Ellen Tate and her family
live in Southport, just north
of Panama City Florida. She
purchased her first Border
Terrier in April 1989 from a
kennel in Pennsylvania. It
was hard to find a picture of
Border in those pre-internet
days, and harder to find an
unspoken for puppy. She
discussed getting a puppy
with breeders in 6 states
before making her choice.


She choose the breed after reading Daniel Tortorra's book "The Right Dog For You." She wanted a small dog for the kids and liked the breed characteristics of behavioral constancy, emotional stability, and sociable with children as well as being active and intelligent. Her search convinced her that this was a breed loved and well cared for by its breeders.

Ellen states, "Krispin's Dixie Darling (Dixie) arrived and changed our lives.  We thought we were just getting a pet to romp with the kids but we also fell into an interesting and exciting hobby.  Dixie came as a "show quality" pup so my husband said, "Why don't you show her."  Thus, I started 20 plus years of showing Border Terriers in conformation and earthdog trials and raising and placing puppies across the country under the Dixieland prefix.  These "little brown dogs" introduced us to new friends, new places, and the ever-expanding world of dogs."

She encourage all prospective BT owners to get involved in earthdog trials.  Her first BT  mentor, an English  lady and AWTA judge, got her started.   She feels that earthdog is the terrier version of going to Disney World.  The dogs love it!  This is what our dogs were designed to do.  Every part of the Border Terrier Standard (both form and temperament) is written so a BT can enter a tunnel and safely hunt vermin.  Earthdog trials are also fun for the owners/family.  Trials are usually held in an open field at the edge of a woods and are a very causal AKC event .  The dogs only hunt caged rats so like Disney World it is "fantasy"--no kill.  Show and pet people mingle and help each other with grooming and training questions. 

She believes that Earthdog is an event that really builds and strengthens the terrier community.  New people can come and enter the IQ(Introduction to Quarry) class the day of most trials to learn the ropes.   Classes to earn titles are Junior (JE), Senior(SE) and Master(ME) Earthdog.