For me, raising these dogs
is a dream come true. As a little girl all I ever wanted was my
very own shepherd. I fell in love with The littlest hobo and
would dream of having a companion like this. Not a birthday or
Christmas went by without me asking for a puppy. In high school I
was asked to write an essay on how I envisioned my life as an adult,
and I wrote that I would love to be married with children, living on a
beautiful property in the country surrounded by shepherds. I
feel so blessed that this is now my reality!
We (my husband Todd and myself) lived in the
Bancroft area for 12 years. We lived and worked at
a camp, where groups came in the summer to vacation and relax. In 2006
we moved to the country outside of Belleville Ontario where Todd is a
teacher. We love our new home and have a fenced in acre for our dogs.
We are blessed to be surrounded by forests and have acres of trails behind
our home where we walk the dogs down to the Moira river to swim. I purchased Oliver (my BIG male shepherd)
for my son's 9th birthday. Oliver has proven to be the most amazing
dog I have ever met. He is incredibly obedient, and very gentle with
everyone....the thing people notice the most about Oliver is his intense
devotion to me....when we are out in public he never takes his eyes off me.
When Oliver was younger him and I took time to volunteer at the local youth
drop-in centre in Bancroft where he was a very popular guy.
Back in October (2004) I decided I wanted to add
another shepherd to our household, so I started doing internet research.
I knew Oliver was an exceptional German shepherd, both in size and
temperament. I knew that my chances of getting another dog as gentle
and HUGE as he was, without major health issues was going to be difficult.
During my research I stumbled upon the shiloh.....and was hooked. I knew I wanted a
shiloh...or maybe two...or could it be three? I went out to Kingston
to view a LER (litter evaluation) on a litter that Jayne from Atlantic sable
shilohs was having done. That was it! My mother came with me
that weekend....and she went home with her very own shiloh baby- Autumn!
Within a few months I became the owner of Faith and Hope from another
breeder who found herself unable to keep them.
Since that time our shiloh "family"
has grown to include Faith, Hope, Trinity and now Zeus. Each one of
our dogs is special and unique. Hope is Todd's "girl"....she is very
gentle and soft tempered which you can see in her eyes...Hope likes to
"talk" to us, especially in the morning when she brings us anything she can
find to carry in her mouth. Hope is happiest if she can follow
Todd around and she loves going for walks. Faith is an incredibly
athletic girl....she is a large female who loves intensely...Faith has
produced some of the largest, most incredible shilohs I've personally seen.
At this point in her life she has retired and is living out her years on a
farm in Pennsylvania with her beau, Sampson. Trinity is my special
baby...she is extremely affectionate and will cuddle beside me on the couch,
she has an extremely high retrieval drive and never goes in or out a door
without a ball in her mouth. Trinity is also an avid swimmer.
Zeus is our wild man. He is a young buck full of energy and mischief.
I think of Zeus as the spoiled baby as he gets away with things I'd never
allow my older dogs. Zeus has a huge imagination and is bored
easily...if left to his own devices Zeus can figure out a way to get into or
out of most anything. It is very hard to get or stay mad at Zeus
as he is always wagging his tail, even when being given a stern talking to.
We feel privileged to be able to share our lives with these beautiful
animals..to have met so many incredible people through our extended shiloh
family via our puppy buyers and the show venue and to have had the most
amazing opportunity to be a part of bringing new babies into the
world...many thanks go out to all my wonderful puppy buyers who share in our
joy!
Michelle Bowler
The dogs and I |
