Who are you?

There are people on the board who (or is it whom?) I have been lucky enough to meet, but some that I haven't. So I am starting a new thread (title should explain it all). Tell us a bit about yourself, how you came to know sheepdogs and dogs in general (you can even mention cats!) and anything else you want to share! Then hopefully others will join in and share a bit about themselves. Doesn't have to be anything deeply personal (although that is fine too).

Respond to this topic here on forum.oes.org

Hi Kim....this sounds like a great idea. I, for one, have never met any of the board members at any of the functions that have taken place in the past. I do plan on attending some in the future but it would be nice to know people before just showing up. :cow:

I feel I get a little glimpse of people with their posts but this thread would be a nice way to introduce us humans to each other....after all I think most of us know each other only through their dogs and their antics.

As in the old school yard play dates..."I call you go first!!!!"

Give the rest of us an idea of how this thread should go. I promise I will follow up.

I am on my 5th sheepie...the first one, Sherlock , 1978, lost custody battle in divorce. Then there was Casey Joske, who got parvo after having been spayed in '04. then lonely life with no sheepies until 1998, got Bear Bear and Starbuck. Starbuck died from bloat in 09, then Bear Bear last year Jan '14. Have Tinsley now who is 15 months old and loves the kitties...I live in South Carolina and have worked for REDBOX over 5 years. Single, only Tinsley :hearts:

and the kitties, :hearts:

but very happy being single. :lol:

Love this forum and have gotten a lot of information and laughs. So thanks to all of you out there !!! :clappurple:

I'm from Melbourne, Aus.
I joined this forum sixish years ago after my first sheepie Tiggy, came to own me.
I had a Dalmo called Rastus but he crossed the bridge in January.
I also have Chocolate lynx point siamese called Rowdy. Oh and a hubby. (I know David, you guys play second fiddle to the sheepies)

I've only met one forum member who is also from Melb. But I feel like I know lots of members well from all the sharing. I'd love to come over and meet you all but it's such along way and a lot of money.

Tiggy and I have trained at obedience and agility and tried sheep herding. But a new full on job for me four and a half years ago means I've less time to commit now. So I spend the time keeping her in full coat and at basic obedience at home.
Mim.

Thanks for posting! After the initial non-response I was feeling like I was at that dance in high school again, leaning against the wall wondering if anyone would talk to me. :wink:

I am Kim, married to David (who is also on this forum). I am a Canadian who grew up all over the place (military father). I have two brothers, three sisters and eleven nieces and nephews (so I didn't have to have my own kids, I just have the rental kids over when I want to hang out with the youngsters). I did not grow up with dogs. Mady is my first. We got her as a puppy five years ago. I cannot believe that it has been that long. She was followed by Virginia, who we asked (ok, begged) our breeder to retire to our house almost four years ago. Virginia is Mady's mama. Still not sure how this happened, but along with Virginia came Gracie, a pup from Virginia's last litter. I went from never having a dog and thinking that all of you dog people were slightly crazy to having three big dogs in a small house in downtown Ottawa. We do sheep herding, agility, and therapy dog work. I have NO idea how all this happened!!

Outside of dogs I am a sports fan, good food and drink fan, and enjoy travelling. One day I will visit Mim in Australia! Many of my holidays with David seem to involve sleeping in deserts with camels and scorpions, so I would like to go to Australia and just drink yummy wine. No scary critters in Australia,right?

This forum has been a gift from the heavens for a new dog person like me. I have travelled (twice) to St. Louis Missouri to attend Sheepiepalooza. There I met some wonderful people, some of whom have also attended Sheepdog Shindig in the Niagara Falls area. I hope to see some of you there this May! Through a forum member, we stayed in a vineyard in Hungary that was owned by her uncle. Never would have had that experience if not for this forum. And most of all the advice and encouragement has been wonderful. We would never have tried herding, agility and therapy dog work if not for the inspirational folks on this forum.

