Nice to meet you.
I spent my childhood on my family's 40-acre ranch where I had many opportunities in furthering my education of animals of all kinds. As a teenager, my sister and I developed breeding programs of our own in French Alpine dairy goats, New Zealand white rabbits, and Labrador Retrievers. We also competed successfully with livestock and market projects through the 4-H program. All this has lead me to find a true love and interest in the breeding aspects of dogs--and Beagles in particular.
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When I was 13 years old, my parents allowed me to purchase my first "very own dog" with the money earned from selling my herd of show goats. Being accustom to Labradors, I selected one to be my first dog whom I competed in Junior Showmanship with. Not long after, I became interested in Beagles, which I believed was a smaller and feistier version of the Labrador.
After a two-year course of breed-specific study and observation, I developed a deep love for the Beagle breed. In 2008, I was fortunate to obtain two lovely bitches from the kennels of Lanbur and Just-Wright who became the foundation for Van-Mar Beagles. From there I focused on breeding and showing the best Beagles I could get my hands on and, more importantly, I focused on learning from some of the best and most-respected breeders in the country.
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I have since bred or owned several AKC Champions, Grand Champions, National (2x Winners Bitch, 1x Reserve Winners Bitch, 1x Reserve Winners Dog with 4 different dogs), and Best of Breed winners; among them, a Top 10, Specialty Variety Winning, Nationally-Awarded Beagle bitch (2010). The efforts of my breeding program can already be seen in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Ecuador, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Though I am very proud of my dogs and program, I will always consider myself a student of the breed and am constantly searching for improvement in all aspects of dog breeding, rearing, and exhibiting. I owe everything to my mentors and those that had enough faith in me to allow some of the dogs to be a part of Van-Mar. My intent is to carry on the work they have done in a way they would be proud of.
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-Chelsea Metteer
Owner of Van-Mar Beagles
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