Winterborn Spinone - Idaho Spinone Italiano Breeders

Our experience with Sherry and Winterborn Spinone has been superb! During our vetting process Sherry exhibited tireless patience, answered all of our questions, and made herself readily available whenever we needed her, and there was no pressure involved.

We are not hunters, so we were looking for a family dog. Sherry reassured us that she works hard to ensure that she matches the right dog and its temperament with an individual or family based on their lifestyle and the type of personality they are looking for. Well, based on our experience, we would say that Sherry is a peerless matchmaker.

Our boy Lorenzo Rigatoni aka "Enzo" has been a fabulous addition to our family. He arrived house trained, with a sweet disposition. Obviously, he is a puppy so there is training and work involved, but we could not be happier! Sherry has also been there in the aftermath of our adoption to provide support and answers to our further questions.

Our Enzo is one handsome boy who turns heads wherever we go, has a sweet personality, and plays well with other dogs.

In conclusion: our experience with Winterborn Spinone and their leadership has been top-notch from end-to-end. Highest recommendation!

Our experience with Sherry and the Winterborn Spinone team has been top notch from start to “finish.” (I say that in quotes because we still maintain contact.) Initially we inquired about an available puppy, and Sherry spent over an hour on the phone with me discussing our family, lifestyle, and the available pup to make sure we’d be a good fit for each other.

After deciding to go forward, Sherry provided numerous packets with information on the breed, care, tips, tools, and tricks. She also provided lots of pictures of our pup for our family, and kept open contact throughout the process until we were able to pick her up.

We picked up Daisy, our white and orange girl from the Noodles/Pasta litter, and drove her back to Texas just over a month ago. Our family immediately fell in love with her, along with everyone that sees her. She was a great car dog the entire trip, and continues to be. She has transitioned well, and the Winterborn team did an excellent job having Daisy crate and potty trained before we brought her home. She also understood some basic commands, and has done amazing in the first few weeks of our training at home. (You can follow our pups journey on IG: @some_like_it_spinone)

Sherry is very knowledgeable about the breed, and provides high quality pups. The countless positive reviews are a testament to the quality of their work as a breeder and the amazing pups you will find here at Winterborn. You can also search the hashtag winterbornspinone on IG to see several thriving pups from this great family. I would HIGHLY recommend Sherry and the Winterborn team if you are looking to add a Spinone family member.

Our experience with Sherry and Winterborn Spinone was exceptional. We brought our lovely boy Ravi - from the Noodle litter - home a month ago. Ravi is incredibly smart, absolutely adores belly rubs, and has charmed all of my office mates with his sweet and gentle nature.

Sherry and the Winterborn team absolutely dedicate themselves to giving each puppy the best care, love and guidance for the first weeks of their lives. Whether you are a hunter or a hiker or looking for a therapy dog, the puppies are raised with you – a future member of the Winterborn Family – in mind. Puppy care and welfare is the top priority, and they genuinely care about placing each puppy with the best home for its temperament and potential.

The foundation these puppies experience at Winterborn set them up for success. It took two days for our little guy to learn how to use the doggy door, and within the week, he was starting to take himself out to potty. We ensured that he made it outside frequently (including for the 4:30am wakeup call before he could sleep through the night) and praised him abundantly for a successful potty (he loved this part). Over the next few weeks, he was reliably taking himself outside every time he needed to go.

Initially, we had contacted Winterborn Spinone because we were interested in this breed and believed it would be a good fit for our lifestyle. After connecting with Sherry by email, and then over the phone, we knew she was the right breeder for our family. Sherry is incredibly dedicated to this breed, and the care she provides to her girls and puppies is top notch. We waited almost two years after placing a deposit on a puppy for the right time to bring a puppy home. Through this time, Sherry was incredibly professional and communicated clearly with updates on expected timelines.

While we waited for our puppy, the reviews found here provided reassurance and information. It helped us to get through what felt like a long (but completely worthwhile) wait. Now that we have brought our puppy home, we can confirm that the glowing reviews are accurate. If we ever decide to expand our Spinone family, we will do so with a Winterborn Spinone.

We have had our beautiful orange roan male Spinone for almost one year now. He has been an amazing addition to our family. We named him Archie. He is in a home with three young boys ages 8 and under and a young male cat named Pistol. He has an amazing relationship with our cat and kids. He is gentle, loving and smart. He does well on a gentle leader leash and never disappoints out in public. I literally have people comment any time I take him out. We appreciate everything!

We just got our Spinone puppy from Sherry. He is a brown roan male we named Hatcher. Obviously our entire family has fallen in love with the little guy.

I highly recommend Sherry as a breeder. Everything she did was professional, informational and complete. That includes our own family interview, her care for the puppies, her ease of transfer and follow-up information. We live in South Florida and Sherry is in Northern Idaho but we purchased from Winterborn based on Sherry’s reputation as a first class breeder and the quality of her dogs.

If you are looking for a Spinone I highly recommend you contact Sherry!

