge....for one reason I don't think most people have $1000 to spend on a first class quality dog, I know for me both parents of this litter cost me a grand total of $2800 all included for excellent quality Tervurens when I got them as puppies but I could afford them because I drive a 20 year old car, I have no wife or children in college or alimony payments or house mortgage payments...those who vist us here see instantly how simply and humbly we live together...the dogs are everything to me...I feed them well, with real food every day, real meat, and we eat well and sleep in an old shed and watch the goats and see the sunrise every day..............another reason is that for me my dogs are my best friends, and I don't sell my friends whether dogs or humans, they aren't a commodity to me or a source of income...I've never accepted money for a dog or puppy..............another reason is when I first got my Tervurens I was humiliated and distressed at the difficult and intrusive and unpleasant narture of the questionnaires and terms and conditions set down by some of the breeders/sellers of these puppies ...I accepted debasement in order to get a Tervuren and I don't want others to have to do the same.................. another reason is that there are about 2500 golden retrievers for every 1 Tervuren in the USA and the Tervuren is such an excellent elegant charming dog that it is a complete mystery to me that there are so few around
I was thinking the other day about how perfect the Tervurens are...not bred to have deformed faces like bulldogs or deformed legs like dachshunds or voiceless like viszlas or hairless like the chinese crested or mutantly scrawny like the chihuahua or corded or wrinkled or bugeyed or lethargic or gigantic or what-have-you....so many dogs are bred to emphasize a deformity or an extreme bizarrerie on a whim of some human.....the Tervuren is the perfect dog, elegant upright beautifully proportioned and easy and graceful of movement...adaptable to many tasks, teachable, usually good natured...a highly dignified dog, a dog's dog you might say....
The golden retiever is like a glass of cold fresh milk on a blustery morning in autumn in an Irish fisherman's cottage at the rocky seaside, with stone ground oatmeal breakfast with brown sugar and a wood fire in the fireplace...some days a glass of cold fresh milk is exactly what you need.....
A Tervuren is like a cup of fresh ground fresh brewed steaming Jamaican Blue mountain brand coffee with a half ounce of Grand Marnier in it, sipped at sunrise from a 40 footer on a Leeward Island cove just before you set out to catch some red snapper and grouper...good every day and any day and always a thrill
update Sept 12/09 puppies available now 9 weeks old, today's photos
update Aug 30/09 Welcome.... we have several puppies by Heather Del Rio from sire Ernie Del Rio available now.... our puppies are free to good homes...they are all purebred and AKC eligible, good health, vaccinated and raised lovingly and with enhanced diets with good quality meat daily. If you want a puppy please include some information about yourself and your home situation as it relates to your puppy, and to receive a puppy we ask that first you make an internet donation to the Salvation Army of $40 and send an email copy of the receipt to us please. We ask that you come in person to pick up the puppy to our acreage near Quincy FL....contact us by email at doreendelrio@brinkster.net as we have access to telephone only for emergencies
August 25/09............this is a photo of Rayce, first cousin to Heath Del Rio...........this photo shows why Tervurens are such perfect dogs with their bushy upright confident tails, lean comfortably squared off hips and body, head held royally high, small close set erect ears, lion-like mane, tiny catspaw feet, and regal face.
Susan's puppy
August 24/09 new photos of Heath and Heather and some of Heather's puppies. Ernie Del Rio is the sire in this litter....Heath and Heather are brother and sister...Heath Del Rio has been nicknamed "Yogi"
Heath Del Rio "Yogi"
Yogi
Heather Del Rio and new puppy
Selky Del Rio, Heather's puppy, now 7 weeks old
Ro-An Del Rio, heather's recent puppy at 7 weeks
Ro-An Del Rio and siblings
Aug 23/09 this week I've been trying mightily to get some fresh nice unposed spontaneous photos of all the dogs and the new puppies but every day something seems to go wrong - either too damp or too much sun dappling or dogs acting camera shy...etc...will keep trying....in the meantime these 2 photos will have to suffice for today -
Heath Del Rio "Yogi" and Barbara Del Rio "Babs".............Yogi has been in excellent form and this photo does not do him justice, but it was all he would sit still for....if we can't get a better photo tomorrow then he will have to be posed
Barbara Del Rio "Babs"....with sand on her beautiful nose........three months ago one of my insane neighbors shot Babs in the right hip, trying to kill her...I never found out which neighbor or why...but Babs was able to find her way home with a terribly shattered hip joint and extreme bullet fragmentation in the area...it cost me $2900 to have the surgeons put the joint back in place with pins and wires and plates...but Babs is going to be OK. She is just very pretty and she is Effie's daughter
Mojo Del Rio at 7 months of age...lighting up the entire morning!...........................Diane's outstanding puppy
Annabel-in-the-flowers...........by Monet Lisa's puppy Annabel is littermate to Heath Del Rio and Heather Del Rio
July 23/09 lovely Heather has had 9 (NINE!) puppies...photos will follow I am very excited about these puppies as Ernie is the most magnificent dog I have ever seen and Heather is a wonderful dark sturdy loving tervuren......so many puppies, they are all so tiny so we are just going very slowly and carefully...
