This story, in the process of unfolding, is surely one that has had many hands in it.
Today would have been our great Billy dog’s 9th birthday, and the hole left in our hearts and on this farm with his passing is impossible to describe.
Ironic, isn’t it, that over the course of a lifetime, it takes sadness to know what happiness is, and absence to truly value presence.
Lindsey, a lifetime friend of my daughter Caroline, told me recently she reached out to a breeder of Great Pyrenees, thinking a Pyr pup would be a good fit in her family’s life.
As she answered questions so wisely asked by the breeder, Lindsey was surprised to hear, “I have a feeling what you’re really looking for is a family farm dog. Have you ever heard of the English Shepherd?”
Lindsey was put in touch with a woman in Oklahoma, and pictures of a cute little black and white female puppy were shared.
Lindsey sent me a message, saying, “Your name has come up quite a few times lately!” as she reached out to English Shepherd breeders.
Lindsey’s excitement for this pup and the breed began to heal my aching heart. This breed needs someone of Lindsey’s generation to champion its amazing strengths.
A week or so went by, with Lindsey deciding she is ready to add the female puppy to her young family. The breeder then let Lindsey know she had acquired a pick-of-the-litter male from Texas, her male the sire.
Lindsey wanted only the female, but thankfully, also mentioned it to me. Pictures were exchanged, along with pedigree. This pup is meant to be ours. Coming soon!
This black and tan with a white blaze on his chest, looks stunningly like Billy did as a pup. His pedigree, on the sire side, is quite similar to Billy’s. The dam’s pedigree runs to a rare, old line, which is valuable beyond measure.
Most importantly, to me, is bringing new lineage into this area of the U.S., as my life’s goal is to help keep the black and tan English Shepherd alive. It is of great concern to watch numbers within this rare breed, specifically the black and tan, of working farm dogs dwindling.
There are so many stories within this story, along with the unseen layers of happenstance that go back many different avenues.
My grandparents, well-known for giving this breed a strong following on farms across the U.S. in the 1930s and ’40s, are surely smiling down on it all.
I’m counting down the days, as Lindsey says, when we make the happy trip to bring two English Shepherds back to Jeromesville, Ohio.
Judith. I think you were writing about the farm I got my first English shepherd in 1999. She was a great dog, and I may be looking for another soon.
I lost my tan and dark brown dog I’m looking to replace him with another like that.Please contact me if you have any available or know where I can find one thank you Mike
I’m too old to to have another puppy. The black snd tan English Shepherd is the breed than my dad always brought home to bring in the dairy cows. Our first one used only three legs as one of her rear hind legs was injured yet Shep was a wonder fog. The second black and English Shepherd was names Sheppie. I dearly loved them and it took me my lifetime to find this breed. Also, the Farm and Dairy is my lifetime favorite weekly newspaper. I love the Farm and Daury.