We are Maine natives, who after 20 years of moving from place to place for Jeff's Air Force career, are permanently back home in New England.

WHAT IS RONIN HAUS?

We are actively involved in raising and training our dogs for IGP (formerly Schutzhund, IPO) working titles and competition. In the past we bred a couple litters for the drives and temperament required in the work we do. However, now our focus is simply on our current dogs and their training.

Our kennel name and theme was selected to represent our total interests and background. We both have a history of martial arts...mainly focused on full contact...specifically kickboxing. We wanted a traditional flair to the logo...what better than a traditional warrior! A Ronin is a samurai without a master, often wandering from place to place. Thus, "vom Ronin Haus" means "from the House of the Wandering Samurai".

In keeping with our kennel theme, our puppy names in our litters were chosen from historical references related to the samurai.

We are members of the SV of Germany and United Schutzhund Clubs of America.

WHAT IS "RAVEN'S WATCH"?

When we moved to our current home...the style home we had always wanted...we decided to give it and 'official' name. We were inspired by many named log style lodges and classic ranch properties...as well as our previous home, that already had a known name of "Everbreeze", when we bought it.

We chose to honor one of our past dogs, who was a big part of our life for just over 13 years. She traveled many cross country miles with us, moved many times and shared many different homes with us during Jeff's active duty Air Force time. We also had two of her daughters and a son...all four of them were there with us, and passed away, at the "Everbreeze" home.

Coincidentally, we discovered the barn floor at "Everbreeze" had the name Raven carved in the cement from the previous owner. As well as that property turning out to be Raven's last home.

Finally, there were always ravens hanging around there, and again we have them always around here.