That's it for me! Hope to hear from more of you. Don't make me lean against the wall at the dance all alone and forlorn!!

I'd be against the wall with you Kim.........no I wouldn't come to the dance to start with.
I'm Susan in New Mexico, you know, land of the fleas/home of the plague. I've had sheepdogs for ....45 years. Always pets, never show. I ran a rescue for sheepdogs here for several years, turning the barely used reins over to another lady. Sheepdogs are truly as rare as hen's teeth here. My other breed is Great Pyrs having also done rescue with them in association with a club here. I was foster mom but kept flunking. At one point we were a 7 dog family...with rescues guests from time to time. Can't remember the makeup but there were sheepdogs, sheepie x, Bearded Collie, Pyrs. Great chaos and the vet loved to see us walk in the door. $$$

Currently we have just one dog

, Kensie or Kdog, a rescue who came to us about 20 months ago after being left at a truck stop. She was one sick pup with heartworm, worms, bad teeth and "phat." The worms are gone!!! the teeth are good and the "phat"......well, she's slimmed some but probably not enough. Energy level is over the top now, she can run again. No guess on age, probably 9 ish as she has old doggie fat tumors and just recently starting wetting her pants.....incontinent. Probably needs the pee-pee pill for old lady dogs now. Eyes showing only a tiny bit of cloudiness.

Can't imagine having any other dog breed. Pyrs are probably beyond us now with their propensity to look for ways to escape the yard and their barking routine. Still love the big whites and if one comes along........Of course we say that about Newfs and St. Bernards too our earlier beloved breeds.....also vary rare here.

Mady wrote:

Thanks for posting! After the initial non-response I was feeling like I was at that dance in high school again, leaning against the wall wondering if anyone would talk to me. :wink:

I am a military kid too!

I'm Nancy and I live in a suburb (St Louis Park) of Minneapolis, MN. I grew up with St. Bernards and fell in love with OES's after I saw Walt Disney's Shaggy Dog and our Vet owned one named Fancy Pants. (Still love Saints!)
I have been owned by 7, the last 3 rescues, and one Golden Retriever, also a rescue. Oliver is going to be 13? and has some hip and eye problems, gotten more stubborn, I get it, has a good attitude and appetite, will play some with Macie Grace and I absolutely adore him. Not looking forward to whenever that particular day comes..........................................

Macie Grace came into my heart at just a little over a year old. She is now 3. I thought she would never stop pottying in the house, especially going downstairs during the night and peeing and pooping on Oliver's pillow. (I went thru 7 pillows) She has been a good girl for the last couple months and even has run of the house when I'm gone. She is a shy girl with other people but loves kids. Macie is fun, funny and smart.
I have met a few people from the forum and have become close friends with Monica. We talk all the time but have never met!!!!!!! :lol:

Someday, I would like to get to Sheepiepalooza. As of Valentines day, I bought a newer minivan. I love minivans. It's a 2014 with 12000 miles on it now. My other one was a 1995 that I had for 18 years. Hopefully by the next Sheepiepalooza I will have learned how to use the GPS in my Sedona. I am technologically challenged.
I am single and on more than one occasion, I have chosen my dogs over a man. Wise decision. I own a house, as long as citi mortgage leaves me alone (which they are still coming after me) and it happens to be the house where I grew up.
If anyone is coming into town, you can contact me and the welcome mat is out. All canines are welcome too. Bedlam and chaos work for me.
Nancy (dogmom)

Nancy/dogmom, dogs/cats sense things about people. I would have no problem choosing my Tinsley and cats over a man any day......lol....Nothing wrong with being single and happy

We live in Wales, Michigan. Thirty years ago we got out first sheepdog. As of this date we are on #8. Through the years we have had as many as 3 sheepdogs at one time. Also we always had one golden retriever. 5 of the 8 sheepdogs were rescued and everyone of them was a good one. As of now we have
Abby a rescue who is 6 and Spencer who will be turning 1 year and Gracie the Golden who is 5. It is hard to believe the years with our dogs have passed so quickly and it feels like they were just here yesterday. We miss them all and will never forget them. Their ashes are all displayed in a cabinet and serve as a reminder of their friendship and loyalty.

