I LOVE the Discovery Channel's show DIRTY JOBS with Mike Rowe. Since it began we have watched him clean sewers, crawl through vile places and determine the sex of chickens. One night, as Steve and I were watching Mike on his newest adventure, we were captivated by what we saw...ALPACAS!

To begin with, those eyes (the alpacas, not Mike's, though his are cute) caught my attention. Then when they told about the breeding process, how the female self-ovulates and decides when she wants to be bred, I REALLY perked up. When I heard the female spit at the male when she did not want to have sex with him, well, I was hooked! Anything that hums to communicate, poos in a community area and the girl controls all the breeding...I had to know more.

I tore into my office and began to GOOGLE! Immediately, I was impressed with the quality of the websites and the wealth of information available on alpacas. We live in a pretty remote part of Minnesota, since we also have Dancing Bear Resort, but I did find a few breeders near us (near means less than a five hour drive to me). So I scheduled some farm visits and I was off and running.

We also breed and show top ranked French Bulldogs under the Jackpot! French Bulldog name. We have had Best in Show and National Specialty winning, Top Ranked Frenchies for almost 15 years. Martha Stewart's two Frenchies were also bred, born and raised here at Jackpot! So it seemed only natural to continue the Jackpot! tradition of fun, frolic and good breeding practices. Ironically, we are not big gamblers, I came up with the Jackpot! name because I felt I had hit the Jackpot! when I found the sport of dogs.

Deuce, our 180# Newfoundland Dog, is the Resort General Manager and official greeter. Nyker (means little horse by the lake in Norse) is our unicorn wanna-be. Hmmm, looking at all these pictures I realize their is a certain commonality in all of our hair styles...even mine!

If you like my website layout and style, I am also a web designer and would love to create a website for YOU. Also, for over ten years I designed and produced several high-end dog magazines. I am now thrilled to have been asked to be the exclusive graphic designer for Alpacas in the USA! Click here for a unique movie about alpacas...