Rest in Peace my Friend

2013-2016

Another part of the History of Hilltop Acres needs to be known. The exact reason that I left the HPA and helped to form the AHMPC. This is gonna be a long story but its THE TRUTH and I would place my hand on a bible and swear to it!!

This is also to clarify where I stand as a Harlequin Pinscher breeder and to counter what has been said and has been published about me or towards me on other websites and public platforms.

I am no longer affiliated with the Harlequin Pinscher Association (HPA) and I was not banned for promoting known unacceptable genetic defective animals of double coat genes as currently published on the HPA website. I have however produced a few multiple sired litters but NO ONE has ever had to chase me for parental proof of my pups and I have never had a failed parental test of any of my pups BEFORE or AFTER they were registered. Many ethical breeders choose to produce multiple sired litters and there is no harm in it being done as long as its done responsibly. HPA had NO RULE or REGULATIONS that said it couldn’t be done during the time that I was associated with them nor to this day ( July 2024) do they have a rule that it can’t be done. I actually have proof that a sire verification failed from the “top breeder” of HPA! Did they get banned? You guessed it, Nope! Must be the reason the HPA no longer requires parental verifications of dogs used in a breeding program. Hmmm…. Really good question, isn’t it??

To my best of knowledge and understanding of the situation, I was actually banned from HPA for standing up for what was right and not agreeing and doing as the authoritative person of the HPA wanted me to. So instead of telling the truth about what really happened and admitting they were wrong, they wanted to wash me away by making me look bad and hopefully failing as a Harlequin Pinscher breeder. But I made a promise to Tobie and that isn’t going to happen anyway soon!

The issue that actually caused me to get banned was in fact due to a brand new genetic test for the double coat gene but it wasn’t for promoting it. The double coat gene is responsible for producing the undercoat in a dogs coat. Such as in the German Sheppard, Husky and all other breeds with a “fluffy” coat. This gene is not in the Miniature Pinscher or Harlequin Pinscher breed as they are single coated breeds.

The genetic lab that the Harlequin Pinscher is tested through decided to add this new double coat gene test to their database. In which they placed it on all their breed panels. When I emailed the lab director and questioned him about the reasoning for the test being added to our breed profile, he said: “In order to get the most accurate results for any new test is to collect data from as many dogs as possible and from different breeds”. In other words the more data they collect in their system, the more accurate the results will EVENTUALLY be.

The lab placed the new double coat gene test on the Harlequin Pinscher breed panel and all kinds of false results were being given at first. Many in fact could be proven false without even retesting because the parents of the supposedly positive offspring came back negative? How is that possible? It was a uproar for sure because the Miniature Pinscher and Harlequin Pinscher are single coated breeds!

At the time of this uproar with the lab and these faulty test results, I was the co-director of HPA. As the co-director of HPA, I took it upon myself with permission of the director of HPA to get this mess sorted out. I notified the lab director through email about these results coming back, which were mostly clear, but we had a a few breeders that had carrier and affected test results that were questionable. The lab director explained the test to me and assured me that the results were more than likely not correct since it was a brand new test and agreed to retest the questionable dogs and offspring at no charge. I notified authorative person of HPA and the breeders of the situation and all agreed that having the adult dogs and offspring in question retested was the best solution to be sure of the test results accuracy.

I worked personally with the breeders with the questionable results and the lab to get the test redone. Things didn’t simmer down to well while we waited for the new results to come back though.

Right before this uproar started, I had purchased a pup from one of the breeders that ended up having some of these questionable test results. The parents of the pup I purchased where some of the ones that were in process of being re-tested. I actually had the breeder to send in my pups DNA BEFORE the pup came home and BEFORE this uproar was even started. My pup came back NEGATIVE for the double coat gene! I knew then that this test was way out of sorts and hopefully they get it straight soon.

But the authorative person of HPA was not having none of it and actually had a change in mind of the decision to wait and see how the re-tested results of the dogs in question turned out! This person immediately wanted all the dogs and pups with carrier and affective results banned from any Harlequin Pinscher program along with their breeders banned from HPA! In which I did not agree was the right thing to do until we knew for sure of what the new test results showed.

The authorative person of HPA was not happy that I would not agree with the sudden decision and went silent with me for a few days but approached me one last time after I allowed the breeder of my purchased pup to post a sibling available pup on my PERSONAL FACEBOOK GROUP page. The last text message to me was “so your promoting the double coat gene?”.

I messaged her back (my exact text message), “you are innocent until proven guilty and at this time there is no concrete proof that the breeders dogs have double coats. The pup that I received from the questionable parents that tested positive came back clear. How does a clear result come from two supposedly affected parents? It can’t so that automatically told met that the preliminary results were faulty. Also, I explained to the authorative person of HPA that I had personally been to the breeders home and had seen all of their dogs. None had any amount of double coats”.

Silence totally fell between me and the authorative person of HPA and no more was said between us. The person immediately blocked me on facebook, removed me from all HPA facebook groups and banned me from HPA. Just about as fast as you just read that.

