Beverley Manners. It's In the Blood 

Hello and Thank you for reading my story :-)

My name is Beverley Rutland-Manners.  The love of animals  began as far back as I can remember in my family especially from my mother's side.

My grandmother Josie left Ireland as a young lady and voyaged alone to Australia, which was quite an epic  feat back in 1914!   Perhaps it is from Josie that I inherited my pioneering spirit. 

It's In the Blood!

My grandmother Josie  left Ireland as a young girl and voyaged alone to Australia to escape the orange and green conflict in her home. 
She  settled on a vast sheep station in NSW Australia where she was soon surrounded by animals and enjoyed riding the horses on the property.  

Left: Josie tending her sheep in 1914.          Right: Me tending my sheep in 2007.

 Left: Josie riding her horse on the NSW sheep station 1914

Right: Me riding my mare Holly to a National Championship in 1999.

Josie married a handsome American  -  my grandfather Pelham Rutland-Manners affectionately known as 'Plum'.  Plum was from English descent but was born in New Jersey USA.  'Plum'  was the editor of the New York Tribune for more than ten years and I have always felt a bond with America.

 I grew up without knowing my mother.  My dad was Francis Joseph Rutland-Manners, and it was from him that I learned about integrity, and to respect myself and others.  Dad  served  on the Magistrate's  Bench in Bathurst New South Wales, was a Justice of the Peace, and  held several roles of responsiblity within the community,  some of which he was awarded citizenship awards for his contributions to society.
Dad was a Chess Master and runner up World Champion Chess Correspondence Champion (in those days it took four years to conduct a match by postal mail!)

Dad passed away in February 2004 and left a void in my life which will never really be filled. 

It took me over a year to be ready to look through the trunk full of family history sent to me.  When I did, I found these items which explained to me why my dad was a person of such high moral standards.   Click the images to enlarge and read.

Re-United With My Beautiful Mother After 65 Years !

 In 2008 my mother and I  were re-united  through the efforts of a wonderful brother I didn't even know I had!  It was through this website that Harvey found me!  My mother and I had not seen one another for 65 years.  Harvey and his lovely American wife Mary Lou drove all the way down to Victoria from way up in Queensland to bring about this life changing event.  Thank you Harvey and Mary Lou, I love you    Picture May 2009 with Clementine "Clemmie"

 From the time I was a little girl, dogs always knew I loved them and they loved me right on back!   In those days it was a common sight to see dogs out loose on the footpaths without an owner, and laws were different to what they are today.  Many a time I would arrive home from school riding my bicycle, with at least one or two stray dogs trotting along with me.  It was as if I were a dog magnet. 

When I was in my late teens  and earning my own money, I would occasionally notice a dirty, matted dog walking along the footpath minus  owner, and I just couldn't help myself, I'd take him/her home, and after a groom shampoo and flea rinse and sometimes a trim, I'd drop the nice clean comfortable dog back at the same place where we'd met.     There must have been some very surprised owners when their dog turned up back home all cleaned up and brand new!

And so I guess it  was a natural progression that my career path would be inter woven with animals.  My father insisted that I first gained secretarial and teaching qualifications,  for which I will always be thankful to him, and once my formal education had ensured me a reasonably secure future, I left the 'four walls' environment to pursue an outdoor activities lifestyle with animals, which was my heart's desire.

After graduating from the Michael Tucker Dog Psychology Course,  I spent the next ten years as  supervisor and  resident dog trainer for the Elva Raper chain of boarding/training kennels in Melbourne.  After this, followed a fifteen year period where I was proprietor of my own boarding/training kennels  (Peppercorn Park)   and dog grooming salon at Bunyip, a country town on the outskirts of Melbourne.

I  furthered my studies on pure bred dogs and held a dog judging  license in Victoria for Groups 3 and 5 and bred and exhibited  Rottweilers  and German Shepherd Dogs  (Grafenburg)  Scotch Collies (Silhouette) and Shih Tzus and Maltese (Pixiepaws)  over a period of thirty plus years..

My beloved "Rutland"  (Grafenburg Just So )  at ten months old sitting behind his mother,  Grafenburg  Magdela.

For twelve years I also bred and exhibited Persian cats, specializing in Smokes, under the prefix 'Fairyland' until I became too busy with judging appointments and as a public dog trainer/behaviorist.

Dis-Heartened with the Health Status of the 'Pure' Dog Breeds

After so many years  in the Pure Breed world, showing, breeding, grooming, judging, training and boarding,  I was  disheartened with the health status of the "Pure Breeds" and with the politics of the Show Ring.  Too many serious inherited diseases were  ingrained in the breeds I loved and I felt that the practice of inbreeding had painted them into a genetic dead end.  It was too heartbreaking to continue on.

I turned in my judge's license and ended a 31 year love affair with the German Shepherd Dog Breed.

It was exciting to discover the work of the Royal Melbourne Guide Dogs and a man called Don Evans .  I was sure that my thirty plus  years of experience would be valuable in the decisions which would need to be made to develop a brand new healthy breed.

My daughter Angela and I each purchased our first breeding stock from Mr Don Evans in northern Victoria.  Don had been  crossing Labradors and Poodles (as well as  other mixed hybrids) and  we were fortunate to purchase some dogs who were already in their second and third generation along.   

Although our vision for this new breed was the same in the beginning, there were philosophical  differences which were irreconcilable, and each of us set up a separate Breeding and Research Center expressly for the research and development of this new dog breed. 

Angela named her center Tegan Park and I called mine Rutland Manor in honor of the last German Shepherd dog I bred, "Rutland".   Angela later changed her name by deed poll to Rutland-Manners, but closed her Tegan Park (Tegans) in 2008.