Absinthe is a very small and very holistic focused show home.  Our dogs, cats, and reptiles are first and foremost ...ABOVE and BEYOND anything else, ....our family members.  We do not sacrifice awards in the show ring for the health and well being of our dogs in particular. When we do show the dogs it is generally locally so that the entire family can attend.   Moreover, we tend to pick shows that allow us to go and come as we tend to out of our element when we have to travel  and stay in hotels.  Essentially we won't stress our dogs or our sons.

Most of our show cats are retired or alters and they are shown rarely and sparingly.

We do not have a "kennel" per se, but rather an home environment where the dogs play in our gardens ( or their own very spacious play area) and at night they sleep somewhere in our home on a sofa or bed ...or wherever they happen to fall asleep.

We breed only occasionally and then it's only for ourselves to hopefully create the new Absinthe Champion. When we do breed it is only after rigorous testing for breed specific congenital concerns and we guarantee only those things which are humanly responsible to guarantee. Our preference is to place puppies in loving, non-show "Forever Homes" ...especially those with children.  Being parents ourselves we have a preference for these homes and have many, many beautiful success stories to substantiate our rationale.

We are very focused on our children's eclectic interest and education, which includes our dogs ,cats and reptiles.  This is not to forget our interests in the indigenous tribes of Costa, the rainforest, our boys devotion to ecology,  anthropology, and "being Green"

The breeding and showing of animals has been a passion of Brian's since he was 18 years old.  He started out with Afghan Hounds, then after a very brief period of showing, went to University to earn two Undergraduate degrees and two Master's degrees, as well as a Post  graduate degree ( Early Childhood Development and Education)

After all that, Brian fell in love with the Terrier group and bred/showed and finished several Airedales, Kerry Blue terriers, and Welsh Terriers.

However his true love and most success was with his Riesenheim Giant and Standard Schnauzers.

In 1994, I stopped showing dogs and decided I wanted to have a purebred Maine Coon...as a pet only.  well that went out the window fast as that PET became a CFA Regional Winning Kitten whose name is DGC Rumford's Noah of AmericanGothic.  The rest of that legacy can be found on the cattery link.

Oh yes, you may be asking yourself " so why the name Absinthe Menagerie". Well, it is sort of a menagerie in that we have snakes, dogs, cats, and lizards...BUT the Absinthe part comes from Brian's having lived in France in his youth and his having experienced the magic of the " Green Faerie". We both adore French Impressionist art... especially posters from the turn of the century. So it just seem to fit. We will try to feature a variety of vintage posters for Absinthe from time to time.

Since this is a work in progress, we hope you will visit often to see what is new. We surely hope you enjoy your visit.

Prior to January 2004, we lived in the upscale, lake front neighbor of Andersonville in Chicago, Illinois.  What lead us to the "Land of Enchantment" is still, in many ways a mystery to us all.  Suffice it to say it has been a major reality check in more areas of our lives than one. However, having lived in New Mexico since 2004, we have had several epiphanies and revelations about what is truly best for our Tribe and exactly how we can improve the quality of our lives.  One of these revelations is the revisiting of an earlier dream of having a B&B.  However, that too has morphed and we have decided that we want to live "Off the Grid".  To find out what this really means, you may want to read a Blog called  "The Journey"  

In the meantime, we reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico