Sue@AchatesBostons.Com

ABOUT US:

Ch Bleugras Jolie Of Buena Vista, CGC, ROM*

                                   "Jolie"

We came up with our Kennel name "Achates" back in 1984.  Achates was a character in Greek Mythology.  You can read about him in  Virgil's epic, "Aeneid".   Achates was a loyal friend and companion to Aeneas.  I could not think of a more suiting name for our dogs as they are my most trusted, loyal friends and companions.  So we started using this name, Achates, as our Kennel Name.

Lou was born and raised in Philadelphia.  He spent his summers growing up with his relatives in Nebraska having fun bailing hay, etc....and enjoying long hot summers. Lou went on to graduate from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA and then enlisted in the Marines and served in Force Recon (parachute and underwater qualified, deep reconaisance specialists).  After serving his country, Lou started working for Scott Paper Company in Philadelphia.  He spent almost 30 years total with Scott Paper Company before taking early retirement in 1996, after helping with the company's transition to the new owners, Kimberly Clark.  Lou took off 10 years from Scott and spent that time working with his Father who owned an Armstrong & Bruce Hardwood Flooring Distributorship in Lancaster, PA.  Lou was President of the Company and Dad was the Owner and Chairman of the Board.   Landis & Company was sold in 1979 upon Dad's retirement and Lou returned to Scott Paper Company in Philadelphia.  In 1996 when Scott Paper was sold to Kimberly Clark, Lou was the Worldwide Vice President of Logistics.  After retiring on a Friday, he became the President and CEO of Tufco Technologies here in the Green Bay area, the following Monday.  Lou retired from Tufco in 2012 and has started a consulting business called Boston Consulting, LLC.  So much for retirement!  I don't know if he will ever really think about retiring!

I was raised in Strasburg, Lancaster County, PA and grew up with a collie.  I met Lou at Landis and Company in 1977 where I was hired to take care of the Bruce Hardwood Flooring Division.  After 6 months of Lou asking me out to lunch, he finally wore me down. And the rest is history. Although our age difference is 16 years, we have been married since August of 1979 and we share many common interests of which one is our beloved dogs.......

We started out buying our first Doberman Pinscher in 1983 From Mary Lou Lane, while living in Wisconsin the first time after we got married.  When being transferred back to Philadelphia by Scott Paper we bought our first Doberman Show Dog of the Drakenberg line, bred by Lavina Peticca, known as Inky.  Over the years Inky was not only my mentor but more like my second Mom.  We had 8 of her Dobermans over the years of which 1 became a Champion who was named Rhett, Ch Drakenberg's Symphony In Red, WAC, CGC, TDI.   I bred him to my Scarlett, Drakenberg's Quite a Dish, WAC, CGC, TDI and had 2 puppies of which I kept both.   Beau only needed a 3 point Major to become a Champion when I quite showing him.   Beside having a bout of torsion from which I nearly lost him, he had a chronic prostate problem.  I got very tired of the "politics" of showing in the Doberman ring and I decided to retire Beau.  So he ended up neutered like his spayed sister Bonnie.  Our last Doberman named Syrah, who was sired by the #3 Doberman in the country named BIS BISS Ch Ravenswood Southern Cross, bred by Betty Clark, left us for The Rainbow Bridge in July of 2013.  Syrah was diagnosed with Chronic Active Hepatitis in 2003 so she had to retire from showing when spayed because of this disease. Dobermans were my first love but now these little Bostons have wiggled their way into our hearts and our home.  They are two very special breeds.

We are currently searching for our next Doberman as our home seems empty without one, since Syrah has been now gone for 15 months, even though we have our Bostons.   My dear friend Sandy Solcz with handle this puppy for me like she did Rhett. She has an excellant way with dogs and they all really love her.  She is helping in our search for a puppy for.  The Dam her Alex, Ch Valiant's Rolls Royce, is out of Ruby, Ch Valiant's Prada Perfection, who just had 4 red bitches the end of September.  We are extatic that they are all Red as I want Red and Lou wants Black & Tan.  Betty Clark of Ravenswood Dobermans, just had a litter who are Black & Tan, so I feel we are that much closer to our dream of owning another Doberman.  Or should I saw, we will be owned by another Doberman.  Of the 11 Dobermans we have had the pleasure to share our home and love with over the years, to date the first was Fawn, 3 were Black & Tan and the other 7 were Red.  Can't wait to see photos of these new little babies and learn more about their pedigrees.  Lou and I are already arguing over who she will sleep with, even though this will be Lou's early and much anticipated Birthday present (coming up in March 2015).

Lou's favorite Aunt & Uncle always had a Boston Terrier.  So Lou spent Friday nights in Philadelphia watching the Friday Night Fights on TV with his Uncle Walt. Puggy as their Boston was called, would sit with Lou and that started Lou's love affair with Bostons. After I had a Laminectomy of L5/S1 in 1993, it became more difficult for me to exercise our Doberman's.  So in 1999 we started our search for our first Boston Terrier so we could downsize.  We found Jolie in the Fall of 2000 and that is when we made our official switch to Bostons.  I was paying Sandy Solcz, a local handler to show Jolie for me, until I met Sarah Kennedy for the first time along with her parents at the BTCA Nationals held in Louisville, KY back in 2002. Sarah said she would like to show Jolie so that is what we did.  Jolie finished her Championship on my birthday, August 2, 2003 at the Tri-Angle Boston Terrier Breeders Specialty Show held in Cherry Hill, NJ.  She won her 3rd major, this one was 5 points going WB/BW to become my first Boston Champion.  I was handling her daughter Sophia, who was Reserve that day.  Best birthday present I ever received!  I had learned to handle my own dogs when Jolie's first litter arrived, going into the ring for the first time under Judge Mary Rogers Clark at the 2003 BTCA Nationals.  I put all of TJ's points on him except his last Major that was won by Sarah Kennedy under Mary Tory from England, at the Western Boston Terrier Specialty Show, held in Elmhurst, IL. I put the first 3 points on Sophia (who was very high spirited) and then sent her to Sarah for Sarah to show and finish her (which she did).  The rest of the story is told in the following pages within my web site. You will even see some photos of Lou handling the kids as he now tries to beat me at a show, which he has done several times.  I was showing George and Lou was showing his brother Gus for me.  Lou put back to back 3 point Majors on Gus at the Valparaiso Shows in Indiana.  After that there was no stopping Lou.....  Sandy Solcz still helps me with my Bostons occasionally and has put 2 Major wins on our Ritzy, and finished her for me on 8-8-14.  She is helping me to find out next Doberman to show and will train and show her for us.

I just can not imagine my life without these wonderful little companions.  Boston Terriers are just the best.  In 2009, our neighbor sold part of his farm for a new development.  So we would not have anything built right beside our fenced in dog exercise area, we bought the Outlot that was adjacant to our property.  We now have 13+ acres.

I hope you enjoy my web site as I try to keep adding information that will be useful to everyone. If you ever have a question about Bostons, please feel free to write to me. I'll try to help find an answer for you, if I do not already have it.

Sue LeCalsey

Achates Bostons, LLC

                     "Bostons are like potato chips.....you just can't stop with one".