About Us

"I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine." Fritz Perls

It all started in 1986 with the Dalmatians. Call it what you will - the show bug, the virus, the madness! All I wanted was a dog, when we chose the Dalmatian Ian said “why don't we show?” Little did we know what we were letting ourselves in for! Not only were we hooked, but we suddenly found that our whole life was revolving around dogs!

Our Kennel Club prefix, “Babrees”, came from our middle names, Barbara and Rees, and was first granted on 1st January 1989.

When we found that the Dalmatian was getting a little too much for us, we decided to "down-size". After researching the different breeds Ian and I thought that the Papillon would suit us best. It had the out-going, friendly, lively character of the Dalmatian, but in a small enough package to handle! And so it was in 1993 that Zokaren Mermaid Of Ringlands, aka "Katie", came to live with us.

Some years previously, Jill had met the Canaan Dog at a seminar and had been intrigued by them. But at that time we did not wish and were unable to have another breed. However, in 1996 a litter of Canaan Dogs was advertised in the dog press and we went to see them. Falling in love with this fascinating breed Evie came to live with us and we began to show and breed Canaan Dogs. Due to circumstances we no longer breed or show them, and those that are still with us now live in retirement, happily playing in our fields most of the day.

Sadly, we lost our last Dalmatian, Leo, on 14th February 2003.

Throughout our time within the "dog fraternity" we have kept active and helped the breed clubs wherever we could. Jill has stood on several canine committees and is currently chairman and webmaster for the British Canaan Dog Society and webmaster for the Papillon (Butterfly Dog) Club.

Although we bred the occasional litter of Papillons, in 12 years we may have gone into the show ring less than a handful of times with a Papillon. In 2006 our personal circumstances changed, and I entered Missy into a few shows. She didn't do too badly at all and received nice compliments from many people around the ring-side. So we decided to start showing our Papillons!

The year 2007 arrives (all too quickly!) and we have what we consider some quite nice puppies to start showing. The year starts with a BANG when in February Babrees Mona Lisa gains BEST PUPPY IN SHOW at the Papillon (Butterfly Dog) Club's open show!

And so the story continues...