As of  October 1^st 2007

The past few months have confirmed that every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, I had developed some health issues which forced me to make some serious decisions.  I began the process of reducing the number of OES here at our farm and am now very pleased to tell you:

 Bragi will remain here at the farm, retired from breeding, to spend her days playing with her son Knut who we kept from her last litter. You will see on our website that I have a new category called “Tails” - please read this information carefully. I feel tail docking is an archaic and cruel ritual to please the owners at the pups expense and its time it stopped.

 Eir is now living with her new family, Yvonne & Dave in Chaplin Saskatchewan. In fact she has been renamed “Shadow” as she never leaves Dave’s side doing farm chores on their cattle farm. Yvonne has also adopted a male pup, Ralph, from Thrud and Buri to breed Eir. Yvonne says she wishes she never has to dock a pups tail after seeing how Eir and Ralph “Talk with their tails”.  If you would like to be considered for one of Eir’s next pups please email Yvonne directly at:  77ranch@yourlink.ca

 Thrud has been adopted by Jacqui and Steve also in Saskatchewan, they had adopted one of our pups last year and they are close enough for Thrud to come back to Buri for breeding. You may contact Jacqui to inquire about her next litter due to be born just before the Christmas holidays at j.winik@sasktel.net

 Anne Marie in New York state has adopted Fulla, Anne Marie is a groomer  who was introduced to us via Barkley, Fulla’s son, (owned by Courtney and family on descendants page). Fulla had her first litter of American pups January 30^th 2006 and again in March of 2007. Anne Marie has also adopted a male pup, Mick, from Eir and Buri who bred Fulla and his hips have already been certified. If you would like to be considered for one of Fulla’s future pups please email Anne Marie directly at: mfrasl@hotmail.com

Sharon in British Columbia has adopted Hel, daughter of Loki and Monty, Sharon already adopted Loki  (Hel’s mum) and she too will continue breeding Hel with Kakaeo owned by Russ in BC, a pup from Bragi and Buri. If you would like to be considered for one of Hel’s future pups please email Sharon directly at: SharonRPaul@shaw.ca

We have now come to the end of our transition period as our new breeding friends take over the waiting lists of adopting families.  Our new breeding families will all be available to answer questions etc.  Usually a female has an average of 10 – 11 pups in a litter so there will be lots of pups to choose from.  With the dogs moving to various locations it is actually proving a real bonus for two reasons:

1.      Females get far more attention than I am now able to give them.

2.      Pups are able to reduce travel time to their new homes.

3.      As all our bred females are settled in their new homes then it is “Business as Usual”.  Everyone who adopts our bred females agrees to continue my standards for breeding and to honor our guarantee.

All pups are selected in order of deposits being received.  A $100 deposit will put you as the next family to select from the pups available or from the next litter. I have a separate attachment explaining how you can go about making a deposit if you wish. Pups must be paid in full at one month of age in order to book and pay for their travel Until further notice please forward all deposits direct to Anne Marie for Fulla, Sharon for Hel, Kay for Saga, Yvonne for Eir or myself Sue for Bragi. 

Sif, Freya and Loki have all been spayed to be retired from our breeding program. Eir is Sif’s daughter, Hel is Loki’s daughter, Freya and Loki were litter mates so their genetics are being passed down still.

Buri is the sweetest most gently guy, and the father of all pups.  If he were human he would live by the motto “In any dispute I always have the last word, I say whatever you wish dear” (to any of the eleven females).  Every night he sits patiently while all the ladies are given their meals first! To give you an idea of how mellow Buri is I will share a story with you. Christmas 2004 Buri began to cough, antibiotics didn’t clear it up, neither did a stronger dose, antihistamines ruled out allergies as the cause of the problem, I felt it sounded like he had something in his throat, x-rays showed nothing. Our Vet Haider Elbermani offered to do some surgical procedure which involved making an incision in his neck, into the trachea, inserting some fluids and withdrawing them from his lungs to send them for culture. The culture came back negative and Buri never has coughed even once since it was done so whatever was bothering him was flushed away. However the punch line is that Haider did all of this procedure without sedating Buri! Just gave him local freezing in his neck and talked to him how to hold his head while he worked on him. We are doubly lucky, not only do we have a great OES named Buri, but we also have the greatest vet – few vets would have tried such a feat! Buri is very picky about where he eats, he can carry his food or water bowl, hardly ever spilling a drop, not just a few feet but in and out of a “puppy door” across the yard into the fruit garden or wherever takes his fancy to eat that day. He is such a riot!

Thrud is the confidant, any disagreements and she always seems to take sides with the underdog (pardon the pun). She, like all our other dogs, is very content and always happy to just be near us. I think Thrud holds our farm record for number of bum wiggles per hour!

Fulla (a sister of Thrud) is the largest of these sisters, so content and easy going, she has a “thing” about covering up her food or water bowls and hiding them – and she does the same with her pups when they are born!

Bragi is big sister to Thrud and Fulla, one year older than them, she never leaves my side (or heal). Her son Knut has all of his Mum and Dads great qualities.

Eir is our brindle OES, her coat is amazing, like silver grey with frosted tips, a real show stopper and very meek temperament too. Without doubt she is a clone of her mum Sif, definitely the most gentle of all the dogs and she loves to play and teach her pups to behave.

