Odile Smith
Briards have been part of my life for over 25 years. I grew up in France and we had a GSD and different sporting breeds used for hunting. Some of those breeds are not registered with AKC yet, such as the "Porcelaine" dog. But my heart was set from teenager on the Briard and as soon as i was out of university and able to have a house, briards joined me. I started with "Oursou", who was an oversized black girl, with the very best temperament and 2 years later I got my first show dog, a black male "Tornado". I did learn from him that naming matters as he was a true tornado. He taught me how critical training and leadership over the briard are critical. He was a fabulous show dog, full of himself, did a lot of winning, including several Specialties and an all breed BIS. What a way to start. Of course, then, some breeders wanted to use him as a sire. I learned about owning a stud! While he was a great dog, his coat quality was not the best and I launched into what has been my obsession since then: owning, showing and breeding Briards with the exact characteristics of the standard, in other words, preserving the attributes of this unique breed. Fairytale Briards was born over 20 years ago. I imported a fabulous puppy boy, "Rebelle des Monts d'en Crouzille", from a true shepherd in France who is also passionate about dog shows and has been one of the key architects of the breed for the past 50 years. He has been my mentor and a second father to me, for as long as I have known him. From Rebelle, came my foundation female Turquoise, whom I bred to Tornado. Also from Rebelle came my fantastic Sage, who accomplished it all for me, as a sire, as a show dog in US, Canada and France and above all as our great family member. There are many children and great children of Sage in the US, with many wins and titles. With Sage, I competed at the World Dog Show in France in 2011, 180 briards. We won the breed and went on winning a group 3 in the home country of the breed !!!. And my mentor won BOS. This remains the best memory of my years in the breed. I only breed occasionally, continuing to build on my own dogs but also building on the shoulders of great breeders from the US and Europe. I am very proud of producing super family members, and to have finished almost all my puppies at Specialties. We are on our 5th generation. No kennel for me, everybody lives in the house, which is why we maintain a low number of Briards at home. I continue to show dogs myself in the classes and in the owner handler competition as time permits, while Greg Strong has been showing my Specials, and at times some class dogs, for the past 20 years.
Button Text