Hi all, I am Barb, native New Yorker (Bronx, Queens and Long Island) before following my dream job to Washington, D.C. and relocating to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Now my family (all still in New York) prefer I stay home so they can come visit me because they love the area. Oh well, it saves me the 6 hour drive! :lol:

I live with my 2 sons (23 and 20 years old) and 4 dogs. Beau (3) and Gunner (10 months) are my sheepies along with Fritz the Labrador Retrieving fool that loves Dock Dog jumping and my old lady Baily the 15 year old Golden Retriever sweetheart.

I had my first sheepdog when I first had my own apartment during college. I always wanted one after growing up on Walt Disney movies like Shaggy DA. My parents would have none of it as they did not want a big, hairy, sloppering beast (as my mother would say) in the house. My mom was old fashion Italian (1 of 13 kids) that grew up very poor. She lined the house with plastic runways for us kids to walk on and covered the furniture with plastic to try and keep things new and nice. I guess one of the by products of growing up in the depression era and very poor. My first sheepdog was bought at a pet shop (I know...bad me) but I didn't know any better then. Thank goodness she was healthy and my constant companion.

I can honestly brag I believe I had the best job any dog loving person could have. I was very fortunate back in 1983 that the government was looking for females to enter a male dominated field. I actually became the 2nd female hired by the old United States Customs Service (now called the Department of Homeland Security after 911) to be a canine enforcement officer. The first one only lasted 4 months after initial training because of the harassment endured once working in the field. :evil:

. I loved so much what I was doing that nothing was going to stop me from my dream job, in fact I worked twice as hard to be considered half as good...but that was OK as my career skyrocketed. I would have liked to have worked longer but I retired earlier to take care of my now recently deceased 97 year old father that had advanced Alzheimer's disease.

My job during different phases was a dream come true. I worked a detector dog at major airports and seaports, procured dogs (rescued them) from animal shelters and rescue leagues around the country (many trips to Michigan and Ohio) to enter the program, instructed students and dogs to become a team during basic training, was a program manager making policy and certifying canine teams across the country and eventually retiring as the 2nd in command of the national training center for detector dogs for the government (not bad for a female the old school males wanted to eliminate from the program back in the old days, sorry I had to brag some). Throughout my career the Golden Retriever was my dog of choice. I have been owned and loved by 6 Goldens since my Sheepdog in college. After I retired I returned to my original love of the Old English Sheepdog. I purchased one from a great breeder to be my companion, now a therapy dog and AKC Champ. My second one is actually his son which I decided to take in a "what was I thinking" moment!!!! (how could I resist) but he is so wonderful, loving and so entertaining!!!

Besides my sons and my dogs, I love sports (mostly football...let's go Giants!) beer and good food.

I hope one day soon to meet some of you at an event.

:wag:

I'm Ron, my wife is Joan,.
We are owned by Mulligan who is 12 1/2.
We were previously owned by Jake, from 1992 until 2003.
We fostered Winston in 2003 for 4 months. Giving him up was the hardest thing we've ever done.

Both Jake and Mulligan were adopted through Grannie Annie and New England Old English Sheepdog Rescue.
Joan and I have both served on NEOESR's board of directors.

We've been married almost 29 years and we live west of Boston, MA.

I'm Aleece, I live in Michigan. I think I have covered my life in my posts at one point or another but I lovvvvve the people and animals in my life and don't mind sharing a bit so here we go. I have 3 kids with 2 legs Robert almost 16. Davis almost 13 and Aensley just turned 9. Then the 4 legged Sonny, Skye and Steel all purposefully aged so no one dies on top of the other. Sounds a bit morbid but unless there is an unforeseen medical problem death should be spaced out so we can recover in between. I don't deal well with misery. I'm sure no one does but I planned for it. My mom also lives with me as she is very ill and requires constant care. I thought this would be a great thing for my kids and she (having her live with me). I was raised to take care of family and I so love my mumma but it is becoming increasingly challenging not so much for medical reasons, I've got that.....She is losing more and more of her mental capacities and although I have alarmed my doors and windows and taken every other measure I can think of it is starting to become more of a load than I might be able to handle. I am gone quite a bit and I am often frightened she may do harm to herself or my home. Awful situation to be in. Anyway, I am single and very busy with my kids and all that they do.