update June 30/09 expecting Heather Del Rio's puppies by Ernie very soon...
a perching Tervuren....the very gorgeous Zac Del Rio
Bob Del Rio now age 2 yrs...beautiful dog living in Peru with Tom and Doris and doing service work...here taking a break and doing his Rudolph Valentino impression....an extraordinary doggie in every way
update June 16 ......we are hoping for more puppies before the end of the summer.... very hot weather here but my dogs share an airconditioned doghouse...talk about luxury! from about 11 am to 5 pm I know where to find them, passed out on the dry cool stone tile floor of the cave-like doghouse like scattered cordwood, having doggie dreams and waiting for a cooling rain. Only Mickie, my wonderful Barakachan livestock guardian dog (who somewhat resembles a lumbering grizzly bear) and his Alsatian girlfriend are still working out in the full day's heat but they are usually watching from cool damp depressions in the ground that they can just see out of, like soldiers in a foxhole .... nobler and more faithful creatures there never were....
the goat herd numbering about 40 gets a few new members from occasional births and loses a few to natural death by illness or age now and then and the losers clamber up into the cooking pot to make a last final comforting contribution...all our goats are pets basically, we do not sell or kill for meat....but we might be peruaded to part with a pet or two if you want some happy days with an animated lawnmower and shrub pruner...they are fine animals and wonderful pets for young and old alike. However they are like potato chips - you can't have just one! you really need a bare minimum of 3 and 4 is actually about the right number.
update May 3 2009
here is a photo of Mojo Del Rio from our Christmas litter, a perfect tervuren puppy now 4 months of age and the best friend of her new owner Diane M......
update April 12 / 09
I have 5 very beautiful tervuren purebred puppies available, now almost 5 weeks old, colors fawn with black points, from the Spring litter born March 8/09........contact
the puppies are available for free to the right homes....just accompany your request with a donation to the Salvation Army for $40, you may find their donation website with a simple web search and you can forward an email copy of your donation receipt to me please....
its best if you can come in person and pick up your puppy here in rural Quincy FL not far from Tallahassee
if you can demonstrate that can provide good care .... the puppies can be picked up second week in May
I also have one creamy white tervuren male now almost 4 months old that will be available
All the puppies are AKC eligible purebred tervurens descended from z Kovarny bloodlines out of the Czech Republic via Doreen z Kovarny..........
update Feb 2 / 09 photos at age 4 weeks.... of our Christmas litter
update January 3/09
Heather Del Rio (mated to Angus Del Rio) has just yesterday had a litter of perfectly beautiful purebred Tervuren puppies who will be available free to good homes in about 10 weeks or so....please contact me if you want a puppy to start he New Year off right!
Please review section 'Philosophy' on the menu to the left of this screen to see our preferences for adoption...we do not have written applications or contracts or site visits...but we rely on honor and the value of one's word when given
update Dec 22
we have two very fine young adult Tervurens who are available for adoption at no charge. They are gorgeous in appearance, energetic and clever. They would serve very well as companions and guard dogs in almost any environment as long as they have a large fenced area to live in and exercise. They are good natured and have been well-kept, but are surplus to our needs.
puppies - we are expecting a litter of exceptional puppies from Heather Del Rio in January. These purebred tervuren puppies will be free to good homes. We favor law enforcement, search and rescue, the disabled and returning war vets, but anybody needing an exceptionally attractive and loyal puppy may ask, and if you have room for the puppy and a large fenced yard and shelter, we have a puppy for you. We don't have questionnaires or contracts and we don't neuter our puppies as we feel it is not essential for such fine puppies.
update Nov 30 22008
no puppies now. Possibility of puppies early in the new year but not certain. We are just getting ready for winter. The dogs are strong and tough, won't have much problem. The goats are slender and tiny, particularly the toy goats and they are sensisitive to rain and cold weather. They are very vulnerable to cold rain and we are trying to optimize conditions for them. Since we don't sell dogs we have limited income but we manage and the ranch accomodates us all. We want to get into solar power next year, obtain a used motor vehicle for emergencies and continue with shed and shelter building. We have enough wood to meet all our natural energy needs, but you still have to cut it and split it and haul it and organize it. So we aren't petroleum free yet.
