My name is Leslie Tracy and I am owned by the paps at Le Tra
Papillons. As a young child, I always had animals around me; all types of animals including show horses, dogs and even a pet skunk, Blossom, that slept in my bed. That love for animals NEVER subsided. I attended college, earned a bachelors and Masters degree, then attended law school. I finally ended up working for the Government which is the job I will have until I retire. I have a VERY understanding and helpful husband, John, and two very nice children, well really grown up men, Jonathan and Turner.
We are located in the rural section of Virginia
Beach, VA known as Pungo. We are a very small show kennel.
We currently have several papillons, a kitty, and several quarter horses on our farm. My interest in
papillons began a few years back when I was at a quarter horse show.
While in the barn with my horse, the most wonderful little white dog
with a red head and black spots walked by with his owner. At
that time, I did not know what this fur ball was, but I knew I had to
find out as he was the most self-assured, cute things that I
had ever seen. Upon arriving home from the show, my research began
and I found out what breed that cutie was, and I promptly started my research to adopt a little show dog.
I was able to acquire my first
show pap, DeeOgee, from Karen Macphee of Diamondsun Kennel. She has been very helpful and free with her advice!
When DeeOgee and I attended our first show, we were both scared to death! Three months later, we went to our second show,
where DeeOgee won a Group two placing! We both had learned a lot since our first show. Since then, we have attended numerous shows and together, we have qualified as the Top 7 (tied) Papillon in UKCs 2008 Top 10 standings. Needless to say, I am VERY
proud of DeeOgee's progress and winnings. He has placed over some very nice dogs in the AKC ring since he has matured.
Carrie Blair, of Blairwynn Papillons, has been a tremendous help to me. Not only has she shared some of her wonderful dogs with me, she is always there to answer any questions I may have.
Two other breeders, Lynda Quinn of Jessera Phalenes and Cindy Rossman of Wings Papillons have been so gracious in allowing their girls to join us here at Le Tra. I feel so very lucky to have not only been able to adopt wonderful dogs but also to have become friends with so many wonderful people.
A huge thank you goes
out to these breeders for trusting me with your children. It is people like you that
help to promote the papillon. You have provided me with a wonderful foundation and we have already produced champions from these stunning lines.
We are totally addicted to this little breed of dog and the dog show world. Our fur friends are raised in our home, under foot and are not wanting for much. They are our children and often can be found napping on tables, chairs, couches, etc. Most of them enjoy swimming in our pool with us and take great pride in the fact that they can bark at our show horses (of course there is a very strong escape proof fence between them) and make the horses run. We never have a dull moment around here and I would not have it any other way.
Additional ramblings:
Why I have chosen to not become a PCA member - I made this conscious decision several years back. While many people do need and can benefit from such clubs, once I saw that members openly criticize each other, put down other members privately, fail to govern their own behavior which adversely affects the breed, compete for the limited resources of power versus empowering and valuing each and every members' input, etc., I decided that my life and breeding program would be better served if I remained independent.
It is not my need or intent, nor will it ever be, to make money from my dogs. Some breeders have deemed it appropriate to put championships on their dogs and use them and their offspring to make a living. While that is fine for some, it is not the path I have chosen to follow. I have a full time job and do not need to make money from my animals. Rather, it is vital to me that the dogs I have and the few pups we do produce have the very best life possible.
It has been brought to my attention that some papillon breeders question why I have purchased a very nice dog, yet I fail to promote or breed him. To these people, I would like to say I have been fortunate enough to adopt some wonderful dogs, some worthy of carrying on the breed and some not. It is my belief and practice that only those dogs that have a genetically clear bill of health, not to mention the structure and personalities, will be used in my breeding program or shown. The purpose of promoting/showing is to get a stamp of approval that a given dog has the necessary qualities to carry on the breed. This stamp often fails to acknowledge genetic faults that a dog may carry in its pedigree. Unfortunately, not all breeders carry this same philosophy and are willfully breeding dogs that are known carriers of PRA, patella, liver shunt, etc., and this is totally unacceptable in my eyes. I will not take part in this practice if this is what it takes to "better the breed".
