Paws & Whiskers Owners

Managing Partner at Paws & Whiskers: Erin Brown

From my early childhood, animals have always played an enormous part in my life. I grew up in an isolated part of New Guinea where animals were my companions and security guards. I am now an international judge, owner of a large boarding facility and more importantly, I am the personal property of a number of very beautiful but spoilt cats and dogs!

As I write this two of my feline girls are supervising – curled up beside me.

My first pedigree cat was a seal point Siamese bought by my father as a birthday present in 1966 – and he was followed by another two seal points over the next couple of years. As I was already showing my dachshunds, it seemed right to head off to the shows with my cats.  So I drove from Bundaberg to Brisbane, cats one weekend then dogs another. And generally my cats were more successful in the ring!

I travelled to England in the 70’s – leaving my animals at home with my parents – as you do! Needless to say I still haunted the odd dog and cat show, while I was there, and came home at the end of 1972 with a Saluki dog which was the start of the Quanmarra prefix.

My parents finally had enough of me and my animals and decreed that we should go and find a home of our own – strangely my friend Penny’s parents felt the same way and so it was suggested that we should share the same kennel/cattery. This of course meant that there were no restrictions on animals – until we were sprung by the local Council much, much later! And that is another story!

Cat Breeding and Showing Successes

Penny’s first cat was a seal point who lived in her wardrobe and ate her fur coat and I ventured into my first Oriental Shorthair Black Jack. Neither were stars in the show world but we did love them. We decided to get serious about our cats in 1991 and purchased a tabby point female who had a fabulous eye colour, a very firm chin and body spots.

Pat Mercer, an All Breeds judge suggested that we should consider putting our tabby point female to an Oriental boy so we checked out who had the winning OSH’s (Oriental Shorthair) at the time. So that was the beginning of the Quanmarra Orientals, for not only did we get to use the Korindah boys but we were also lucky enough to have Janelle and Ken Lawrence mentor us in our breeding programme  and we have remained firm friends with them ever since.

Since then we have bred a number of top winning cats at Paws & Whiskers:

• In 2000 Gr Ch Quanmarra Bonnie Prince of Pzazz , a seal classic was campaigned by Nancy Parkinson from Texas to win the TICA International Cat of the Year
• At home in 1998 Ch Quanmarra Guylian, a chocolate and silver spotted feline was the Supreme Exhibit at the ACF National and then went on to win Supreme Kitten at the CCC of A National a month later
• Overseas we have also had success with CFA Gr Ch Quanmarra Prince Igor of Seventh Heaven in the USA, Quanmarra Adenandra shown in Norway to an FIFE International champion, as was Quanmarra Klytie in Switzerland

Cat Judging experience:

I have been judging cats since 1998 and have judged in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, the USA, Philippines, UK and China

• I am a member and Judge with Feline Control Council of Queensland who are affiliated with Australian Cat Federation
• I gained my Group Two licence in January 2001 and extended my licence for the remainder of shorthairs in March 2006
• I gained my longhair licence in middle of 2008 which gave me my All Breeds licence
• I also judge dogs and am an All Breeds judge with the Australian National Kennel Council

Whenever I am away I always try to get to both cat and dog shows in that area as I feel it is important that we never stop learning about these fascinating creatures.

Dog Breeding and Showing Successes

I started exhibiting dogs in the early sixties and started breeding Salukis under the Quanmarra prefix in 1971.  I have also shown Papillons, Rottweilers and Dachshunds, however Salukis have remained as my abiding passion.

Over the years I have owned and bred a number of multiple Best in Show winning Salukis and now breed in partnership with Penny Dunkley and Ian Rasmussen and Philip Bennett of Ahmadi Salukis. At Paws & Whiskers our dogs have included the Top Saluki in Australia for 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005 and Queensland Dog of the Year 2004 and 2008.

Ch Quanmarra Kareja the 2012 Queensland Hound of the Year and a multi Best in Show winner including the Toowoomba Royal, presently leads our small team of youngsters in the ring, with many in show and group wins.  Kareja’s brothers have also performed very well in the show ring overseas   in the USA, Thailand, Japan and at home with many in show awards and both national and international  titles.

Erin's Dog Judging experience:

I have been judging dogs since 1987 and I have judged extensively in Australia and New Zealand, and have also judged in Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Finland, South Africa, Canada, USA, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Sweden, Estonia and Taiwan.

• I am a member and an All Breeds Judge with Canine Control Council of Queensland who are affiliated with Australian National Kennel Club
• I am on the Health Committee for Dogs Qld (Canine Control Council. Qld)       

Other Interesting Facts about Erin:

• I was the President for the Queensland Boarding Kennel Association from 1993 to 1996, when I stepped down due to time needed to develop the new Paws and Whiskers site. During my tenure, I was heavily involved in negotiations with Government in setting guidelines for the kennel industry with the introduction of the Environment Protection Act
• I am presently the President from Feline Control Council of Queensland and in this role endeavour to guide the association in their operations. I continue to be active in organizing shows and liaising with international judges
• I am the President for the Siamese and Shorthair Cat Club of Qld and previously held this position from 1994 to 2004. I was Show Co-coordinator for the CCC of A National Cat Show, with 6 International judges. This show was run over two days, had a very  large entry for  Queensland and came in on budget
• I was President of the Gundog & Heavy Breeds Club (1990-2004) which runs the largest single day Dog Show in Queensland, with in excess 1000 entries with 8 to 9 International judges
• I am a member of the Sighthound Club of Queensland and the Belgium Shepherd Club of Queensland
• I have made our kennels available for industry visits, and I was a guest lecturer at Ithaca TAFE for the Kennel and Cattery course for over 10 years,
• Paws and Whiskers continues to run industry based training for overseas students
• Lecture on canine development, puppy raising and do breed lectures for both cats and dogs
• I sat on the Curriculum Advisory Committee for the development of the curriculum for Companion Animal Industry Practices (Retailing) for Open Learning Institute of TAFE in 1999
• I have represented the animal industry on a number of committees for both local and State Governments

You are welcome to contact Erin at Paws & Whiskers.

Partner at Paws & Whiskers: Penny Dunkley

I had my first dog when I was nine years old; a two year old cross bred who lasted until I was 25. Since then I have been a lover of Salukis, receiving my first from Erin and also sharing many Salukis and Papillions with Erin. My current dog is a 10 year old mini wire haired Dachshund named Matilda. 

My first cat was a neurotic Siamese who arrived as a kitten and hid in my wardrobe for days. Since then there have been Siamese, Orientals and Maine Coons who have made their way into my life.

Professionally, I have a degree in architecture and I have consulted on the design of a number of kennels and catteries.