We first connected with Sherry in fall 2020, and after several informative and enjoyable phone conversations we put ourselves on the waitlist for a Winterborn puppy. We are so happy that we did: as of November 2021 we have received our puppy, who has - along with Sherry and the Winterborn team - exceeded our expectations in every possible way.

Four aspects of our experience with Winterborn Spinone particularly stand out:

1. Information: Sherry is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the spinone breed, and highly generous with her knowledge. In the early phases of the process she shared valuable insights and resources on spinones, which helped us confirm that this was the right breed for us given our lifestyle, home environment, and plans for the future. Sherry is more than a breeder: she is a veritable authority on spinones and a leading player in furthering the breed in the USA.

2. Family matching: We are not hunters, but rather an active young family who lives in a city but spends a lot of time in nature. We also have a rescue cat at home and will soon be having children, so our home situation and lifestyle call for a certain temperament of dog. Sherry was very attuned to the importance of a dog's fit within a family/home environment, and having had our dog for 2+ months now we are amazed at how well she matched the dog to our particular needs and preferences. Our dog has already become an integral member of the family, and we are astonished and incredibly grateful at just how well her temperament and energy fit into our lifestyle, home environment, and plans for the future.

3. Quality of Dogs and Early Puppy Care: Beyond her great fit with our family, our Winterborn puppy is just an overall wonderful dog. She conforms well with AKC breed standards, and more importantly she has a wonderful personality, a high level of intelligence, and a remarkably sweet temperament. Based on the feedback we have gotten from our vet as well as her behavior around the house, it is clear to us that she enjoyed both excellent parents and a nurturing early puppyhood while in the care of Sherry and her team. This includes valuable early training foundations, including potty training and crate training, which have made our subsequent training efforts so much easier and more productive than they might otherwise have been.

4. Communication and Ongoing Support: From the our first phone call to the present day, Sherry has been extremely communicative, responsive, enjoyable to work with, and generous with her knowledge and experience. It is so wonderful and reassuring to know that Sherry's commitment to our dog and our family goes beyond the pick-up date.

There is much more that I could write about our experience with Winterborn Spinone, but suffice to say that we could not be happier with our experience, our dog, and our ongoing support from Sherry. As soon as we are ready to welcome another spinone to our family we will be coming right back to Winterborn Spinone!

I recently received a puppy (Ella) from Sherry and her family and I have to say it's been an amazing experience. They are professional and very sincere in their methods of raising the pups and providing a wonderful environment for them to grow. The information that they also provided was outstanding. Ella is so well behaved, even for a 3month old. She's potty trained, crate trained and also the sweetest dog I've ever met. I couldn't be more happy with Sherry and her team. I highly recommend them if you are serious about Spinone!

Sherry and her family exceeded all expectations. We had been talking to her for several years, and after putting a deposit down for a litter last year, our living circumstances prevented us from feeling confident that it was the right time. Her understanding and flexibility stood out. Winterborn Spinone's care for our puppy was SO impressive. We are happy beyond measure with our brown roan boy (Frank! We're in love!). Sherry set us up for success, and her respect and dedication to the breed should be where the standard is set.