I am very independent, I don't rely on people for help much because usually it amounts to being let down. I like relying on myself because the job gets done right that way and I always like the results! Haha! Love this forum for the reasons stated in another post....I do have a college degree but at 2am with a sick puppy I think anyone sounds like a lunatic. It is wonderful to be able to get answers on here without feeling belittled. So happy to be a part of this!

I have a brother and lots of Aunts and Uncles and cousins....none of which live close and none of which are a help with my mom but are good for a hug or two when visiting and adding to the chaos. All of which think I have lost my mind for having 3 dogs. They don't get it! I'd have more if I could! To each his own. Funny, The only reason I have to pay an alarm company is so I know if my mom is leaving the house without my knowledge (big house, lots of levels) not because I think someone could get in it undetected!!!!! I don't think anyone would DARE!

So that is me in a nutshell happy with all my babies - some with more hair than others!

I'll pop in for a bit to play.

I'm Bethany, and I have 3 people kids, ages 12, 10, and 7. The girls are the older two, and my boy is the 7-year-old. Right now, we don't have a sheepie. A year and a half ago we took on a rescue sheepie that proved to be much more than we could handle. She has been rehomed to a childless couple in the country and she is doing very well from what I gather. My now 10-year-old fell madly in love with sheepdogs and is diligently saving her money to buy her own.

Currently, we have two dogs, Opal the rough coat collie, and Andy. Opal and my oldest girl are two peas in a pod. They show in 4-H and pretty much have the relationship that you think of when you think of a kid and her dog. My 10 year old and I split the responsibility of a "Craigslist special" Bernedoodle, Andy. While they are a 4-H team, and Andy listens to her, he'd rather be at my feet. He's made a lot of progress these last 8 months.

I'm a stay-at-home-mom and homeschool my kids. With our current course load, I've found I have a lot less time this year to check in here. I occasionally like to lurk though.

Hi Kim, just needed someone to break the ice, thanks mable4ever

I'm originally from Dorset in the UK but I met Russ from Calgary when we were fruit picking in Australia, we live in Canada now. We have Buster our Newfy and Monty our Old English Sheepdog.
Russ and Buster visit the hospital, homeless shelter and library for the kids to read to Buster as a therapy dog.
I take our more active Monty to do Agility, we both love it and have aspirations in qualifying on runs but rarely do lol.

I trained in hand embroidery and design embroidery kits. Here is a picture of a dog I did in hand embroidery, it was a commission about 10 years ago. At the time I did not check to see what breed he was but I think he was a OES mix or may be pure OES?.
Everyone asks if I have stitched my own dogs yet, but unfortunately I haven't had time.

Embroidery

Photo

Thanks for starting the post Kim!

I'm Monica and I live in Washington, DC with Nonc. Nonc is a Blueshire pup and Kim is his grandmom (sorry!). He is a very happy, bouncy pup and makes friends very easily. I always knew my neighbors near my place but Nonc knows everyone in my building. As part of my research I followed the forum for a year before I got my puppy so I feel like I know many people and dogs here like Sam, Chewy, Murphy, Tiggy, the Ottawa trio, Harry and Burt and so many more.

It's weird but DC is a dog town. There are probably 7 dogs between mine and the twin building next door and so we have our own unofficial dog park. I work for the federal government so Nonc has a dog walker that he adores. He has told me that Nonc is a lady magnet. I can only walk a short length of a city block before someone stops us. One evening I was stuck on a busy corner while people took photos of Nonc for 15 minutes. Seems like everyone loves a sheepdog!