The dogs continue on a high quality meat diet mainly. They are content and look very good. They'd all like to run around more and cover 20 miles in a day every day, and we try to accomodate them in an orderly way.
Our new home here is a magical sort of place. Hidden deep in the woods, I expect to find Hansel and Gretel knocking on my door sometime asking for directions to the witch's house. The plants are odd....tomatoes and mushrooms just seem to leap right up out of the ground by the hundreds and into the salad bowl. Two of the most difficult plants to grow nicely anywhere else except here, tomatoes and mushrooms are.... Everything is more concentrated and intense here somehow. The dogs are well. They seem in a good mood. The puppies are eager and explosively energetic like little grenades that go bang with curiosity and vigor 3 or 4 times every day. They are all learning to become livestock guardian dogs and they live now with the goats and not with me. The senior Alsatian mix teacher hovers over them all, goats and puppies alike, voiceless unapproachable and calm but deadly terrible if you ever try to cross swords with her. Like an Archangel in our little heaven here. I am so grateful to be here with my puppies.
This picture is of Sandy and her new puppy Zac Del Rio. Zac Del Rio is destined to become a SAR dog and I envy him his future.
The next picture below is an old photo of Ernie Del Rio, gorgeous gorgeous Ernie, when he was a puppy. Ernie, of course, is the father to both Zac Del Rio and Bob Del Rio who can be seen on this page.
update Sep 22 / 08
we still have 3 male puppies now 12 weeks old, full of beauty, vigor, and curiosity.
Update August 27/08
as usual our puppies are free to law enforcement professionals, SAR personnel, returning combat vets, and the disabled, as long as the puppies will receive formal training with their new owners. All our puppies are 100% purebred Tervurens. We raise no other dogs. We have puppies at various times of the year, we happen to have some now.
To receive a free puppy certain conditions apply (nothing burdensome) and if you are interested we will give you the details.
We are more interested in a good home and good life for our puppies with a good fit to the new owner than we are in money.
July 27/08
New photos of Bob Del Rio who is being trained as a service dog. Age 9 months
JUNE 11 / 08 update This is a recent photo of Bob Del Rio at 8 months of age . You can see he is enthusiastically attending his school lesson. He lives with his Mom and Dad in Peru now, who take wonderful care of him. Always my Thanks to Tom for his great update photos. Tom has the best looking and smartest dog in all of Peru.
Bob Del Rio (age 11 weeks) and the veterinarian (age 31 years) Bob seems to have the situation under control....
UPDATE December 30 2007 the FORUM is open
CONTACT BY EMAIL PLEASE
doreendelrio@brinkster.net
...anyway its worth taking a few moments to refresh our information by reviewing what the AKC experts say...
" ...(AKC speaks:) ...We feel the Tervuren is a "special dog". Those of us who own them are completely charmed by their intelligence, trainability, and, perhaps most of all, their sense of humor. They are suited to many kinds of activities. Their herding instinct is still intact. In Belgium, they are trained as police dogs. They are well suited to the precision, discipline and animation required for successful obedience and Schutzhund work. .... our first Obedience Trial Champion was earned within a few months of this title's initiation by the AKC. We are proud of the number of champions that hold one or more obedience title. The first recorded AKC Herding Champion of any breed was earned by a Tervuren. The breed is known for its loyalty and protectiveness. Their appearance projects alertness and elegance.
" ... The Belgian Tervuren, however, is certainly not a dog for everyone. Temperamentally, they are very possessive of their loved ones and extremely demanding of your attention - they want you to do things with them and love to be taught. Because of this, if they are not given regular time by you, they are apt to invent their own entertainment, which may not be what you would chose them to do. They are an active dog, as the breed standard states: "Always in motion unless under command." But for those who like to have a dog to do things with, they may well find the Tervuren fits the bill. .... "
