Terry grew up in eastern Ohio where her father, an AKC licensed All-Breed Professional Handler, owned and operated "Blackbird Kennels." Under his expert eye and qualified tutelage she learned the ins and outs of housing, feeding, grooming, entertaining, breeding and showing pure-bred dogs. She also benefitted from being at the shows and under the feet (and wings) of such notables as Jerry and Elaine Rigden, Dick and Ruth Cooper, Anne Rogers (the Clark part came later), and the Forsyths, Bob and Jane (then Kamp) to name a few.
"It was Mrs. Clark who really kept me going in Junior Showmanship, probably even kept me interested in showing to this day. One day as I was returning to our crates (which, that day, were close to hers) from yet another total defeat, I was on the verge of tears. Somehow she saw how disheartened I was, and said 'You hold your head up and keep showin' honey - I never won a Juniors class either.' "
As a youngster Terry had a passion for horses that carried over into her adult life, and the lessons from showing dogs served her well as a semi-professional horse trainer, with a long record of successes in the arena.
Her love for animals led her to "adopt" a couple of stray dogs when she was a child, much to her dad's dismay and consternation. So, in self-defense, he bought her a pure-bred she could take to shows and try developing her skills in Junior Handling. It was a Pembroke Welsh Corgi from the distinguished Cwmcoch Kennels who became, after much effort on Terry's part and with lots of help from her dad, Ch. Cwmcoch Little Caesar - aka "Peanuts."
There were lots of dogs of every shape, size, color and many different breeds (or no breed at all) in Terry's world and it was a great opportunity to explore the traits and characteristics of so many individual dogs. Some of the top winning dogs of their time were Terry's playmates and part-time "responsibility;" there were Great Danes, Weimaraners, German Shorthaired Pointers, Boxers, Toy, Mini and Standard Poodles, Irish Setters, Afghan Hounds, Bassets, Boston Terriers, Miniature Schnauzers, Doberman Pinschers and Labrador Retrievers among the dogs in the show string, and she got to know them well. There was something to love about every breed, and it was difficult for her to understand how someone could become obsessed with one breed. She was young and couldn't know what the future held.
When she was all grown up, married and moved away from home and kennel, she still always had dogs of various breeds "hanging out" around the barn - an Afghan here, a mutt there, a temporary adoption of a Russell, and for a longer time there were Australian Shepherds. Terry and her husband, Sam White, bred, raised, trained and showed American Quarter Horses at their Maverick Ranch in Pittsboro, NC and also bred the Aussies as many horsemen do. Those herding dogs are great help around the farm!
They weren't much help in the feed room though, and the cats weren't staying on top of things like they should have either. Sam and Terry were complaining about the mushrooming mouse, field mouse, and rat populations to each other one day, and Terry suggested that what they really needed was a good, working terrier. They had friends who kept Russell Terriers in their barns and, after talking with them about the breed, the couple set out to find just the right dog for them.
Not long afterward, Sam and Terry attended a match show in Raleigh, NC hosted by the "Confederacy of Dog Clubs" that also had classes for "Rare Breeds" hoping to find a breeder of Russell Terriers to learn more about the breed, and perhaps to purchase one or two. They did just that, and the first broken coated Russell moved into their barn, their house, their lives and their hearts. "Dudley" was a great big dog in a small package, a constant delight and a quite successful hunter. But, sadly, he was unsuccessful in his challenge for the affections of an Aussie bitch and they lost him at age two and a half, but they didn't lose their passion for the breed.
The next Russell, a smooth bitch dubbed "Phoebe," came from fellow horseman and friend Billie Sumrell, owner of Ravenhill Russells located in nearby Bear Creek, NC. Not long afterward, Jackie and Zorro came to Crowe's Nest, also from Ravenhill.
In 2010, the world of AKC conformation shows "opened up" to Russell Terrier fanciers, bringing Terry's life full-circle and right back to her roots. The future looks brighter every day.
