1-1 Premeier Issue FINAL PROOF.pdf Holiday 2013 | Page 29

Debra fit right in, caring tenderly for
the goat kids and taking wonderfully to the
human ones as well. The family
quickly appreciated her sweet
nature, although roving predators did not. But when the
children were busy with their
home-schooling, or the goats
were keeping to themselves,
Jessica and David thought
Debra seemed lonely in the
field. So, in magnanimity
apparently endemic to their
family, they adopted for her
a mate: another Great Pyrenees, Samson. The two
dogs interacted so well, and
exhibited such charming personalities that the Battlesteins decided to breed
them, if for no other reason than to see what
darlings they might yield. As it turned out,
those first puppies were so fantastic that the
family decided to dedicate themselves and
Rehoboth farms to proper dog breeding. In

the subsequent months, they built a kennel,
adopted more Great Pyrenees, and registered
everyone with the American Kennel Club.
Astonishingly, the narrative to
that point—loving parents cultivating a beautiful family and
building a small farm, adopting
a dog and later her mate, all
ending in lots and lots of adorable puppies—is not the Disney
part of the Battlesteins’ tale.

In the summer of 2011,
Disney was looking for four
very specific dogs with precise
dimensions, dispositions, and at
particular stages of development.
Essentially, they were looking for
puppies possessing a very precise “Christmacality” for an upcoming film:
“Santa Paws 2.” One can imagine Disney’s
resources and the scope of their reach,
scouring the nation until they found just the
right pups. As it turned out, their eye landed
on Rehoboth Farms, right here in Pittsboro,

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