Our Kennel
Our Kennel
Apple sign made in England.
Thanksgiving Day at Amy's house! Thornapple I'll Never Leave "Lumidee"
Thornapple Thanksgiving Eve snowstorm 2004!
January 2005
roadside flower garden
Aaron and Buzz build a rock garden!
the view from the computer!
April 24, 2005, Snow!
Please note ... the Observed Trials Motorcycle photos
can now be seen on the page "Non-Doggie Fun."
Kennel/House Photos · Thornapple Flowers 1 * July 2004
Thornapple Flowers 2 * July 2004 · Thornapple Flowers 3 * August 2004
Fall Views * October 2004 · Spring & Snow * April 2005
Spring Flowers * May 2005 · Early Summer Flowers * June #1 2005
Summer Flowers * June #2 2005 · Summer Flowers * June #3 2005
Aaron's Trials Garden * June 2005 · Summer Flowers * July #1 2005
Summer Flowers * July #2 2005 · Summer Flowers * June 2007
2 acres of chain link exercise area
Tango, Jewel & Ponder
The view from the pond
Bianca
L-R Scorch, Spitfire, Courage, Clutch, Diablo, JayDe, Buzz
(swim photo credits Aaron Brandenburg)
Hey! Where is everybody going?
Enjoying Michigan summer .... swimming in the Thornapple River!
L-R Zippo, Spitfire, Diablo, Courage, Scorch, Clutch, JayDe - wondering in the back ...Buzz!
F-R Scorch, Zippo, Courage & Spitfire
Diablo stands guard over the Thornapple River!
About our kennel......
Our kennel is nestled on 400 acres in Amish Country, just outside the sleepy village of Vermontville, Michigan. Vermontville awakes just once a year on the last full weekend in April to celebrate the Maple Syrup Festival. Vermontville has a long history of maple syrup making dating back to it's settlers who came from Vermont. Hundreds of visitors converge on our little town to enjoy some good old fashion fun. The ball park fills with Harleys as far as the eye can see! Unfortunately, we usually miss the Maple Syrup Festival fun because we attend the USASA National Specialty the same week in April.
Since 1973, we have owned and operated a cash crop farm known as Thornapple View Farms, Inc. Our farm consists of corn and soybeans, large wood lots and plenty of swamp land for Aussie romping and wildlife habitat. The Thornapple River meanders through our property on it's way to Lake Michigan. Turkey, deer, waterfowl, pheasant, quail, woodcock, Sand Hill Cranes, Great Blue Herons, egrets, birds of prey of all kind, songbirds (including Indigo Buntings, Evening Groesbeck, Bluebirds, Red Headed Woodpeckers), fox, and coyote abound here (an occasional Bald Eagle or Golden Eagle can be sighted!). Great Northern Pike fill the Thornapple River.
We have many trails great for hiking and wildlife viewing. One can walk for hours before heading towards home. The dogs love to swim in the Thornapple River during the summer months.
About Us....
In 1980, we purchased our first Australian Shepherd puppy, ASCA CH Briarbrooks InThe Limelight "Cody." In 1989, we were fortunate to lease T-K's Blackberrie Kayde from Sandy Tubbs. We bred Kayde to Cody which produced our first first litter born in July 1989. We kept a gorgeous black tri puppy boy. "Hawk" was born while we were attending the Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival in the Berkshire Mountains of New York (where a very young Allison Krause celebrated her 18th birthday and banjo player, Peter Wernick, of the bluegrass band, Hot Rize, walked away from the plane crash in Sioux City, Iowa ... and flew on to the Festival!). We chose Winterhawk for our boy's name, but later discovered that Winterhawk is an ASCA registered kennel. We decided to name him Windhawk instead.
July 1989 also marks the date that a very talented Amy Brandenburg (Ellen's niece ... Ellen's husband, Tom, and Amy's dad, Jim, are brothers), later to be Mrs. Shane Garrison, came on board. Thornapple Australian Shepherds was born!
Amy handled Hawk to his ASCA championship finishing him quickly. Hawk was our first Thornapple Champion. Hawk followed in our footsteps every day for 14 years. Hawk loved his daily walk to the pond and he loved riding in Tom's truck. Hawk stood guard over the farm until he died. When Hawk was 13 years plus, he alerted us to teenagers stealing gas from our pumps. Hawk's spirit still watches over us.
Amy, Ellen, Rachel and Chelsea traveled far and wide to ASCA shows from 1989 until 1993. We hosted many ASCA shows here at our farm, including an unbelievable 5 day Conformation, Obedience and Herding event. Some of our most memorable moments were spent hosting ASCA shows here. (Some day we will dig out all of the wonderful photos and post them on the website.)
In 1993, the Australian Shepherd was recognized by AKC. Yahoo! We were thrilled! The decision was made to pursue AKC titles for our dogs. The rest is history!
Our dog show travels have taken us to more then 40 states and overseas. One week in February will find us at Westminster KC show in NY city. The next week we travel to Chicago to compete at the Chicago International KC show. We hurry home to hop a plane bound for England to watch our dogs compete at Crufts! A 2 week vacation follows compliments of our host with the most, Jayne Holligan! Mid March finds us at our 4th benched show of the year, Detroit Kennel Club. No grass grows under our feet!
Junior Handling has been a huge, exciting part of our dog show life. Junior Handling brought Ellen's daughters, Rachel and Chelsea, many new friends, exciting opportunities, world travels and prestigious wins. With Chelsea's graduation from High School, Spring 2004, we pass to a new generation of "Thornapples." Amy's children, Shayna and Austen will follow in Rachel and Chelsea's footsteps. Shayna is the first Thornapple to win Best Puppy In Show (AKC all breed show) with Thornapple I'll Never Leave "Lumidee" (at the age of 8, May 2004)! In June, 2004, Shayna took her first ever AKC points by winning Winners Bitch with her beloved Lumidee. In January, 2005, Shayna began her Junior Handling career. Shayna quickly won 3 first place awards in Novice Junior Handling to move her up to Open Junior. 2nd show out as an Open Junior, Shayna was awarded BEST JUNIOR Handler with an entry of 33 Junior Handlers! Shayna will work hard to qualify for Westminster KC, the Eukanuba National Championship, the Pedigree Award and top USASA Junior Handler in her age group. Thanks to the recent AKC rule change, we look forward to another 11 years of Junior Handling!
We are blessed with friends all over the world! We are our happiest when we are entertaining our international visitors. We have enjoyed visits with our friends from Germany ... South Africa ... England ... Australia ... New Zealand ... Sweden. Call us the Thornapple Bed & Breakfast!
We are the proud breeders of titleholders in all venues. We have bred Best In Show winners (here and abroad), Westminster and Crufts winners, Regional and National Specialty winners (here and abroad). We are proud to say that we are the breeders of the #1 Australian Shepherd in Brazil ... And the #1 dog ALL BREED in Brazil for 2004!
Thank you to our family for all of your support. Thank you to our very dear Thornapple friends...who are family to us...we can not do it without you! And thank you to our Thornapple owners who make dreams come true!
Some days we just have to pinch ourselves.
Ellen and Amy ....... 2005
Phil Davidson grooming Bosha in our grooming room