Hel is the largest OES, I am repeating myself but another great character, always laid back and easy going. She has an uncanny ability to unlock and open any door or gate. One cannot have ten OES running free all the time if any one of them is not a great temperament! I expect she too will have a litter early in 2006

New puppy pics will be posted weekly when available and movies whenever possible, our new breeding families will endeavour to maintain communication with all new pup owners but rely heavily on the eyes of others to inform them if any of our pups are ever mistreated in any way. As pups are selected their new family is identified beside the pup. Any pups not adopted are clearly “not spoken for” on the website. I encourage adopting families to keep in touch with one another even after they have received their pups into their homes.

Each of our adult dogs is checked for Thyroid, Heart and Eyes; they are given a preliminary x-ray of hips and elbows at 6 months of age and again at two years of age.  All x-rays must show a rating of “good” or higher before I will breed the dogs. I do not keep for breeding any dogs with only a rating of “fair”.  All health tests are posted on my website for anyone to download and verify, although I apologise I am terribly behind at present and haven’t posted the latest great results.

I am often asked by older folks if I have an older dog for them to adopt. Twice now I have been able to arrange for a rescue OES to be adopted by older couples with a guarantee to them that if their dog should outlive them I will take back the dog and care for it for the rest of its life. We recently made the tough decision to spay both Idun and Thora, as they had both produced a pup with potential hip problems. This was a rather radical decision but I don’t feel the risk is worth anyone’s heartache. Idun has since been adopted by Christa in San Diego and is spending her time riding around in her golf cart and running on the beach! Thora also has been adopted to live in Minneapolis for a new home with Jocelyn and Paul in Minneapolis, I know she is Joelyn’s best friend and will be very spoilt.  While I will miss them both terribly I think it would be selfish to keep them when I have so much OES love around this place.

We are happy to provide references from any of our happy OES families. just tell us where you live to find the closest family or pick yourself from descendants on the website.

My Guarantee

To provide a purebred Old English Sheepdog puppy:

At a price of $900, US $ to American families, CAD $ for Canadian families.  Travel costs are extra and we are happy to quote on flights to your closest airport. Please check the map to see which breeder can best send puppies to your home.  For pups flying we ask families to also pay $50 for the travel crate which we reimburse if the crate is returned prepaid to us.

We are pleased to learn that so many families are very happy to leave the tails in tact on their new pups. In Europe it is now against the law, and I can assure you your pup will thank you thousands of times each day, every time they wag their tail. Keeping their tail also gives pups their normal sense of balance so no more clumsiness which “bobtails” are often known for.

Families get to select their pups in order of deposits, if we do not have a specific sex of pup, or not enough pups available, we will refund deposits. We do not refund deposits for families who change their mind about wanting a OES pup, or if a family wants specific markings on a pup such as a black eye.. 

The pup will NOT be a registerable dog, with either the American or the Canadian Kennel Clubs. The puppy is considered to be pet quality and is not to be shown.  Read “Modi’s Story” on my website to see why I do not support either AKC, CKC or the Old English Sheepdog Club of America. I would be happy to support these organizations if and when they put the health of the OES breed ahead of ribbons in the show ring and their personal politics.

If you are considering breeding your pup then I expect that you can provide certification of genetic health tests for your “mate” and that x-rays show a minimum of a “good” rating for hips and elbows. Please discuss any potential breeding with me.

We are happy to quote travel costs, as a guide you can probably expect $150 to almost any destination plus a $50 refundable fee for the puppy crate if you return it to the breeder prepaid. Any pups requiring overnight stays for their travel will stay with our network of OES families, under no circumstances will any of our pups be boarded in a commercial kennel to avoid contact with diseases.

We will arrange for the puppy to be inspected by a veterinarian at 8 weeks of age, have its first set of vaccinations and be certified to be in good health, and to travel with an International Health certificate and proof of the pup’s first vaccinations. They will have their first booster vaccination at that time and also deworming.

For the life of the puppy (dog) we will accept full responsibility for any genetic health problem as confirmed by a veterinarian, and will replace any ill animal from the next available litter.  We will not be able to pay for any transportation charges for the replacement puppy. We will not be responsible for any veterinary or other expenses incurred.  

We will accept the return of this dog, or find an alternate home, at any time the adopting family declines to keep the dog. However, we will only replace a pup as per my breeders guarantee for genetic health disorders and we will not refund any or part of the purchase price for any other reason.

My expectations of the Adopting family

That you are not acting as an agent in the purchase of this animal and that it will remain solely in your custody.

You are not associated with a pet shop or animal broker.

You understand that this puppy is not to be used for breeding purposes and must be spayed or neutered between 6 months and 2 years of age unless prior arrangement has been made with me.

You will care for this dog as would a humane and conscientious dog owner and agrees to provide:

Adequate fencing, adjacent to and accessible from your home, and to confine the dog when outdoors and never restrain the dog by tying it on a chain or rope

Adequate veterinary care, including but not limited to annual checkups; to keep all immunizations current according to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines

Adequate house for this dog within the buyers home and yard

Adequate exercise by providing the dog with supervised walking or running on a regular daily basis

Safe vehicle transport. The buyer must not at any time transport the animal in the open cargo area of a vehicle. i.e. pick up truck box

Feed the dog a good quality pet food

I encourage adopting families to maintain contact with me and advise me of any concerns at any time.

The adopting family agrees that ownership or possession of this dog will not be transferred without my written consent.  

If you would like to hold a pup from the next available litter please tell us about the home you have waiting and we can send you an attachment outlining the different ways you can go about sending a deposit. From then on we develop a relationship built on trust – no contracts!