Happy Valentines Day !
Welcome to DreamCatcher Hill!
I have raised a small number of purebred puppies for over 40 years, variety has grown as my human family has also grown, between the family (in 3 different homes) we raise: Westies, Frenchies, Pugs, Cavaliers, and some purebred and Designer Crosses with Poodles, or Maltese for hypoallergenic puppies We love the variety as we are all also different!
The farm here in Brighton Illinois is a dream come true.
Dear Potential Customers,
Despite the Covid health crisis mellowing out and everything being open again, it is not business as usual around here. Dreamcatcher Hill is a family run operation and so the health of everyone living at, working in, and visiting our facilities is a priority to us. We request that if you are feeling ill and have a scheduled appointment with us, please call to reschedule. We are remaining flexible in regard to appointments and pickups in an effort to reduce risk to everyone involved in all of our transactions. We are scheduling appointments further apart to lessen the likely hood that appointments will overlap. We are meeting outdoors only for puppy visiting. We encourage anyone who has any questions to please contact us. My aunt, mom and uncle were born in 1935, 1936, and 1945 respectively. My mom and aunt have not recovered from the scare. We honor their wishes to keep exposure to a bare minimum, even now in 2024. I apologize for not having an open door policy any more!
We are honored that you have chosen to place your trust in us while you are choosing your fur baby.
Regards,
Laurel Grench
Dreamcatcher Hill
About Us
It really is a labor of love for all the furry and feathered friends we care for. I had been an EMT-P, and an RN before turning my calling into a full time way of life. Many wonderful people have joined me in the dedication of adding joy to others lives as well. See more about us below.
Puppies
Click on the Puppies drop down menu above for each page. We currently have Frenchie's, Westies, Pugs, Maltipoo's, and Cavapoo's. Each page shows puppy availability, and mom's who are expecting. We love each one and the variety!
Rescue
Before we learned we are not licensed to do dog rescue (its ok to rescue if they will be permanant pets, but not to help them find good homes. IL has the worst laws! So we no longer can do rescue. We do sometimes know of dogs needing new homes. In the past we had dogs available on the rescue page, many with such sad past lives. We placed over 200 dos into great homes back then. I still have the page and sometimes post dogs we know needing a home, but we can no longer do actual rescue.
Please consider a rescued adult dog before getting a puppy!
Puppies!
I love our dogs, rescued critters of many varieties, and country life. I have raised dogs for over 40 years: Westies for almost 30 years. I have 3 grown children, 2 grandsons I am blessed live only a few miles away, and couple years ago added a teen son and preteen daughter to my home.
Over time I have added pages and updated the farm name from Laurel's West Highland White Terriers to DreamCatcher Hill, as our furry family has grown to include our rescued dogs, horses, the adorable loving Cavaliers. Plus soft furry Poodles for designer crosses; Cavapoo and Hypoallergenic puppies, and the ever silly happy Frenchies my daughter, Kim's, favorite.
My Uncle AL who moved here in 2013 added Pugs! I can now understand how people call them the clowns of the dog world! Talk about happy and silly!
Our Services
Dog Sitting (Boarding)
We mostly only dog-sit puppies and dogs who were adopted from us. When we have dog guests they are in the house with us, and walked on a leash when outside. Dogs will usually be crated when we are outside, and at night. If they are very well behaved they have the run of the house 24/7 with our house dogs.
Please contact us if interested.
Transport:
About Us
The actual 24/7 of farm and critter life is not for anyone but a crazy workaholic! Its not unusual for me to be up every 3 hours around the clock feeding babies of some variety, puppies, but also baby pigs, bunnies, and some other critters that seem to just fall into our lap.
I have had extended family and friends visit, move in and stay a time for a temporary home as they each build their own dream. I am blessed to be a part of it all.
My Uncle AL moved here in 2013.
In 2016 my aging mother and frail aunt also moved here full time. We completed their own little house here on the farm in fall of 2017.
My cousin Brenda lived here for a time. Then Aryne, a young mom with 3 little boys, we met in December 2016 moved in April 2017. She needed a place and we needed help with paperwork and getting the house for my mom and aunt completed. She has her own place now and a few furry friends of her own including a cavalier named Sophie, and her poodle boy Sonny.
My daughter left her corporate job, worked here part-time and is raising their wonderful boys. (My only 2 grandchildren. I am SO fortunate they live close so I am a part of their life!) Nothing like a job that you can show up and go home, whenever it works best for your family. Family is #1!
Libbie worked here awhile, a sister to a friend of ours mid-2018 to spring 2020. She added more help for the puppies and dogs to have socializing. She has had some schooling to be a therapy dog trainer. Plus she's great at paperwork! She is now doing her own thing; original art work! If you would like a custom puppy, or dog portrait please contact her, she is exceptionally good! She also does art of other animals and people, Seriously talented!
Things evolve. In winter 2019 we hired Brandy, an accountant part time, who was also a full time college student. Her husband, Mike, lucky for us, wasn't very busy so he started working here helping with basic livestock animal chores, some help with the dogs, plus big time farm clean-up and renovation. My son, Keith, and Mike work great together and have steadily organized and repaired the things Art and I couldn't get to with the furry critters taking all our time and attention. Mike and Brandy lived on the farm, for a few years. The farm is really a stepping stone as they of course have their own dreams. With the Covid pandemic it was very fortunate for me to have help who lived here as Kim and Libbie were home on the stay at home order. Kim is also now home schooling the boys. Brandy had family matters and college on-line taking all her time for awhile. Mike was my only help, which he did livestock chores morning and night, keeping up with long term goals of building and repairs with Keith and helped with dogs when I just couldn't keep up from early April to this update, mid-May. Kim would come by and couple hours here and there as she could. I had to set up an auto-reply on email as we were getting thousands of emails, doing all the dog chores. Art had moved out and was gone, and I had no help with the jobs Kim, Libbie and I did for office work. It had been all I could do to try and keep up. The critters come first. They are doing terrific! The Covid hasn't effected them in the least, even if I am ready to drop from exhaustion! When Brandy's semester was over and family matters settled down she helped with the phone. She is doing the accounting farm stuff. Kim worked a bit more to help with registrations and the things Libbie was doing that had piled up when the stay at home order lifted. Ethan started work in May and caught on really fast. He has been terrific with helping with dogs and puppy cleaning. It let me go back to working just the typical 1.5 to 2 people worth of work.
Its August now 2020. Brandy and Ethan are going back to school, Kim will have her 2 boys being homeschooled. Art had come back, slowly getting his health back, although not able to help with any work. I just heard the first 4 cases of covid are in Bunker Hill, the town closest to us. Prayers everyone reading this and their families and friends are ok!
I can still look across the fields and trees and feel blessed every day to be so fortunate to have a beautiful space to call home with friends and family all living here, never a dull moment.
Like many, the stress of Covid is always on our mind with so many susceptible people living here, plus friends and family who are all at risk.
I feel so bad for those many people isolated during this stressful pandemic when accustomed to going out and socializing! Hopefully everyone has windows to be able to notice the shapes in the clouds, dream of new projects, complete some goals, and catch an occasional rainbow! Hang in there! Having issues coping, look up many articles on ambiguous loss to understand the immense invisible stress, and please call; hotlines, friends, or family and get help!
There is beauty all around us, and in us, despite our emotional brain blocking what our senses can pick up in the here and now!