They say to let the pup pick you. Tim didn't, but the fact that he found me at all is somewhat amazing. For the last year I have been trying to buy a new pup. 13 month old Star is well under way in his training, Price is all but retired and Mirk is a solid open dog with nothing needed but polishing. I needed a project and set about finding one. I contacted friends who have dogs and bitches I admire and got on this puppy list and that puppy list for the next mating, all to no avail. One litter was sadly all still born, one bitch did not become in pup when bred. I was too far down the list for one breeding when there were not enough pups born to fill it and so on. I was starting to get a little impatient with the whole thing, and then I got an email.
My friend Joy has been to Scotland on 2 occasions when she brought dogs back with her. The first is a bitch named Molly that I admired from the very first time I saw her. Joy purchased her from former International Supreme Champion, Julie Hill, who had used her on a Scottish hill farm for years. To me, Molly is as talented and capable as they come. On the next trip, Joy came home with Shep. He came from Bobby Henderson and is a son of Bobby's International Supreme Champion, ##Sweep, and same-way bred as Bobby's famous Bill from a later, artificial insemination breeding.
I have raised and trained 2 dogs that went back to ##Sweep, and I love, love, love the line. My Kit, a grandson, was one of the most naturally talented dogs I've ever trained and great-grandson Kep was not quite the same dog, but talented by anyones measure and equally as easy to start and train. To have another from this famous line is not only worth the wait, but a far better pup than I could have hoped. Sometimes you do get what you want, and it makes all the times that don't seem like nothing at all.
Little Tim is in such good company. He is related to Haley Howard's USBCHA nursery champ, Ross who is a great grandson of ##Sweep. Scott Glen's, Maid is off Moss, a full-brother, litter-mate to Henderson's Bill and a full brother to Tim's sire, Shep. Scott's Drift is a ##Sweep great-grandson. Sly, owned by Tommy Wilson is a great-grandaughter to ##Sweep that recently won the Meeker Sheepdog Championship as well as The Soldier Hollow Classic and placed third in this year's USBCHA National Finals. Little Timmy has big paw prints to fill.
Joy has bred Molly a few times and was unable to part with too many of the pups. I don't blame her. The good news for me is that she decided that I would be a good home for Tim and sent me the email asking if I would have him. Would I??!? I couldn't get down the driveway fast enough. To tell the truth, I was afraid she would change her mind, and she admitted to me that she almost did...more than once. It's OK, Joy. I know the feeling. It seems she may have been right about Tim and I. In the 24 hours I've had him, he has rarely been anywhere except in my lap or under my feet. Even out playing with the big dogs, I just say his name and he picks me every time.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Introducing Tim
They say to let the pup pick you. Tim didn't, but the fact that he found me at all is somewhat amazing. For the last year I have been trying to buy a new pup. 13 month old Star is well under way in his training, Price is all but retired and Mirk is a solid open dog with nothing needed but polishing. I needed a project and set about finding one. I contacted friends who have dogs and bitches I admire and got on this puppy list and that puppy list for the next mating, all to no avail. One litter was sadly all still born, one bitch did not become in pup when bred. I was too far down the list for one breeding when there were not enough pups born to fill it and so on. I was starting to get a little impatient with the whole thing, and then I got an email.
My friend Joy has been to Scotland on 2 occasions when she brought dogs back with her. The first is a bitch named Molly that I admired from the very first time I saw her. Joy purchased her from former International Supreme Champion, Julie Hill, who had used her on a Scottish hill farm for years. To me, Molly is as talented and capable as they come. On the next trip, Joy came home with Shep. He came from Bobby Henderson and is a son of Bobby's International Supreme Champion, ##Sweep, and same-way bred as Bobby's famous Bill from a later, artificial insemination breeding.
I have raised and trained 2 dogs that went back to ##Sweep, and I love, love, love the line. My Kit, a grandson, was one of the most naturally talented dogs I've ever trained and great-grandson Kep was not quite the same dog, but talented by anyones measure and equally as easy to start and train. To have another from this famous line is not only worth the wait, but a far better pup than I could have hoped. Sometimes you do get what you want, and it makes all the times that don't seem like nothing at all.
Little Tim is in such good company. He is related to Haley Howard's USBCHA nursery champ, Ross who is a great grandson of ##Sweep. Scott Glen's, Maid is off Moss, a full-brother, litter-mate to Henderson's Bill and a full brother to Tim's sire, Shep. Scott's Drift is a ##Sweep great-grandson. Sly, owned by Tommy Wilson is a great-grandaughter to ##Sweep that recently won the Meeker Sheepdog Championship as well as The Soldier Hollow Classic and placed third in this year's USBCHA National Finals. Little Timmy has big paw prints to fill.
Joy has bred Molly a few times and was unable to part with too many of the pups. I don't blame her. The good news for me is that she decided that I would be a good home for Tim and sent me the email asking if I would have him. Would I??!? I couldn't get down the driveway fast enough. To tell the truth, I was afraid she would change her mind, and she admitted to me that she almost did...more than once. It's OK, Joy. I know the feeling. It seems she may have been right about Tim and I. In the 24 hours I've had him, he has rarely been anywhere except in my lap or under my feet. Even out playing with the big dogs, I just say his name and he picks me every time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment