Testing the Waters....
My family and I have decided to add another dog to our home. We have considered several breeds and we were wondering if you could provide some insight into whether an Old English Sheepdog would be a good fit. Here's a little information about us. My husband and I have been married for 6 years. We have 2 sons, aged 5 and 2. We have a six year-old female terrier who gets along well with other dogs. We live on a 2 acre property here in rural Luskville, Québec. Our property is partially fenced and bordered on both sides by farmers' fields. Shortly after my second son was born, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, we've been thorough chemo, radiation, surgeries and now can finally say that I am in remission. Consequently, I have left my job as a public servant in Ottawa to be a stay at home mom and spend as much time with my family as possible. My husband continues to work in Ottawa for the Federal Government. Now that our oldest son will be starting school in the fall, we feel it's a good time to add a family member of the canine persuasion. Our most important question relates to how well the OES gets along with younger children as well as with smaller dogs. Also, what about puppy vs. rescue? rescue? Thanking you in advance for your time. Please feel free to ask us anything you think may be relevant to our search. Warmly, Leslie, Jim, William and Thomas |
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Welcome to the forum 
It's definitely a great place to help you make your decision, tons of info to browse through about the breed. |
| Welcome to the forum. Lots of our forum members have babies and toddlers so hopefully they will give you some insight into having small children and sheepies. Just a reminder...sheepdogs are addictive!!! |
Welcome to the forum.  Our children are grown now--and we have had sheepdogs at almost every age. Although we did not have other dogs we have always had cats and our dogs have always gotten along with the feline brothers. As long as you have the time to give adequate time to the dogs for their exercise and take care of ALL their grooming needs--in our experience there was NEVER a problem as they were always members of the family. When our children were small they were attentive and gentle and as they grew they were confidants and best friends!!  I can't imagine our home without one!  Even now the children consider that they still have brothers at home and often "borrow" them for a trip to the park or a nice afternoon at their home or college apartment. My nest was never really empty--when all of our friends were adjusting--we just added another sheepie family!! |
| My two sheepdogs LOVE little dogs. At the park; several of the dogs they get along with best are a pair of pugs and a pair of Jack Russell Terriers. And I know several people here have small dogs along with their Sheepdog. I love to read stories about KTB's Summer the Sheepdog and Tilly the Yorkie:
http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=22243 http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=20205 http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=19972 I've begun thinking that Tonks might like her own Yorkie. I haven't told Adam I'm thinking this yet.  |
Darth Snuggle wrote: I've begun thinking that Tonks might like her own Yorkie. I haven't told Adam I'm thinking this yet.
Last year I began thinking I'd like my own sheepie. Well they're not exactly easy to come by are they? So enquiries were made and Lisa put me onto a breeder and I HAD to make a decision while Wayne was overseas for work.  
When Wayne go home he asked whose puppy I was minding. 
He absolutely loves her. |
| Leslie,
I'll add my welcome to the forum to those already sent. Bobtails are rather a unique breed and while they have their own challenges they can be the most rewarding as well. I'm sure everyone here has plenty of stories of both the challenges and the rewards they have faced and obviously we all think that the rewards far outweight anything else so we stay in our lifelong commitments to these fuzzball clowns. I'm just down the road from you in Aylmer, and there are a few other forum members in the Ottawa area so if you want to meet one of these guys let me know and we'll see what we can arrange. There are also a couple of active breeders not too far away, as well as quite a concentration in the Toronto area, so that may be of some help as well. Reading is great and you have to learn a lot to make an informed decision that is right for both your family and the dog but getting to know a Bobtail is also essential to the decision making process. Anyway, good luck in your research and don't hesitate to ask questions as they come up. There are no dumb questions and everyone here has made the learning and growing journey you are considering. Thans and Cheers Carl |
| Leslie, I will add my welcome to the forum. There is a ton of great advise here. It might be a bit biased because we all love sheepies. Others can tell you more about introductions of a new dog into the family. All I can say is that Bella is great with little dogs and bigger ones as well. She will lay down to play with the two Lasa's at the end of the block.
Little people can be a bit of a problem since they are at the right level to get their face washed  and the right size to be knocked over by a bump or an exuberant greeting. |
| Welcome! |
| I have two oes's and 1 toy poodle. The poodle was first and the others get along great with her, she is the boss. One of my oes, Sammi plays with her more on our runs ... Blue is running around checking on things and peeing on all the bushs. |
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