Jake comes home

My dream of owning a dog and training him for competition began back when I was home from college one summer. Dad and I visited the Wasco Co. pound and came home with a gray version of Benji. She was quite a misfit so we called her Mitzie. That summer I trained Mitzie and found I loved it and wanted to do more. Schooling and rental housing held me back from getting my own dog. It was not until 1996 that I owned a small place with a small fenced yard that I felt able to think about bringing a dog into my life permanently. I did research on-line and at the library of the different breeds of dogs and narrowed it down to 5. These were.. 1)Boxer, 2)Boston Terrier, 3)Pug, 4)Belgium Tervern and 5)Shetland Sheepdog.

I made plans to attend an AKC dog show in Denver, CO. The minute I walked into the show I loved it! Still today the Denver show is still my favorite dog show to attend. Everywhere I looked there was dogs, and dogs of every different shape and variety. Everything was about dogs, vendors selling dog stuff, people talking dogs, grooming dogs, showing dogs, and watching dogs. The first of my breeds I had chosen to show was the Shetland sheepdog. I found the ring, and got a chair and then sat and watch enthralled with what I was seeing. Of course, I didn't understand a single thing going on in the ring, but the shelties on display were fantastic to my untrained eye. I could not tear my glaze away from the furry things. I loved their poise, their stances, and the joy I could feel from them. There was one handler that I noticed and continued to watch through every class. She was in the ring quite often showing a number of different dogs. I found that I liked the looks and behavior of the dogs she had. I also noticed that she was in ribbons most of the time. She showed a bi-black puppy that I fell in love with. His whole demeanor screamed "I am happy." He pranced and stood so perfectly still when asked. Oh yes, I was in love!!!

After the shelties were done showing, I followed the lady back to her grooming area. I was a little intimidated by her. She seemed to be arrogant and a little brisk and I felt like such an intruder. I pulled my self together and approached her. She talked to me about her breeding program and allowed my to pet Simon, the bi-black puppy I was so in love with. I asked if Simon was for sale and she replied no. She said she had a litter a pups at home and would soon be looking at homes for them. She gave me her business card and I left.

I didn't feel like seeing any of the other breeds I picked, it seemed pointless, I had already made my decision to get a sheltie. I wandered around the show and found my self in the main livestock arena. Here they were having an agility competition. I was again enthralled with what was going on. It looked exactly what I wanted to do with my dog. One of the breeds most prevalent and doing very well were the shelties. Strengthened my conviction that Shelties were the breed for me.

to be continued...