How it all started

Written By Jackie Mertens

I always wanted to be able to breed any pets that I acquired, so I had to have a pair whenever I got a new pet. When I was very young we had a cat that lived in the basement to control the varmint population.  Her name was Muffy and she had multible litters of Kittens, I was allowed to keep a kitten out of each litter and named them Fluffy, Tuffy, Duffy, and Ruffy.

Did you know that early on, a litter of kittens was often called a kindle? The term Kindle was mostly used in the United Kingdom. In fact the British author, Rumer Godden, produced a children’s book in 1978 titled “A Kindle of Kittens.”

 My mom also let me also have a pair of hamsters, so we had lots of baby hamsters.  I also had a pair of rabbits that lived in a cage outside under the 2nd floor staircase. .

Jackie Mertens

Jackie Mertens is one of the most successful amateur retriever trainers and breeders in North America. She has trained and titled numerous FC/AFC retrievers. She is a six-time finalist at the National Open/National Amateur Retriever Championships. She won the National Amateur championship with her NAFC FC Topbrass Cotton, who is also the all-time high point Golden Retriever in field trial history.

Breeding, training, and campaigning retrievers are a way of life for Mertens. Her Topbrass kennel, established in 1968, consistently produces high-quality performance golden retrievers.

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