Since puppyhood is joyous and wonderous, but fleeting, I thought it might be helpful to write an updated review that addresses how our ten-month-old Winterborn puppy, Lucrezia from the Kings and Queens litter. has matured....
With every passing month, Sherry's exemplary work as a breeder and as a resource on all things spinone becomes more apparent... and deeply appreciated.  Winterborn Spinone is impressive in every way. Sherry has been wonderful and invaluable, generously sharing her vast knowledge with us whenever we reached out with a question. Our puppy has exceeded all our expectations. We couldn't be more grateful to the Durst family for breeding marvelous spinoni that are incredibly sweet, intelligent, sensitive, beautiful and eager to please.
In one of our conversations with Sherry, she mentioned that at Winterborn, they raise puppies with families in mind and that they aim to "spread spinone love." Initially, I didn't truly understand the scope of "spinone love" that Sherry succeeded in breeding into her line of spinoni. My husband and I have never had a dog that was as loving, as gentle, and as attached to us as Lucrezia. Lucrezia has yet to exhibit the typical "teenage rebellion" phase of normal puppyhood and I'm not sure she will... Coming when called, even outdoors with distractions, is one of her greatest joys. I can garden in the front yard, open the garage door, and leave her where I tell her to stay. She does not try to escape even when people or other dogs pass by. We're keeping our fingers crossed this attitude lasts! 
Sherry also said that Winterborn focuses on breeding very intelligent dogs. On that front, Lucrezia has proven herself a super smart cookie! She already learned tens of commands, usually after only one or two lessons. Moreover, she has amazing retention, recalling new commands surprisingly well at later dates. She is an avid and happy student, even prodding me to start our training sessions at the usual time! She knows most of her toys by name and loves to retrieve and "find" the ones I hide. Her nose is very keen. While we are not hunters, she nevertheless finds and points hiding quails when I take her for our morning run. True to breed descriptions, she loves to stay in close range even when I drop her leash on (safe) sections of the trails while we're running. She also loves a challenge and makes up games (usually pushing, hiding and stalking a tennis ball or running around with one of her rope toys) to entertain herself when I can't play with her.
In raising the puppies, Sherry and her family expended notable efforts to raise well-behaved dogs for families. We continue to benefit greatly from all their foundational work. Lucrezia remains very thoughtful, cautious, and polite in her greetings. For example, she goes into an expert, and totally adorable and charming, army crawl to greet other dogs, especially when they are smaller than herself. She is especially careful around little dogs so as not to scare them and empathetically adjusts her playing style to suit the demeanor of the dog she meets. She is always polite when greeting humans as well. We take her almost everywhere we go, including to restaurants for outdoor dining two or three times a week. She lays down patiently while we eat, does not beg, and is invariably polite with people dining near us. She likes to think before she acts and is generally cautious. She also is delightful and makes us laugh every day.
Lest you think that I am biased, I most definitely am!! I admit that my husband and I find Lucrezia irresistible: it's hard to pass up kissing and petting her every time we look at her fuzzy head and long-lashed green eyes... Her house manners are impeccable (thanks in large part to the solid foundations that Sherry instilled). She has never destroyed or harmed anything in the house and my garden survived her young puppyhood almost intact! Her responses to commands indoors is perfect; but she still needs work outside not pulling on a leash. 
Over the past several months, we have found Sherry's recommendations regarding pet products to be incredibly useful... and unerringly correct! Sherry is an encyclopedia about spinoni and about dogs! We often feel so very grateful to her for generously sharing her knowledge and wisdom; not to mention for breeding our fantastic Lucrezia! 
I cannot end my review without mentioning that it is always a real pleasure to talk with Sherry: her personality, insights, integrity, and sense of humor are truly exceptional and uplifting. We can't say enough great things about the Winterborn team and their terrific, beautiful, smart, and lovable spinoni!! Getting on Sherry's waiting list for a puppy and being patient while we waited was well worth it. Now Winterborn Spinone has spoiled us forever. Nothing else will do in the future...

Sherry Durst and her family deserve all the respect and the highest praise and commendations. I cannot recommend Winterborn Spinone highly enough! Sherry is simply extraordinary - being both an outstanding breeder as well as a wonderful person who is a pleasure to know. Her Winterborn Spinone have exceptional beauty, conformation, and temperaments.
My husband and I waited a long time to get one of Sherry’s puppies. It was worth every minute! We were looking for an easy-going, smart Spinone who would be a family companion and running partner. We got our darling Lucrezia from the Kings and Queens (Emperors and Empresses) litter one week ago and think she’s spectacular!
In our wide search for a reputable breeder, we never came across anyone who came even close to Sherry in terms of knowledge about the breed, quality of loving care for her dogs, and preliminary training work. Anyone who’s watched the Winterborn Spinone YouTube videos can sense the unique rapport, the expert handling and the love in Sherry’s interactions with the puppies. Sherry is informative, conscientious, responsive, helpful and honest. She is an excellent communicator, providing us with extensive training and care resources. She is also vivacious, cheerful, and most importantly, deeply cares about her dogs. Her joie de vivre and expert handling leave an indelible and positive imprint upon the puppies, thereby establishing the best possible foundation for their future.
The proof is in the pudding! We are so impressed with how confident, polite, healthy, happy, smart, and adaptable our Lucrezia is! Before she arrived we had steeled ourselves for the, we thought (based on our past experiences with many dogs), inevitable trials and travails of puppyhood... We need not have worried! She’s a dream puppy!
Sherry taught the puppies to "settle" which proved to be invaluable in producing a puppy that can rest through the normal activity of our family's normal day routine. Lucrezia's calm, curious, and happy temperament is evident when she encounters novel situations, locations, noises, and so forth. She is especially eager to please! She picks up commands in just a couple of repetitions and retains her newly acquired knowledge, recalling the commands from the first attempt the following days. After flying to California, she quickly recovered from the transition and bonded with us almost immediately. She sleeps well in her crate and has great house manners! She goes “potty” on command and has only had two accidents (that were our fault) in the first three days. Since then she has had no accidents, which is remarkable considering she is free to move all over the house – although under close supervision and proactive management on our part. By the end of the first week, she knew how to ask to go out to do her business by walking to the door that leads to the garden.
We are in love with Lucrezia. We're very impressed with her intelligence, her easy-going and gentle attitude, and her playfulness. She’s already a remarkable retriever, returning her tennis ball and toys and even sitting and dropping them when asked! She does not puppy-bite and sits for pets. Lucrezia is affectionate, loves cuddles, chase games, find it games, and being sung to. She is sweeter than pie! We love her orange fuzzy face and ears as well as the orange bullseye on her tail and derriere – especially when she wags it so much it could fall off!
We have Sherry to thank for the invaluable and, in our experience, unprecedented efforts that she and her loving family put into pre-training the puppies to set them up for success.