Recently a new sheepdog pup has joined our group named Wally. He is gorgeous and growing fast. He adores Nonc and his vet thinks he'll be a hundred pounds.

I don't mind being called a grandma! I am happy that Gracie's puppies have given their families joy. And I am loving the response to my post. There are some wonderful and talented people on this forum! I have partially mapped out our epic play date road trip based on where you all live! :wink:

Haven't figured out how to drive to Australia or the U.K. yet, though. :lmt:

Mady wrote:

Haven't figured out how to drive to Australia or the U.K. yet, though. :lmt:

See this link:
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1097 ... and-london

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has posted about who they and their families are. Nice to know a little about everyone who is owned by a sheepie/s :lol:

Wow!! Tanja, that embroidery is beautiful !!!!! :hearts:

Tonja, let us know when you are taking orders for the embroidery.!! The pictures are stunning!!! :clappurple:

Hi. Im Arti. I have a 1 year old sheepie, named Buster. I have two kids 16 and 12. We got Buster from Wisconsin, his breeder is Amy. Before we got Buster, I came across this forum and read every single post before making a decision. When we finally decided, I asked the forum members for breeder recommendation. Dawn gave me Amy's contact and then the story goes on. I am very lucky to have found Amy, she picked the right puppy for our family.

Buster is very forgiving and a happy puppy. He just turned One on April 8th. He doesnt have a single loyal bone in his body, though.

Just wanted to share a funny story: the second or third week after busters arrival, we gave him a bone that his breeder had given us. He was happy and chewing, i decided to brush his coat so i went near him with his brush. he gave me a nasty growl and started barking at me like crazy. i got very scared of him, i was afraid to go near him. Keep in mind he was only 4 1/2 months old. I had to call my neighbor for some tips. he chuckled and told me to get the bone away from buster. i didnt know how to, dont want buster to chop my hand off. So i had to use a umbrella to move the bone from him and made him go to his crate.

He is 70 pounds now. I was afraid of a 22 pound puppy last july. we still laugh about it even now. these days i put my hands on him everywhere without being afraid. and he knows im the boss now and listens to me.

oh yeah. Buster is our very first dog/sheepie.

Thanks mableforever and dogmom, embroidery is my life apart from the dogs of course.

well , I am Monica am from Mexico City, and live in Union MO, I work as a Bilingual Customer Service Representative and I work nights. I love the fact that I work from home and have the chance to do some art work in between calls . Have live in the USA for the last 25 years and I plan to retire to Mexico someday .

I am own by Matilda my OES, Camille my Weimarainer/poddle mix, Piper my Golden Retriever, Noel, my corgi, Cooper my Maltese, Ruby my miniature poddle and Mr Sparky Australian Terrier.

I do Enamel on Copper , bead work and everything else that I can get my hands on, love art in all its forms.

Fell in love with OES after I watch Chitty Chitty bang bang, and Matilda is my 3rd baby she is 4 years old going on 5.

Nice to meet you Monica.

Monica I just watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang last week. I had forgotten about the sheepdog in the movie! It was my favourite movie as a kid and I still enjoyed it as an adult.

HI all- I'm Allison and I live in Atlanta, Georgia with my husband Adam, our two sheepdogs Tonks & Luna and our three cats.

I joined here a little over 7 years ago, not long after getting Tonks & Luna (half sisters born 5 days apart).

Our girls have some aggression issues, although its mostly with each other and after 7+ years of training for it, it's really very much a non-issue these days (which is a big relief).

My husband and I are both professional artists, so we work from home and get to spend almost all of our time with the pets, which we love. We do have to travel a fair bit for our jobs, but we've been able to take Tonks & Luna with us for a few evens. they're really good on the road- they've been to Sheepie Paloozas and Sheepdog Shindigs. They've travelled with us to Minnesota for a few hospital stays as well as social visits- in fact we were just up there this past Christmas! Thanks to all of our road trips with our girls, we've met lots and lots of the people here on the board, which has been delightful!!!

