My name is Mary McDonald and I'd like to start by saying I've been around and involved with dogs truly all of my life. As a small child my mother often told of stories that I preferred to dress up our family dogs, our collies and shelties, in clothes and train them to ride in a buggy than play with dolls like the other little girls in our neighborhood did. I have to believe it wasn't this part of my life that brought me to making dog clothing but more likely my mother's good friend who was devoted to competition obedience with her Golden Retriever and Springer Spaniel in the 1960's. Mrs. Furo was probably the biggest mentor in my life regarding dogs and my relationships with them. September 1974 in a small town in northern Minnesota I was married to the man I still love today. Together he and I had three sons. Significant to my dog interest, I'd also like to share with you that moments after giving birth to our third son, I asked my husband, witnessed by the doctor and nurses, "if I could now have a FEMALE collie?" At that time, his reply was nothing but favorable.

Several years went by since my husband's positive response to that question asked on a delivery table at St. Luke's Hospital before I was ready to really devote the time a new dog would require in my pursuit of doing competition obedience while raising these three young sons. When I expressed this time had come that I felt was right for me to get that female collie, my husband changed his tune from that day's conversation in Labor and Delivery to " Too much dog", he thought "for the family and weekend trips to the cabin". I did have to agree with him and the new set of circumstances. I turned to my friend, Mrs. Furo, again asking for advice on what might be a good alternative for us. It was then she encouraged me to look into acquiring a Springer for the family AND for my obedience career. This sounded like a win - win situation to all of us!

In the late summer of 1983 after doing our research we found our first female Springer, Polly, and welcomed her into our lives. I believe Mrs. Furo is the one who is greatly responsible for my passion in this breed. I will always think of her fondly and with gratitude that she helped steer me into sharing my life with these wonderful companion dogs. It didn't take long for this floppy eared little dog now sharing our home to know that I was hooked on this member of the spaniel family. Their endearing personalities, their size appropriate for our family, and quite honestly the overall look of this breed was so appealing to me. My renewed drive after taking time off for motherhood to get back to my dreams of participating in the sport of dog training was now well on it's way to being a successful reality.

As time went on, the sport of agility also came to surface in the U.S. I couldn't wait to jump into it with my obedience dogs. For several years this dog-involved hobby of mine was becoming more than just that ~ it was a true passion. Through these early spaniel enriched years I even dabbled for the first time in breeding to try to produce my own next competition Springer. I felt so blessed to successfully have my first litter of tri-color ESS in 1990. I learned so much and with pride, absolutely loved the direction I was going in my love of dogs. In 1997 after an unfortunate accident, I found it painfully difficult to physically compete at the level I had been in my world of dogs. Friends convinced me that I didn't need to give it up. Now I could try my hand at preparing the groom for conformation of this spaniel and show them in a little less physical aspect in A.K.C. events.

Admittedly, after raising three sons whom needed little to no hair care, I didn't have much practice for the hair/coat preparation it takes to get a show Springer into the conformation ring. It was from this "trial and error ~ practice makes perfect"(well almost perfect) motto that among techniques observed at shows by those with so much more experience than myself, I now was learning how to groom this fine coated breed for the show ring. I found out quickly that it was as important to try to maintain their coats not just groom them.

For more than 8 years this canine apparel has been in the making for helping to maintain the coat of my English Springer Spaniels. The focus began with a thought of a robe for the dog to wear. I continued to "tweak" them in hopes to be making these dog robes better in their fit and their function. I've spent countless hours sitting at an old Singer sewing machine my mother gave to me with my 4-legged friends lounging on the couch nearby. These faithful friends frequently asked to be my models and I would use them to try on my newest attempt in making these robes even better.

I'm delighted and so proud to see the response these robes have given not only myself, but others in this fancy for maintaining the dog's coats. The robes will not just help to straighten wavy hair, keep the coat clean and protect it from the harsh effects of the sun, they also make way for a shiny luster seen on the dog's hair coat.