Life at "Rancho" van Brabant

In our brief 11 year involvement in afghans, we have learned that at any one moment, you must be prepared to be amazed, humiliated, outsmarted, embarrassed, surprised, proud, shocked, stunned, laugh, cry...a whole realm of emotions because along with all this comes the loyalty and love from one of the greatest friends you will ever know!

Each of our dogs has it's own personality with his or her "unique" sense of humor. We have dogs that like to lift their leg on lure coursing judges when they don't agree with their scores, jump on trampolines-and then use them to get over fences, swim in pools or lakes, herd animals, hunt animals, play guard dog, keep couches warm, watch TV, "redecorate" parts of the house, pull wagons, play dressup with my daughter, roll in manure(ugh!), sing along with Phil Collins - Beethoven or Mozart, steal anything possible just to keep that "Thief of Baghdad" image alive, open doors, open crates...the list is endless! Is our life dull...NO!

Our dogs live together as a pack. They are fed a natural diet of raw meats (mostly green tripe), fresh vegetables, and either grains or brown bread. Needless to say, these dogs are content whether they are munching on raw bones, lying on a couch watching TV, flying over sagebrush in pursuit of a jackrabbit, chasing a white plastic bag("bunny") in lure coursing, bursting out of a box wearing a muzzle racing after a "jack-a-lure" or, my worst nightmare, creating one of their own unmentionable adventures!

Not only have we had great joy in being able to share our lives with such wonderful companions, but we have also had a great deal of success in many different arenas such as: Straight Line Sprint Racing(LGRA), Oval Track Racing(NOTRA) and Lure Coursing(ASFA and AKC). We have produced over 7 Field Champions, 2 of which are Best-In-Field winners. We have produced 1 GRC(LGRA Sprint Racing Champion) and several are very close to finishing both their GRC and ORC(NOTRA Oval Track Champion) titles.

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