Tonks & Luna are my husband Adam's first dogs, although as a child we had sheepdogs from before I was born until my early teen years. And then I did without from about 15 until I was 35- a long gap that we are now making up for!

Here's a piece of artwork that I did that was used in the Old English Sheepdog National Specialty a few years ago as a banner-

and a parody "Game of Bones" I did last year-

I think one of my favorite perks of being on OES.org message board is the annual holiday card exchange list. We love the challenge of making a card every year, and we love how much fun getting all the cards is every year. So thank you to everyone that participates here for that!!!!

Hi Everyone-

I'm Lisa from Michigan. I have 2 OES, Frankie and Mattie. We adopted Mattie a few years ago. I found out about her on this forum. I'll never forget that day I saw her on here. We were in Florida on vacation and I was so worried she would be gone before we got back.

Our family consists of myself, my husband Troy, 2 Sheepies, 3 cats, and 3 horses. The horses are a crazy story. I retired young about a year and a half ago, and started volunteering at a local horse rescue. Troy told me I had to do something outside of my comfort zone. At that time, I was scared to death of horses. A year ago Memorial weekend we brought 2 horses home from the rescue, and Troy bought a young horse. Troys enjoying being a farmer as he says. He just planted his first hay field and is very excited about. He is still working and has also started a couple more companies. I don't think he'll ever slow down. We are in the process of having our dream home built. Hoping to be moved in by August.

We have attended a few Sheepie events and have met a lot of wonderful people and their dogs. My dream is to have a Sheepdog event at our place.

When Troy told you to do something outside your comfort zone, imagine if you had take up skydiving! Or bull riding! :cow:

I'm Marsha. We live in the DFW area. I am NOT a Texan, but have lived here for a good portion of my life.

I married my husband to get his Sheepie. She quickly became my Sheepie. She is the one who emptied my M-I-L shed of all of the rakes, shovels, various small tools and bags of dirt by taking them out the dog door. She loved to hold bees in her mouth and never got stung.

we recently lost our Bailey, just a month shy of her 14th birthday. We still have Riley, our 11 yo Sheepie, a 4 yo Golden and a 2 yo Lab mix. And 3 cats that we have rescued. We load everyone up for weekend trips to the lake. Our three adult kids bring their dogs to lake - and it is fun.

I am a school nurse. I have been at the same school for 21 years and it is wonderful. We now have students whose parents were here too.

We are hoping to get another Sheepie this summer, but we are still waiting to hear.

Hi Marsha- prospects of a new sheepie are always so exciting- Good Luck!!!

Hi I'm Helen from the Space Coast in Florida USA. My husband Chuck and I are living our dream of living in Florida being transplants from Michigan. We are living our dream with our sheepies Helene Elaine 16 mts, Mickey Finn 18 wks, our Aussies Declan Quinn 17 mts and Asia 8 yrs. We lost our sheepie Violet and Aussie China in January of 2014. Beside the 4 sweet dogs we have we also have a combined family of 6 grown children, yours mine and ours...his, 3 mine, 2 ours 1. We have 13 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Two of our adult children have made their homes in Florida as well. All of our grandchildren are up north. We run a business and Chuck works a full time job.

I've been a member of this group since 2006. I had adopted Violet out of a rescue from St Petersburg in 2003 shortly after we arrived here in Florida. violet was my introduction to sheepies and I fell in love. Shortly after we adopted Violet we adopted China an Aussie. I fell in love with the Aussie breed as well. China and Violet were great friends and I loved every minute of my life I spent with them. They passed within 20 days of each other at the ages of 10/11. We consider ourselves lucky we had them for as long as we did. I still grieve their loss. Asia came to our family as a private rescue in 2008 and has been a great addition from day one.

