Kennel History: Beginning with Bud
Tollgate Terriers started with Cambrian Aur Coron (aka “Bud”), bought as a show dog in 1990. He tried very hard in the show ring without much success, but his true calling was a beloved pet and Ambassador for the Breed, a post he filled admirably for almost 14 years.
After a few false starts, finally, I was able to buy my first good bitch, Ch Rattletrap Tollgate Moccasin (“Molly”), bred from Briggsdale stock by Chris Hofer (Rattletrap), and a daughter of the incomparable Ch Kirkwood Top Brass. Though Molly only gave me one litter before going to live in Oklahoma with co-owner Kim Ward (CornerStone Terriers), she continued to produce champions. Her sons, daughters, and collateral relatives are now my breeding stock.
Meet the Owner
I'm Becky Eterno, a small hobby breeder of high-quality Welsh Terriers located in suburban Longmont, Colorado. I breed for show and pets, with multiple homebred champions. I often groom and show my dogs but also use handlers. I usually have one or two dogs in the show ring at a time, and, given our small numbers and the relatively few shows we enter, we’ve done very well. Tollgate dogs have made a creditable showing against the best company during our national specialty weekend in Pennsylvania and at other regional specialties, sometimes even with me at the helm!
I’ve been active in our national club, WTCA, since joining in 1992. I have served the WTCA as Corresponding Secretary and Welsh Wag editor twice. WTCA makes the decisions and policies that affect the breed's welfare, and it’s important to me to make sure we do our best for Welsh terriers, whether they are conformation, agility, obedience, or earthdog competitors. Or just beloved pets, which all Welshes eventually become, whatever their previous careers. Whether or not I have puppies or dogs available, I’m always happy to talk to people about the breed at shows or via phone and email.
I am a member of the Welsh Terrier Club of Southern California, the Rocky Mountain All-Terrier Club, and the American Fox Terrier Club. We also belong to the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America, since we like to have a token sporting dog.
Welshes' other interest is the Earthdog competition since this is the original job these dogs were bred to do. We’re not very good at going to the ground yet – plenty of instinct there, but still a lot of suspicion about crawling into those dark holes. Despite their trepidation about tunnels, my dogs, like most Welshes, avidly hunt anything they can catch – I wish they’d stop trying to eat toads….
We have only a small kennel space, and all the dogs rotate as house pets --we typically have 5 or 6 adults here. House life is a great civilizing influence on typically rowdy Welsh Terrier youngsters and a treat for all the dogs. Oldsters especially love the soft life of couches and tidbits in the kitchen.
Our puppies are whelped in the spare bedroom and raised in the kitchen, so I obviously can accommodate only a couple of litters a year at most. I breed to improve my stock, to provide myself with show dogs, and, of course, to provide a few well-chosen families with good-looking, health-guaranteed pets.
Most of our puppies go to pet homes. Many Tollgate “pet” puppies could have been shown successfully, but owners willing to learn to groom and show a wire-coated terrier or pay a professional to do it are few and far between. The show ring’s loss is the pet owner’s gain! While beauty may be paramount in the show ring, a stable temperament is integral to all good Welsh Terriers, show dogs and pets alike.
For more information about Tollgate Terriers, please visit ALL our Pages!
You’ll learn about our breeding practices, kennel history, pedigrees, puppies and much more about us and the Welsh Terrier world. If you would like "at a glance" view of our website, visit our Sitemap.