The authorative person of HPA also began to post about the situation and created a story that was far from the actual truth! I had absolutely no say in the matter as I was totally blocked. Other HPA breeders sent me screenshots of what she was posting and honestly it broke my heart that I was being treated and spoken about the way I was. What did I do wrong? Was I wrong for giving the benefit of the doubt even though I already had proof in my hand of the answer we were waiting for from the lab?

On the HPA website it was posted that I was first banned for “Rules violation and behavior unbecoming”. Really?, That’s the best you could come up with? What rules did I violate? It was my private page and the posted pup was AKC registered and out of genetically tested and clear parentage according to their test results that I saw with my own eyes. Unbecoming behavior? So volunteering my time to help other fellow breeders work through a issue and doing ALL the correspondence with the genetic lab about the issue to insure all was done properly is unbecoming behavior? It did upset me to be labeled this way but I figured that when all test results were in and at the end of the the day, it would all wash over. But it didn’t.

While we all were waiting for the re tested results to come in. The authorative person of HPA went on a huge facebook rampage whenever and wherever they could. I’m not going into details here because it really isn’t my point of this publication. Finally, after 4-5 weeks, all the new results started coming in and as we speculated, ALL of the questionable dogs and offspring came back clear of the double coat gene. I couldn’t notify the HPA myself due to being blocked so the other breeders notified the authorative person themselves but sadly nothing changed. I continued to be blocked, banned and ridiculed for things that I didn’t do. After 3 months of waiting for a simple “I’m sorry or any apology at all, in which I never got, I decided to go my separate ways and continued my journey as a Harlequin Pinscher breeder in a different direction. I vowed to do right by the breed as promised to my dearest Harlequin Pinscher Tobie as best as I could and treat others as I would want to be treated myself.

A few other HPA breeders that could feel the hurt in my voice when they spoke to me and disagreed with the way I was being treated tried their best to get the authorative person of HPA to realize the mistake and fix it but the person refused to apologize and admit that they were wrong for blocking and banning me. These breeders also dismissed their association with the HPA.

Myself and the few other breeders that left the HPA have since created a new club and a new registry known as the American Harlequin Miniature Pinscher Club (AHMPC). The new registry was created because we wanted to uphold most of the same rules and regulations as the HPA. With mandatory genetic testing, DNA profiles and parental verifications. This in our opinion was the only way to insure that the quality and purity of the Harlequin Pinscher breed remained unquestionable. No other established registry could offer this type of service.

The main difference that the AHMPC does have from the HPA is that the breeders work together and stand together so that in the end, the Harlequin Pinscher will be the ultimate winner.

The social media and internet rage from the authorative person of HPA continues even today. So many times has the reason for me being banned on the HPA website been changed. It went from promoting the double coat gene to promoting known unacceptable genetic defective animals of double coat genes . Really?, I don’t see how you can promote something if you don’t have it to promote. Every dog in my my breeding program and the other breeders of the AHMPC was/is negative and all the dogs that were in question came back negative as well. In which I do have all proof of the results in my possession today!

Now, I have seen that the authorative person of HPA changed the reason of me being banned to “Multiple DNA sire verifications were needed prior to litter registration” as a part of the reason I was banned. And that’s something to be banned for?? There were absolutely no rules in the HPA handbook during time that said it couldn’t be done! Besides it is ethically correct to have dual sired litters as long as the breeder is knowledgeable, responsible and does their parental verifications in a timely manner. IN WHICH ALL OF MINE WHERE DONE WHEN THE PUPS WERE STILL WITH ME!! Like I said before, NO ONE had to chase me for parental verifications and I never once tried to hide it!!

Oh! and for some odd reason, I seem to remember that the authorative person at HPA also had some dual sired litters and the person had no clue who the sire was!! Hmmm… Sure wish I still had every text message that I ever had with that person. Which I do have many screenshots of stuff that I could really dampen their fire with if I wanted. But I am not that kind of person!

Its all in the past now and I know that I have the Harlequin Pinschers best interest at heart and I will continue with the breed I love so passionately. When I left HPA, ALL of my Harlequins Pinschers in my possession at that time were surprisingly without any binding breeding agreements or contract! Me and the authorative person of HPA were that close. I regarded the person as a truly respected friend. Thankfully the person can’t come back on me about breaking a binding agreement or contract because the only contract I ever had with the person was with my very first Harlequin Pinscher (Tobie). I still have his contract and no where on it does it say that I couldn’t use him as a breeder nor does it say the he or any of his offspring can’t be registered with another registry!

This breed truly deserves the best and the best it will be through ethical breeding, education and exposure. I will do my best to help all who truly wants to learn about the breed and do right by it. But I will also be quick to break ties with the ones that cross the unethical line. I despise unethical breeding and anyone who condones it. I will quickly dismiss all social interest with them.

I hope this clears up alot for many people that wonder what happened and why my pups and a few other really nice legitimate breeders are not HPA registered.