I know Hudson's a pipsqueak, but why point it out?
Then he asked Gordon what kind of dog he was. And Gordon said, "He's an Old English Sheepdog. His fur is on the short side still as he was shaved a few months ago, but it's cooler for him that way." And this guy said, "No, he can't be. I had a friend with an Old English before, and I've met several in my life. They are big dogs. He is not." Gordon tried to explain that he is a short, stocky Old English (for Heaven's sake, the little piglet weighs 76 pounds, and we keep cutting his food down more and more...he's really solid but not flabby) but this guy was not buying it. No way Hudson could be a sheepie. Now I don't particularly care what this guy thinks, but I do often notice how short Hudson is. We've always had big boys, and Rudy (his brother) weighs about the same but is about ten inches taller at the shoulders, so he's built like a gazelle). So now Hubby comes home and tells me this (big mistake) and I've been stewing about it ever since. He's not a little dog. He is short, but he is NOT little! Yorkies are little. Havanese are little. Chihuahuas are little. Hudson is not. And now my feelings are hurt for him. And even for me a little. You wouldn't say such things to a short person. I want to go find that man and kick him in the shins for my short little sheepie/piglet. And yes, I totally know I am being overly sensitive. But dis my dog and you deal with me. |
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 YOU tell 'em....  |
As a not tall by any means human, I totally sympathize!!  How tall is Hudson, anyway? |
The shins are not where I would kick him! All but 2 of mine were smaller. I just say they are very rare line.  Ya know the bag you carry for clean up? I might have accidently spilled it on him  My father had a saying. 'You talk like a (substitute man for a woman) with a putty butt!!!!!Hudson is handsome and compact. Good things come in small packages. |
| Okay, slight exaggeration in the height difference...but not that much. I just measured both. Rudy (at the highest point of the shoulders) is just a smidge above 27 inches. Hudson is 20 (and he insists there's another half in there, but I'm not so sure). Shaved naked, Hudson looks a lot like a bulldog, except for his sheepie head. Shaved naked, Rudy looks like Gumby, but he has filled out a lot since he moved here. And Hudson's legs are embarrassingly short. I think that's a big part of the reason he's not a big fan of exerting himself. He takes three steps for every one of Rudy's. |
| I love it Tell Hudson he needs to take walks with a basset...then he'll look tall. That's what Chewie does  I know some really nice ones in our rescue right now - and they are in MN - WAY closer than Florida!  |
| When we had Farley and lived in Grafton he and Tripper got out the gate a couple of times and the kids in the neighborhood would holler they went that way. It was such a sight to see Farley who was tall too and Tripper walking down the sidewalk side by side. Mutt and Jeff for sure. Butchy is our shortest sheepie and I like it just fine. I know it's not in the rule book but a smaller sheepie would be fine with me and tell Hudson bull dogs are neat too. Love the picture Dawn. |
| I could hold the man down while you kick his shins! I am short, but strong! |
My Eggbert is a pipsqueak at 22" and only 57lbs dripping wet. I get so sick of people insisting that I starve him!   This dog eats like (and has the metabolism of) a 16 year old boy. I only wish I should be so lucky  |
| And I thought Zeke was small. He's about 24" and weighs around 57 lbs. But no matter the size, he's still a sheepie and we'll love 'em all. |
| First, I haven't heard anyone use the term"pipsqueak" in years! But, my Bella is only 75 pounds...My first sheepie was small, about 70 pounds. People always asked me if he was a beardie People are dumb...I don't let these "airholes" bother me.... |
| If it makes you feel any better, my oldest son used to get absolutely furious when people would stop him while walking Merlin as a 3 and 4 month old puppy and insist, absolutely insist that he was a Tibetan Terrier. There was a family who lived down the street who had 2 and so everyone who say Merlin as a pup thought he must be a tibetan. Problem went away when Merlin got a bit bigger. BUT while we were waiting for his specially ordered name tags (long enough ago that this took a week or so), I had Merlin (at about 3 months old) in the front yard with me when the middle school marching band came by. Puppy Merlin was terrified and ran around the back of the house and then came back when the band was past. OK, but the band marched past again, and Merlin again took off. I wasn't worried until he didn't come back--he had slipped out through a small gap in the wall in the back of the yard. I ran, looking for him, all over the place, up and down. Behind us is a fairly busy street. The kids went out looking, I called the police (who do animal control), I called the local radio stations who put such announcements out, I called everyone I knew. Then I found out our phone was out of order (pre cell phone days). Of course it was. The only time that has ever happened and it happened that day. So after a couple of hours had passed, me getting more and more frantic, another mother from my daughter's pre-school pulled up into my driveway. She had been trying to call me: she saw someone pick up Merlin and take him to the home of the people with the tibetan terriers. One of them was an escape artist and people were always scooping him up and taking him back and just putting him in the back yard, in the fenced enclosure. Except: I knew these people were out of town, but at least I knew where he was: Hubby and son had just come back to see if I had found Merlin and I was able to give them a location. Merlin was there, all right, safe and sound. Thank heavens Patti saw what happened. I don't know when someone would have noticed the wrong dog in the back of the Miller's yard, and it would never have occured to me to look there. |
