I grew up going to dog shows with my mom and sister.  My mother's breed of choice is the Great Dane.  I have known some truly magnificent Danes in my life.  However, nothing a Great Dane could do could prepare one for the possibilities of a Belgian Shepherd.

My love for the breed started in 1996 as I spotted this incredibly gorgeous dog from afar at a dog show.  The more I knew, the more I had to live with one of these amazing creatures.  Upon a chance meeting over the phone, a request was placed for Gail Gombos-Smith to allow a puppy to come live with us.  Mr. Monte came into me in 1997 and life has never been the same.  Coming from Great Danes I knew about conformation and that there was such a thing as obedience.  How much these Belgians have taught me!  Shortly after Monte's arrival I was greeted by a local Belgian person, Karen Perdue, and informed of the Greater Atlanta Belgian Tervuren Club's existence.  Without hesitation I joined and attended meetings.  At one of the first meetings someone asked if I was planning on doing 'herding'.  I didn't know that people 'did' such things with their dogs.  Well, the seed had been planted and we have been hooked ever since.  Monte and I dabbled in SAR for a while but after being greatly disappointed in the local club we have since discontinued that endeavor.  I would love to continue SAR in the future once we find a suitable group with which to train.  We started taking obedience classes next and through them meeting our agility instructor.  We have also taken formal AKC tracking classes and look forward to attaining some of those titles as well.  Somewhere along the way, Miss Rachel came to stay with us.  She has a great personality and love for life.  Miss Rachel blessed us with our first COTAH litter in January of 2003 and the new generation shows great promise.

Currently our home is shared with six Belgian Shepherd Tervuren,  Mr. Monte and Miss Rachel, Miss Asti, Miss Rosa, Mr. Dalton, & Miss Chenoa.  We dabble in conformation, obedience, tracking, agility, and herding...hence COTAH.  We believe in the one breed four varieties and actively assist in rescue of all the varieties, our current Rescue in Residence is a Malinois, Mr. Bogart (aka Bogie for short).  I would not be surprised if before long I have at least one of every variety blessing this household.

The goal of COTAH Belgians is to consistently produce dogs who not only excel in conformation but also in every performance venue available to these magnificent dogs.  In doing this I will strive to maintain proper breed type, structure, temperament, work ethic, and intelligence, all the while producing a dog that is fun to live with.