We have set up an appointment for early next week. We'll be driving over to Chinon to have lunch and then meet with a breeder about a dog. We've been talking for many months about getting a puppy to keep Callie company. We're lucky we've found a dog breeder only two hours from Saint-Aignan who has the kind of dog we're looking for. Here's a link to the site and some photos.
We also want to make sure we don't end up without a dog in the household in the coming years. Getting out and taking a long walk every day, rain or shine, is too important, and there's nothing like having a dog to motivate you to get outside and get moving. The place where we live is ideal for keeping dogs and taking long off-leash walks without worrying about car traffic or bothering anybody.
We're studying the possibility of bringing a Shetland sheepdog into the picture. It will be a slightly smaller dog than Callie, but it should be just as intelligent, obedient, and energetic as a border collie. We've never before had two dogs at the same time.
Our first dog, Collette, was a collie-mix pup that we found at the Humane Society in California in 1992 and rescued. She moved to France with us in 2003, and lived with us for nearly 14 years in all. Then we brought Callie home in 2007, about 10 years ago. Those years have just flown by.
What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThose Shelties are just adorable. Beautiful coloring. This should be a joyous time for all four of you.
ReplyDeleteA puppy ! My good ness, I hope you, and Callie, have the energy to keep up with one ! For many years we had three dogs, of differing ages, who were all company for one another, but we were younger then !
ReplyDeleteGood luck. A relative got a puppy to keep the first one company. Both are Carlins. The first dog went into a funk. She refuses to play with the puppy, though she will play with other dogs. She lies in her bed. She has all the signs of depression in a human. The relative is aghast at this turn of events and doesn't know what to do, loving both the older dog and now the puppy.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have better luck!
That's a pretty depressing prospect. Second thoughts in order here...?
DeleteMaybe you could take Callie to visit the puppies and see how she reacts. I expect Ms. Callie is pretty spoiled!
DeleteThey'll usually come around, but it can take some time. When I adopted my second dog, the first one was civil but remote for 5-6 months, then bonded strongly. It's also good to introduce them on neutral turf, rather than bring a new dog into another's established place.
DeleteHi Ken. Excited to hear that you might get a Sheltie as they are beautiful dogs and have always been the breed for us. We have had two in sucession and are thinking about a third. They were bred up from the "Toonie" working sheepdog of the Scottish Islands and there is Pomneranium in the mix too which gives the ear shaping. We had a sable and white dog followed by a tri-colour bitch. I see your examples are mainly "Blues" and they are beautiful too. X Sue from the Isle of Wight.-
ReplyDeleteThey are very yappy dogs with high pitched voices - important as they were originally used as guard dogs by the Scottish crofters as well as for herding sheep and cattle. They are very alert, excitable and can run very fast. They do tend to be nervous- especially with strangers. The modern breed comes from just two main breeding lines - Riverhill and Shelert, of the but of course now there are so many more strains available.
They have the most extreme version of the thick double coat which was necessary to keep the Shetland Islands original working dog warm. This has coarse hairs uppermost with soft wool beneath - I expect you are used to this as I have often thought, from your photos, that Callie probably has a lighter version of this. The full coat doesn't come in until 2 and a half to three years old. It needs to be kept clean and brushed out regularly to stop it matting under the tail.
The coat is wonderful protection for the dog from both cold and heat. We only found 2 disadvantages to it. If the dog goes swimming in hot weather it overheats very quickly when it comes out and can get distressed. This means that, if you bath the dog, it is important to towel dry vigorously afterwards. Also, Zara our bitch, was attacked by wasps once and, although only a few stung her, many more got caught in her coat. We spent hours picking out live wasps with tweezers while she stood shivering and we tried not to get stung too.
Oh, how wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see photos -- and hear about where you go to lunch in Chinon, please? :)
It seems that nearly all the restaurants in Chinon are closed on Mondays. We have to re-think...
ReplyDeleteVisit a couple of wineries.
DeleteGood idea. I might not have thought of that. LOL...
DeleteOf course not! Glad I could be of service:-)
Deleteare there any rescue groups in france?
ReplyDeleteThere are some, including the S.P.A. (aka SPCA).
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea to look forward to, a new puppy! I envy you! ;) Has the mother already given birth? Are the puppies in the pictures the ones you're going to choose from?
ReplyDeleteAnd eh ... can I come with you please? :)))
The puppies are already born, but I'm not sure if they are shown in the photos.
DeleteOur rescue dog goes everywhere with us. Not that this was 'The Plan' but proved to be the case. I know that having a pup is a good thing but now at my age I have to think that I / we have 16 years to manage the third family member. Very best wishes.
ReplyDeleteI'm 68 and I hope to still be living at 84. Walking a dog every day will help me reach that goal
DeleteWill you be able to take Callie with you, and introduce her to the new addition? It might help, to make sure they will bond.
ReplyDeleteOur last two Labs were both retired breeding bitches, so were mature dogs. They were not only from different kennels, but from different countries - France (a 3,000 km round trip to collect her!) and Spain. Sadly we had to have the older one put to sleep a few weeks ago, so now we're left with just our one girl, who is clearly missing her pal. It's the first time we've had just one dog for more than thirty years, so I'd love another dog, but with our advancing years, a puppy would really be out of the question. With my husband's serious health issues we couldn't give it the attention it would need.
I do hope that you find exactly what you're looking for - those pups look absolutely gorgeous.
I remember getting cats and dogs when they had to be introduced to the new arrival.
ReplyDeleteWe never did it in groups or couples, always the new puppy met the old dog/cat .. bringing in the new baby to meet the old baby and letting them make their minds up without the humans butting in .
I had an old cat when we got our puppy. The cat was bored and looked at the puppy with something like disgust lol
The puppy was all wiggles and squirming and happy ... a cat ! a cat !
The puppy slept in a crate at night. The first or second night, I went to check on the pup and there was the cat, inside the crate with the pup, both of them curled up together.
It was a friendship that lasted 11 years.
Is there a sheltie rescue group in France? Sometimes it's good to get an older dog, especially if the first dog is what my vet now calls a "senior dog".
ReplyDeleteHaving two working-breed dogs should be interesting -- maybe they'll try to herd one another. Or you and Walt.
I'm just now seeing this post. I think a Sheltie will be a good choice- Callie will be a bit larger and so she will still be in charge.
ReplyDelete