| Any chance you measured him wrong? 20" would be small even for a bitch. I bet he's a bit taller than that - there's an art form to measuring, you have to measure at the withers, most people don't know where the withers are, and even when you do I can't get a good measurement on my guys with a regular stick, I'm always off and always surprised when I have them wicketed for their agility jump height cards. I wouldn't waste my time getting worked up over something some casual passer-by said. Kristine |
| I will get over it. I put a tape measure on a high counter, and locked it with the end right on the floor, no looseness, tacked with tape to the edges. I bribed the scaredy cat to stand beside it with a cookie, and lined up the highest point on his shoulders (kind of the tip of that bone) with the measure. I got on my knees and looked directly at it. I got twenty inches, but there would be a little more if you count hair. I didn't, but Hudson thought I should. He is well known for being a victim of "Little Man Syndrome." I know it's not a big deal at this point, but it was very concerning when he was young. At ten weeks he was twelve pounds. We thought something was wrong. People here shared their dogs' weights at different times, and he was consistently far below. Our vet said he was healthy, but a month later, and only a few more pounds on him even the vet was concerned, and we tested for all sorts of things. Kidney issues were a big worry. Everything came back as normal, and it appears he's just a shortbutt. He is very stocky, has short legs, etc. Our vet measured him for us when we were fighting with his horrible, no good breeder (over other issues as well). I think he was just under a year of age, and was nineteen inches then. We love him to pieces of course, and now that he's three and we know he's just short (it's not a medical issue or failure to thrive as we worried when he was a puppy), we're fine with it. Honestly, back then we were just so worried that he was ill. We've always had sheepies who were part moose. At any rate, I just don't like strangers dissing my Little Smudgeman. (Again, I'll get over it.) |
| I know how you feel when someone disses your dog. When we got our first basset, Tiny, he was full grown and had been owned by an older man that had to get rid of his dogs. We thought he was beautiful and really loved his gentleness and sweetness. Heard a neighbor tell her husband to "look at the ugly dog". I really wanted to smack her and of course I'm the type that thinks of a good reply after the fact. |
| Breed standard: 21 and up for bitches, 22 and up for dogs.......... While there isn't an upper limit, having a small girl and gazelle boy, small is better. Jack's crappy hips are failing him and he's a bit big for picking up constantly. |
| I know he's below the breed standard, but it is what it is and we love him, and his shrimpiness isn't related to a health issue, so we're happy. It is interesting you should mention the 22 inches and up for a boy. When Hudson was a puppy and not growing as expected (it was very slow and gradual) and we were testing him to make sure he was just small and not ill (as I mentioned before, even our vet who is very level headed was a little worried he could have a problem), I was in touch with the breeder who emailed me a long explanation of how the "breed standard" was twenty two inches OR SMALLER for boys, and that most people hate big sheepies anyway. That was another piece of information that I forwarded to the CKC and discussed with the lady who investigated our case. I told her that I thought lying and misrepresenting the breed was inappropriate behaviour and indicated a lot about his nature, and she said that him lying to me wasn't really a big deal. She wouldn't even note it in the file...and I had his emails which I printed and sent to her as proof. His website had the correct information on it, so it's not like he didn't know. In the end, this man was horrible, the CKC pursued him for over a year until he met three out of five of their requests, then they told me he'd never comply with the other two, closed the file, and wiped his slate clean. When I called a month later (without identifying myself) asking about him, they told me that there had never been a complaint filed. (I later found out he was churning out six or more litters a year. It makes me so sad. I haven't heard anything in over a year, so I'm hoping he's out of business now.) We love Hudson and we're happy with him and we wouldn't change the stubborn little dude for anything, but it still bugs me (just a little) that someone could lie, cheat, commit fraud, etc and still be given a proverbial gold star. Wow, that was a tangent I wasn't planning taking.....sorry. |
| don't they have something like the better business bureau up your way??? |
| I never measured either of our older two, but I know Bentley was WAY bigger than normal. He was just a giant. Zoey on the other hand was dramatically smaller then him. Caitlyn's mum is a little smaller then Zoey and not knowing how big her Dad is, we're not sure what to expect. It doesn't matter, they're the best out there and we can't get enough regardless of their size. And for the record, I too would aim higher than the shins. He's more likely to remember the whole conversation and just how wrong he was... Vance |
| I remember all the baloney you went through with the breeder. In the end you have a small, but giant among sheepdogs......Hudson. Next time hubby encounters such a jerk have him respond, "If you'd attend dog shows you'd see sheepdogs in various sizes, but yes, Hudson here is a bit below breed standard. That doesn't make him any less OES, just not suitable for the show ring." amazing, one encounter with the breed and the guy thinks he's an expert....... |
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