New Here from California
(not sure if my first intro ever posted so here goes again:) My husband and I are seriously considering adopting an OES into our family in the next year or two. We lost our beloved 14 yr old Beardie last August and we aren't quite ready and don't want to feel like we are "replacing" her because we just can't. We live in rural Stanislaus County in central California on nearly two acres (fenced & cross fenced). It was suggested on this forum that I speak with breeders and meet the breed in person at events. At this point in our research we would like to meet the breed in person and choose our breeder from there if what we have been reading and seeing is confirmed in person that this breed would be happy with us and vice and versa. I cannot find an event occurring within a few hours drive of us. The OES club site shows the nearest event is in Oregon. Are there other events occurring in the next few months within a few hours drive of us (San Jose, Monterey, Sacramento)? Would it be inappropriate to contact breeders at this point simply to meet the breed in person? (I don't want to impose we just haven't been around OES before and want to make sure our tentative choice is correct). thanks! Sandy |
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| Welcome! We have several members here who are west coast and California, so hope they chime in soon. I'm sorry about your loss of your Beardie. If you go to the AKC site under conformation : http://www.akc.org/dog_shows_trials/con ... /index.cfm and then click on the 1st option - Event Calendar - you can click on California and get a list of all dog shows in your state. There likely will be at least one OES there. There are way to do more in depth searching, but it gets a bit complicated (going to show superintendent sites, etc), to find if OES are entered at specific shows. But yes, you sure could start checking with breeders as well.  |
| Welcome to our furry little corner of the web! Glad you're here. |
| Thank you Dawn for the information and sentiments. I admire how active you are with your dogs! I did find a couple of shows coming up that we could do in a day and need to look into the Bradshaw (?) listings to see if any OES will be at those. I also sent an email to the closest breeder I could find to us, haven't heard back yet, so we'll see. Thanks Ron for the welcome! I do hope there is someone on here close enough to us and willing to let us meet them and their sheepies and will pm me if that is the case. I think it's important to see them in their "home" environment and shows can be so busy for them. I would also appreciate suggestions for a reputable breeder or two and more info pm'd to me. We have been admiring so many wonderful stories and pictures on this forum. Thank you! |
| Yay! There are two OES entered in a show just an hour and half from us on Feb 2 & 3rd!! Hope they "show"! I have read that it is best to approach a handler or owner handler after they have shown - advice on how, when? With only 2 entries, it seems it should move quickly unless either go into group, so not sure how to handle introducing ourselves....Thanks again Dawn for steering me right. |
Welcome! Good luck with your search for the perfect sheepie!  |
| Thanks Karen! I am looking forward to learning all I can. Still considering whether we want to show (something I've always daydreamed about when I go to dog shows), do herding (something my beardie Madison promptly flunked when the sheep entered the paddack because she was a "nana" not a "herder") or possibly agility. Our beardie was our "nana" for 14 years and content to care for us and our grandkids so we are thinking this next year might be the time to do some of those things with an OES....we'll see what unfolds.... |
sann4dogs wrote: Thanks Karen! I am looking forward to learning all I can. Still considering whether we want to show (something I've always daydreamed about when I go to dog shows), do herding (something my beardie Madison promptly flunked when the sheep entered the paddack because she was a "nana" not a "herder") or possibly agility. Our beardie was our "nana" for 14 years and content to care for us and our grandkids so we are thinking this next year might be the time to do some of those things with an OES....we'll see what unfolds.... Why not do all three? We have started showing, do herding and agility, although are relatively new at those too. All are fun activities. Of course, I never have time to clean my house anymore, it seems, and get other things done, and our friends think that we have lost our minds to the dogs, but we have fun! |
Mady wrote: sann4dogs wrote: Thanks Karen! I am looking forward to learning all I can. Still considering whether we want to show (something I've always daydreamed about when I go to dog shows), do herding (something my beardie Madison promptly flunked when the sheep entered the paddack because she was a "nana" not a "herder") or possibly agility. Our beardie was our "nana" for 14 years and content to care for us and our grandkids so we are thinking this next year might be the time to do some of those things with an OES....we'll see what unfolds.... Why not do all three? We have started showing, do herding and agility, although are relatively new at those too. All are fun activities. Of course, I never have time to clean my house anymore, it seems, and get other things done, and our friends think that we have lost our minds to the dogs, but we have fun! That's true! 3 weekends ago we were in a conformation show, then the following week an agility trial. This weekend we did herding. Taught obedience classes and had the dogs there 2x's a week. Did therapy dog visits in there too. If we had snow we would be out dog sledding too! You could go before ring time and make a brief intro, and then stop in after ring time to really chat. That's what works for me, when people come up to us. I hope you have some OES to see.  |
Hello and welcome. Good luck in your search for the newest family member! It's such an exciting adventure to find the right breeder, the litter, the PICK, the name... Have fun and keep us updated please. It gives us a case of puppy fever  |
Thanks Everyone!! Brenda: I can't get too far ahead of myself thinking about puppies (Yikes!! I get too excited!). We are taking this year to learn all we can about the breed, reputable breeders, showing in performance and possibly conformation, but I don't think I want to take on the responsibility of breeding - so not sure about that one. So, we'll start at shows, meeting owners and breeders, then go from there. In the meantime (to keep me from jumping head first into puppy shopping), I am taking our Boston Terrier into obedience training again and will look into Rally for us.  I think that will tell me alot about us as a family in answering what personality and type of OES we want to adopt. I have read alot of back posts on this forum and just want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences, it is and has been so helpful. I just wish I could find OES owners or breeders closer to us so I hope the trip to the AKC show in Fresno CA next Saturday gets us closer to that goal. Sandy |
| Welcome Sandy. This is a lovely forum and you will get loads of help and support. Good luck with your search. Debs |
| Welcome Sandy! Cindy |
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