With the loss of both Violet and China we decided that if we were going to adopt a puppy we needed to do it soon due to our age. Don't get me wrong, we're not that old, but we have to take into consideration their life expectancy. China had been the only dog I'd had from a tiny puppy so we decided it was time to get some puppies and that is how Declan and Helene came into our lives, I've never regretted getting either of them. I was surprised at how easy It has been to raise2 puppies together. I guess after raising 4 kids could be it, Declan is the tinker and Helene is the sweet one, If you ever meet her, that is what you will come away with is she's the sweetest dog ever. I know you're wondering where did this Mickey Finn come in....well, Chuck's brother passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas and I decided that life is too short, I've always wanted to have two sheepdogs at one time and I put it off thinking some day. Well, that time is now and I've not regretted that decision either. He is a sweet boy and Declan is teaching him all of his tinker trickery, The two boys keep each other very busy. Mickey Finn is 3/4 through his second level of obedience class and is doing very well. No there will be no more puppies in my life, I'm living my dream.

As soon as I learn how to post pics again I'll post the pups pics. It's great meeting the newbees and great to see the veterans on here and there. I must close for now, Mickey Finn gets a bath before class, so off we go.

I was thinking of you this weekend, Helen, with your big fur family. Two of my sisters now have Aussies (the other sister has a beagle) and watching my sheepies play with that Aussie puppy made me think of you and your menagerie. Playing with puppies is, of course, dangerous as it always makes me want one...

Mady wrote:

It can get a little crazy at times, but funny most of the time. It really is hard to fight the urge for a puppy for sure. lol

I'm Tracie. I used to post here a lot, and loved chatting with everyone. Then I got a new job (I moved from being a classroom teacher into administration.) I love it, but I am insanely busy, and when I do have a little downtime, I lurk here, but I rarely post. Mostly it's a quick peek and run.

My husband and I live in Winnipeg, and when I was a kid there was a reading series (it's a Canadian publisher) called Mr. Mugs. It was a pretty basic basal series, but the main character was a cartoon sheepdog. Lots of kids in Canada way back then learned to read by reading about Mr. Mugs. I was in love and knew I wanted one.

No amount of begging my parents helped. They loved little dogs (yappy ones) and we had some great ones, but no amount of pleading would get us anything bigger.

When I graduated with my teaching degree I moved to northern Manitoba and got my first sheepie, BRANDON. He was crossed with something....no one knew what. The prevailing theory was moose as he was huge. He had the sweetest disposition and I knew it was love at first sight.

At that time Gordon was my boyfriend and had never had a dog. He forbade me (lol....yup....even used the word forbid) to get this puppy but he begrudgingly drove me out to look at him. When the crazy all leggy puppy jumped in Gordon's arms he said, "She'll take him."

Sadly, we lost BRANDON to cancer at the age of six. Our vet begged us to not wait...he said we would feel better with a different but also special love in our life. We found two puppies in Saskatchewan, and about a month later we brought home littermates...Portage and ThePas. They were the sweetest dogs ever. They walked without leashes, could be trusted NOT to table surf, and loved everyone. Theeps had tons of congenital problems, and he lived to be ten, which was a lot longer than anyone predicted. He was the bionic dog...he had so many procedures and replacements, but every time something stopped working we fixed it. With some meds to manage pain he had a wonderful life. His brother, Portage was with us a little bit longer. He was kind and gentle and the most beautiful boy. He had been declared show quality but we couldn't dream of giving him up to do the shows.

When we lost Theeps, we brought Evil Puppy into our lives. Hudson came from Ontario and was a stinker from day one. We love him to pieces but he is, in many ways, my arch nemesis. He's seven now, and still slams doors shut in the middle of the night to show his displeasure, or to lock his brother out.

And finally, our fifth sheepie...Rudy...He's somewhere between six and eight. He was a rescue and he came from Florida. Some of you may remember his blog and his crazy journey to get here. He's a wonderful, sweet goofy (and I'm sorry Rudy but dumb as a post) dog. He routinely walks into the bathroom, nudges the door shut by accident then lays down and waits for death to take him. When he lose him, or haven't seen him for a while, we know where to find him. Never a whimper or a bark...he just goes to sleep trapped in the dark bathroom hoping someone will find him by dinner time. We love him to pieces.

