Janie: How a Personal Relationship Led to a Greyhound Partnership

Melissa Schmidt and Susan Morton

Melissa Schmidt, a farmer/breeder in Iowa, and Susan Morton co-own Janie (registered name Steam) one of the pups from the Paddy Whacker x Blazin’ Angelfire litter.

As Melissa tells it, Susan and she are friends. “Susan is a vet tech at Dr. Law’s and is involved with almost all of the pregnancies of my broods on the farm (last year 30 of them). Needless to say, she is hands-on with our farm babies. Susan fell in love with Janie from Day 1, so I let her name her. Susan named her ‘Janie’ after Dr. Law’s wife. It is going to be one fun ride co-owning Janie with Susan”.

For Susan’s part in this, she was determined to be part of the Paddy Whacker x Blazin’ Angelfire legacy. She had hoped to negotiate to add a female from that line to Symbioun Farms, going so far as to name her after Janie, the boss’s wife! Who could back away from that? The name stuck but, instead of adding Janie to Kent’s line, Susan accepted Melissa’s partnership offer and finally became a greyhound owner after twenty-two years in the greyhound industry.

Susan really wanted to be a part of Janie’s life. As she says, when someone watches from just outside for twenty-two years, then becomes partners on a dog that could turn the racing world upside down…that is a dreamer’s dream.

How Did Janie Get Her Registered Name of Steam?

They chose the registered name Steam because it’s what you get when you mix a stud from cold, snowy Canada (Paddy Whacker) with a babe from the deserts of Arizona (Blazin’ Angelfire)!