Located In Salisbury NC Just North Of Charlotte NC (704)267-8362
Hello and welcome to Delovey Poodles! My goal with this website is not just to let you know more about me and my dogs, but also to help you enjoy your own journey as you begin to know and love Standard Poodles.
My name is Tonya Bates, and although I was not introduced to Poodles until 2009, I grew up with Rottweilers so have been a purebred dog fancier practically all my life. My first Poodle was actually a rescue--a Miniature Poodle. Little "Flash" was terribly matted, so on our first night together I stayed up until 2 am, clipping him down so he would be more comfortable. It was by no means a "great groom" but we got through it and Flash immediately bonded to me.
During that night of grooming until the wee hours of the next morning, we developed a strong bond, and Flash is still with me, now neutered and a beloved housepet. Well, let me go backwards just a tad, so you can understand that I am actually a big dog kind of gal. Rotties, remember? Yes, after getting Flash I fell in love with him, and began to understand how special Poodles are, but I wanted a BIG dog. So my search began for the biggest variety of Poodle, thus I decided my heart would not be satisfied until I owned a Standard Poodle!
At the beginning, I had no interest in showing or breeding, but I knew I did want to do therapy dog work. My first Standard was a lovely black male named Forest. Forest was an amazing dog in every way, and he was very patient while I learned how to groom! Yes, I am a self-taught groomer, and I became a bit better each time I groomed Forest. After totally falling head over heels in love with him, and taking a look at his pedigree, I decided that perhaps a dog with his amazing temperament should be bred. If I was going to breed Poodles, I decided that I wanted to breed dogs who possessed the intelligence, structure, health and temperament that the breed was originally meant to be.
Forest has now retired from breeding and is residing in Charlotte, North Carolina with a wonderful veterinarian who adores him. As time passed, I learned more about pedigrees, as well as about the health problems that exist in all of the varieties of Poodles. I concentrated my research on Standards, since that is the variety I truly love. I learned about the value of health clearances on breeding stock, temperament testing and other things needed in order to produce dogs that were not only beautiful, but would be long-lived, whether as happy pets and/or show dogs. Speaking of show dogs, it is my greatest desire to produce dogs that can excel in MANY different venues and sports, not just champions. Health is number one on my list, and I also strive to breed dogs who have excellent temperaments, intelligence, loyalty and beauty. We all want dogs who will be superb companions, but I also strive to produce Standard Poodles who can excel in Rally, Obedience, Agility, Dock Diving, and even Hunting (whether in retriever competitions, or actually working in the field). Certain bloodlines are better known for dogs who have retained the working instincts.
I breed for dogs that have the structure outlined in the AKC breed standard, but also a dog that still has the drive to hunt, the intelligence to obey his or her handler and the beauty to turn heads wherever it may go. Because AKC conformation shows put so much emphasis on HAIR, and also because they do not allow ALL colors of Poodles in the conformation ring, I personally choose to show in the UKC venue (which has Poodles in the Gundog category, acknowledging the origin of the breed and putting emphasis on structure, allowing multi-colored dogs, not just solid colored dogs, to compete. You can read more about the color issue on other websites, or just email me if you would like more information). My dogs are, however, AKC registered, so they can be shown in any AKC dog sport, and they can easily be dual-registered and shown in UKC events.
More about my dogs...
The first female to come into my breeding program was "Lacey". Perhaps you have heard the term "heart dog"? Lacey is indeed my heart dog. I did not even realize it was possible to have a bond with an animal that is as deep and close as my bond is with Lacey. Flash and Forest had come into my life as adults, while Lacey was the first puppy I had ever raised myself.
Lacey has been a dream come true, with her stunning silvery color and a color that is incredibly beautiful. I feel so blessed to share my life with this amazing Poodle. Lacey is the silver girl picture above with me at Grandfather Mountain. We are travel mates and go everywhere together!
Because she has been such a special dog to me, the qualities Lacey possessed made me want to produce Standard Poodles that would enhance other people's lives the way she enhances mine. When I first started breeding, I did not know about health testing and clearances. But as I ventured into the world of dog professionals, I quickly learned the importance of this. Now I do not breed without health testing on both the sire (father) and the dam (mother) of the litter. Why take unnecessary risks? I now have the knowledge to prevent health issues and even check to make sure my breeding stock are not carriers of certain problems that could be hidden--simply by sending in a simple DNA swab. Also I have my dogs' eyes examined by a canine ophthalmologist (and register them with CERF), I have their hips x-rayed to make sure they are clear of canine hip dysplasia (registering with OFA) and I even have heart exams done on my breeding stock by a canine cardiologist. Taking the time and money to go the extra mile helps me be able to produce the healthiest puppies possible.
There is always more to learn, and I spend a lot of my free time studying pedigrees and learning everything I can about various bloodlines and what they produce. As even those who have been in dogs for decades will admit, you can study for a lifetime and never learn it all! But studying about dogs and learning new things is truly fascinating to me, so I spend my free time soaking up everything I can which is dog related!
So....
So this is how Delovely Famous Standard Poodles came to be. We have a Facebook page and hope that you will not only check this website on a regular basis but keep in touch via Facebook for updates! The name Delovey Famous Standard Poodles is a tribute to my mother, who grew up with three black Standard Poodles as a child. Lovely was Mom's first female dog, and Famous was her daughter (Fay for short, and Fay was my mother's personal dog growing up). Then they had Fay's sister Joy. Delovely represents Lovely (mother of Fay and Joy, and Famous, as mentioned above, was Fay's registered name and she was my mother's first Standard Poodle).
I think the love of Poodles may actually be in my genes! My mother still enjoys my Poodles plus a couple of her own, so I decided to choose Delovely Famous Standard Poodles as my kennel name, in honor of the three Standard Poodles my mother grew up with years ago.
Standard Poodles themselves are like family! We look forward to getting to know you, and again, please click on the Facebook icon at the top of the page and stay in touch. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have about our dogs, or Poodles in general.