Okay, that was longer than expected, and I am now officially behind schedule for getting to work. But I did want to say hi to everyone. I'm sorry that I'm not posting anymore...life is crazy. And Rudy is sorry that he had to stop blogging, but since Mommy's laptop times out overnight he can't type during the days when she's at work...He feels really badly about it.

Hope everyone is well!

Tracie

Hi Tracie,
So glad to hear from you and that things are going well.

Is Rudy still a sock eater? Does he still have to wear the basket muzzle?

Fun to be reminded of those Mr. Mugs books. I still here that name nearly every day when I am walking the girls. Mr. Mugs they shout. Ms. Mugs, I answer back. Then we all smile. They should bring those books back to the schools.

Great to get an update from Tracie about her and the gang. :clappurple:

Rudy hasn't eaten a sock since, but we are so trained that we now enter the house (even if it's minus forty out) and pull off the socks in the doorway. They are thrown down the basement stairs and there's a doggy gate at the top of the stairs.

In short, Rudy hasn't seen a sock off anyone's feet in years.

We still have the basket muzzle but we don't really use it much. This winter he was into bringing me dead frozen critters as gifts, so the muzzle almost made a comeback. lol

Dead frozen critters,,,what a sweet boy bringing his mama gifts.....lol.....

Hi Kim and Everyone
I am Nancy and I live in New Liskeard in Northern Ontario. (about 6 hrs from Ottawa, Kim). My husband and I have had dogs and cats for most of our almost 40 yrs of marriage. Our dogs have been mutts and rescues until Libby. I had wanted an Old English Sheepdog since my childhood when I first saw one on the TV sitcom Please Don't Eat the Daisies. After we lost our last dog, I decided it was now or never so I searched and found Amber at Blueshire OES.
In our relationship, I am the animal lover and my hubby is the sometimes reluctant sidekick. That is until we found Libby...he was smitten from the get-go and continues to be. Libby is now four and a half and we love her to bits. Although I like to think of her as "my girl", I do know that when we have been away, she can't get past me fast enough to see her father! Oh well, she loves me too!
Around the time we were first bringing her home, I was on this site often seeking advice and gathering info....and it was so great to have such wonderful resources from people so experienced with OES. I was a bit of a lurker, I confess and didn't post much. I do remember Mady though, because you got her from Amber a few months before we met Libby and I noticed your posts (You and David). I must say I was most amused by your story of walking Mady on her route usually taken by Mady and David and how she outed David for the stops at the French fry stand.
Anyway, Libby has been a most loving, adorable addition to our family. If we had it to do over again, our first dog would have been a sheepdog and every one thereafter. I feel blessed that we did in fact, find our baby girl sheepie.
About the same time that we got Libby, our first grandchild arrived and it has been fun to see the little kids growing up alongside Libby.
Libby has quite an extended family as well. She loves everyone she comes in contact with and they love her back. I do volunteer work at a local retirement home and she visits often with me. She is so mild mannered and polite when she is out...all the seniors love her. She enjoys doggy day care on occasion but is just as happy to hang out at home. She loves a good game of catch me if you can and she loves toys. This girl loves to drag her toys out and it is not unusual to tidy them up and an hour later she will have a dozen spread around the room again.
So now I am starting to ramble... I will end here as I could go on all day about Libby's sweet qualities, adorable face and great sense of humour.
I lost touch with this site a couple of years ago but will try to make it back more often. I :wag:

did enjoy following the antics of some of the regular contributors and their furry families.
Thanks Kim, for starting this thread and prompting many of us to share. Good job.

Libby sounds a lot like our Mady. And since Mady we have added two more Blueshire girls. If you are ever coming to Ottawa, please let us know, it would be great to have a play date!

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