WHO WE ARE! My name is Cathy Donovan and I have been showing and breeding Corgis under the Northrun prefix for nearly THIRTY years. My non-doggy husband Jim and I live in Sullivan, on the beautiful coast of Maine in the summer, and in Naples, Florida in the winter. I am a longtime member of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America and the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club. In recent years I have served on the Board of Directors of the PWCCA and as president of Mayflower. I've been very lucky over the years to have bred some fabulous dogs -- we've had great successes in the show ring. I'm as excited about the dogs that never got to the show ring, the Corgis that got to couches and beds are equally important to me. I'm happy to say that we have stayed in touch over the years with so many of our puppy buyers and many of them have come back to us for a second Corgi or to replace a lost member of their family. THE HISTORY OF NORTHRUN! The idea for the name " Northrun" came about while my husband and I were living in Florida. I had my first Corgi, Festiniog Sorcerer's Moon (Winch), a young daughter, Erin, and both my husband and I had a burning desire to return to New England where we had grown up. When I decided to breed Winch I found myself in need of a kennel name. Because of our wish to get back to New England, I decided on the name North Run. The irony of this was that we actually moved farther south before we moved to Maine. My goal as a breeder was to somehow improve on what I had. After all no one has bred the "perfect" Corgi yet. Studying pedigrees and the photos in Newsletters and Handbooks gave me ideas on what I wanted to breed but as a novice I lacked the experience to make sound judgments about potential stud dogs. Luckily for me Winch's breeder was willing to help. Armed with pedigrees and Handbook photos I called and asked her opinion on the dogs I had chosen. She helped me get the list down to one dog of my choosing. Winch was shipped off to be bred on her next season and North Run soon had puppies carrying my prefix and nautical names. Over the years North Run has been modified into one word Northrun. KENNEL POLICIES! Since my husband is not an "animal person", necessity forces me to have a kennel facility. Some people feel that puppies should be raised in a family environment; I couldn't agree more. While our puppies are not in the house our kennel is designed and maintained for our dogs' comfort and well-being. Our puppies are handled and played with from the time they are born until they leave for their new homes. We don't watch TV here, we watch puppies (much more fun and educational!) They meet children, ride in cars and are subjected to a myriad of noises and situations that allow us to evaluate their personalities and temperaments. We feel they are just as well adjusted as any puppy brought up in the house. All of our puppies are vet-checked before going to new homes. They are also micro-chipped as a permanent form of identification. All puppies are wormed at two week intervals and begin heartworm preventative at twelve weeks. Vaccinations begin at eight weeks and are given at four week intervals until the vaccines are complete or the puppy has gone to a new home. Our policy is to not let puppies leave for new homes until they are twelve weeks old. We feel this allows us to get them well started on their shots, gives them a chance to play and interact with other adult dogs and puppies, gives us time for crate training and allows the puppy to mature mentally so he/she is ready for the transition. Since our dogs are housed in a kennel, we believe when our dogs are finished with their show and breeding careers, they deserve to become "house dogs" and "couch potatoes". Many wonderful people have gotten equally wonderful older dogs from us and find that adding an adult dog is often the perfect answer to some of the issues surrounding buying a puppy. Some lifestyles are far better suited to an older dog than a puppy. We are proud of our Corgis and feel they represent us very well out there in the world. Because of our concern for each puppy we breed, prospective buyers are carefully screened and must sign a contract including a spay or neuter agreement. It is also our policy to buy back our dogs if, at any time in their lives, their owners are unable or unwilling to keep them for any reason.