Barbara Brooks-Worrell and Mark Worrell
established Ol West Bullmastiffs in 1990 and bred their first litter in 1991.
They have bred multiple group placing dogs, top 10 bullmastiffs, obedience
titlist, conformation titlist, duel and triple titlist, therapy dogs, search and
rescue dogs, and wonderful family members. They love to show their dogs in
conformation, agility and obedience and hope their daughter Morgan will one day
be handling the bullmastiffs in Juniors.
Barbara and Mark have always been deeply involved in rescue. Barbara has held
the position of American Bullmastiff
Association (ABA) national rescue chairperson multiple
times. Barbara and Mark have won many awards and have been recognized many times
for their work in rescue by a number of national breed clubs, law enforcement,
animal control organizations, and the American Kennel Club. Barbara is currently
the Northwest Bullmastiff Rescue Coordinator for the ABA and has served on the
board. She currently sits on the board of the
Mt. Rainier Working Dog
Club. Barbara is a founding director and has been a
past Secretary and President of the
PNBF.
I purchased my first bullmastiff in 1984
out of a newspaper ad. Prior to my first purchase, I had been around a number of
bullmastiffs because of my work at a local vet hospital as a veterinarian
technician. I adored the breed and when I saw the ad in the paper for $100, I
couldn't resist. I had just graduated from Ohio State University with my
Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology/Immunology and was heading to Wright State
University to work on my Master’s degree. The bullmastiff that I purchased was a
female, who I named Casie Mae. I spayed Casie and worked her in obedience until
I lost her to lymphosarcoma at the age of 5.5 yrs. After I lost Casie, I decided
to find a knowledgeable breeder from whom to purchase my next dog. My next
bullmastiff came from Lila Edwards of Ironwood Bullmastiffs in Indiana. The dog
I purchased from Lila was Cody (Ch Ironwood’s Buffalo Bill Cody, CD, NA, OFA).
Lila convinced me to show Cody in conformation, obedience and agility. The rest
of Cody's accomplishments are history. Cody went on to earn his conformation
title and I “specialed” him to an almost undefeated record in the northwest
before I retiring him from the show ring at 7.5 yrs of age. Cody also went on to
a High In Trial win in obedience and also became the 2nd
agility titled bullmastiff in the history of the breed. From there I was hooked!
We currently raise bullmastiffs under
the Ol West kennel name and compete in obedience, conformation, and agility. We
began breeding bullmastiffs in 1991 after I completed my doctorate in Veterinary
Science (Immunology/Infectious disease). At that point, I felt I had adequately
studied the bullmastiff breed (began my studying in 1984). However, I was still
a “novice” in the bullmastiff breed, so to help me with my breeding program I
chose two mentors. Lila Edwards of Ironwood bullmastiffs, breeding since 1962
and Jack Shastid, Shastid Freehold Bullmastiffs breeding since 1969. I owe much
of my success in breeding bullmastiffs to Jack Shastid (Shastid Freehold) who
allowed us to purchase an incredible girl, Annie, from him. Annie (Intl. BIS/Intl.Ch
Ol West Annie Oakley Shastid, CD, ROM) would become our wonderful companion,
friend and the foundation to our breeding program. With the help of Jack, we
were able to import semen from England to produce two outstanding litters and
make history with the first AKC registered litter from imported semen. The first
litter produced Ch Ol West King William, CD, NA and the second produced Ch Ol
West Geronimo, CD (among others). We were also given the opportunity to purchase
Diana (Ch Shastids Ol West Bit O Britn, OFA) from Jack. Diana enriched our lives
in numerous ways and was also an important addition to our breeding program.
Over the years, we have had the pleasure
to be owned by a number of very talented bullmastiffs. I have enjoyed working
and loving each of them. I like to see at least duel if not triple titles on our
dogs!
Multiple titlist:
Intl Ch/Ch Ol West Frank James, AAI/AAT, CD
Triple titlists:
Ch Ironwood’s Buffalo Bill Cody, CD, CGC, NA, OFA
Ch Ol West King William, CD, NA
Duel titlist:
Ch Ol West Geronimo, CD
Other titlists:
Ch Shastids Ol West Bit O Britn
Ch Ol West Jessie James
Ch Ol West Ellie Mae
Ch Ol West Butch Cassidy
Ch Ol West Dimond Lil of Bluelk
Ch Ol West Belle Star
Ch Ol West Lilly Langtree
Ch Ol West Wyatt Earp
Ch Ol West Crossing Senora
Ch Ol West Raging River
Ch Ol West Pecos Bill
Ch Ol West Mae West
Ch Ol West Norma Jean
Ch Ol West Mighty Sirius
Ch Ol West Golden Rose of Cheyene
And multiple other AKC/International and Canadian Champions.
I have held numerous offices in the
national and local bullmastiff clubs. I was the northwest regional rescue
coordinator for Bullmastiffs, Neapolitan mastiffs, and Dogue De Bordeauxs from
1993-2003.
However, in January 2003 I stepped down as the coordinator for Neapolitan
mastiffs and in August 2003, I stepped down as the coordinator for the Dogue de
Bordeauxs. We are still northwest coordinators for bullmastiff rescue. Mark and
I have also raised puppies, or train problem dogs for the local shelter until
they are ready to be adopted from 1991-2002. Rescue, training, and education are
areas that are extremely important to us. I have received numerous awards from the
American Kennel club, dog clubs and dog organizations, animal control officers
guilds, and police departments for our work with rescue and education. However,
the most important award to us is to see the happy faces of the rescues when
they come back to visit, and interacting with the many friends we have met
through our rescue work and our breeding/showing of the bullmastiffs! The people
and the dogs are what are really important and a treasured part of our lives.
Your new addition:
I hope with your new addition to your
family, that the bullmastiff will become as treasured a part of your life as
they have become of our family. We have carefully tried to establish a
relationship prior to you purchasing your bullmastiff from us. We hope that this
relationship/friendship will grow with each passing year. We want you to feel
comfortable in contacting us with questions, problems, and celebrations of
accomplishments and joys. It is our hope that the bullmastiff that you have now
acquired will fill your days ahead with the love and joy we have come to know
over the years (brought to us through our bullies). Moreover, we hope that you
to will experience the “unique” love of the bullmastiff which is unrivaled by
any other breed. If you at anytime need help/advice or just want to share
concerns or accomplishments, PLEASE CALL!
- Dr. Barbara Brooks-Worrell
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