Jill Otto

M

y name is Jill Otto and I live in Eureka, right on the Pa-

cific Ocean in Northern California.  I’ve used the ken-

nel name of SUNSPOT for 40 years.  My partner at the time 

was a science major and our first purebred breed was Dal-

matians, therefore, the Sunspot name.  The Dal breed was 

chosen to run with my Appaloosa horse. Over my first 20 

years in the dog world, I bred 12 Dalmatian litters at home 

and was involved in additional litters from pups sold from 

my breeding.  I purchased my first purebred Dalmatian in 

1976 and I have been exhibiting dogs since 1977.My dogs 

have always been house pets and most had champion-

ship titles and obedience titles.  (Agility and Rally didn’t 

exists back then!) 

I

n the mid 90’s, I was looking for another breed.  I was 

interested in Italian Spinoni, but they were not AKC regis-

tered at the time, so in 1994, I purchased my first German 

Wirehaired Pointer as a breed that I thought would live 

happily with the Dalmatians.  When Spinoni became AKC 

registered, I purchased my first Spinone.  I have owned 

three Spinoni, and two of them still live with me. 

A

fter severely breaking my leg in 2008, I realized that I 

couldn’t handle and show the larger breeds.  I’ve nev-

er been a toy breed person, so the PBGV sounded like the 

perfect solution. Poppy, now 8, and Scotch, now 5, soon 

followed.  Poppy was unable to complete her champion-

ship, but Scotch has his, and both have Rally titles.  

I 

met a young GBGV at one of the PBGV national special-

ties and fell in love.  I now have a GBGV pup, Dooney, and 

I’m looking forward to many fun experiences with him, 

along with getting additional titles on PBGV Scotch.

P

oppy and Scotch have very different personalities.  Pop-

py is quieter than most PBGVs and Scotch, although 

very lovable, is more of a wild child.  It appears that the 

GBGV pup is going to be more like Poppy.  As I get older, 

I think that is just fine with me.  All my dogs sleep on my 

bed, so getting along with each other is crucial.  My Spino-

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