Lyndie’s Story    Back to Top

 On April 3, 2009, Tom decided to go to Toledo for the day. It was a last minute decision and one that changed our lives.

Tom left early that cold, rainy and windy morning.  He was just an hour north of Dayton when he saw two beautiful black and white dogs in the median of interstate 75, in the midst of heavy traffic. He was amazed that the bigger dog, a male, looked just like a drawing I did of our first English Shepherd! He knew they were English Shepherds, and knew that he must rescue them. So he got off the interstate at the first exit he came to. 

Lyndie made it to the other side of the interstate, but sadly the male was hit before Tom could get back to them. After many phone calls and then finally with the help of a sheriff, he got the two terrified dogs in the front seat of his little truck and drove them an hour and a half back to our vet.

 The vet and techs said both dogs appeared to be between 2 ½ and 3 years old. They thought the male would make it if he made it thru the night. We kept close watch on him all day but in the early evening he began to get worse.

We were so sad to lose the male that evening and he died in Tom’s arms with both of us crying. Lyndie’s sadness over losing her male buddy made us even sadder.

I contacted shelters and humane societies in five counties surrounding the area where Lyndie and the male dog were found. No one ever called looking for the two beautiful but thin English Shepherds.

We believe it is a miracle that Lyndie is with us we are thankful she came into our lives.

 Lyndie was traumatized when she got here but with care and patience-- way more patience than I ever knew I had, and getting her used to everything slowly, she began to trust us and her personality began to blossom. The first few weeks were painful for her as she was very sad, and afraid of everything we introduced her to. But she eventually learned to walk on a leash, ride in a car, and how to act around other dogs.

We found that she is friendly to all people and is exceptionally gentle with children. She likes to lean on your leg while basking in being petted and touched.

She is soft and sweet and has a very deep bark when they coyotes are around!

She became our English Shepherd shadow, wagging her tail as she follows us everywhere—the perfect chore dog.

Lyndie likes swimming the geese off the pond and swimming after radio controlled boats!

So many of our friends fell in love with her and one puppy owner who had just lost her English Shepherd that she had gotten from us 14 years earlier, asked if we would breed her to our male so she could have a pup.

This was an unusual situation and as I was thinking things thru, two more people called wanting a puppy from Treve.  So with three folks wanting a puppy, it seemed meant to be and I found myself planning the things I needed to do to breed Lyndie to our Treve.

 We had a health check up on Lyndie, had hips xrayed, and MDR1 tests done. Then we needed to get her registered. After talking with JR Russell of the International English Shepherd Registry (IESR) where our other English Shepherds were registered, I learned what was necessary to do in this case to get Lyndie registered.

We took her to a herding instructor to see her working style and how she worked with the sheep.

Lyndie surprised me but not the instructor! Lyndie’s instincts overcame her fear of being in a new place! She showed she was brave with the sheep and she was biddable for Tom.

We received a written evaluation from the herding instructor about the good potential Lyndie showed for herding and sent it in with other required information and photos to the IESR). We were thrilled when we received her registration certificate!

Lyndie and Treve had eight beautiful puppies in July of 09. Six were black and white and two were tri color pups.

We could see Lyndie had a litter before and she whelped easily and produced plenty of milk for her brood. She was an awesome mother and we enjoyed the whole puppy raising experience. Treve showed he was a fantastic Mr. Mom with his 7 week old pups!

Without advertising, enough friends, puppy owners and a few other folks  came our way to give eight pups wonderful homes. We are thankful for each and every one of those families.

We have stayed in touch with all  of our puppy owners, have received stories, and photos and some have visited us with their dogs or we have visited them! At eight months old, one pup was moving sheep, and recently was just introduced to the baby chicks he will watch over. One pup graduated from a beginner obedience class being the youngest dog ever and with the highest score since 1957!

One pup spends her days with 3-5 young children her owner baby-sits for and she is exceptionally gentle with them all. One pup is getting ready to start agility and another herding. One pup goes to the horse barn everyday. One wakes her four  year old boy up each morning by putting a ball on his bed. All the pups are good ball and Frisbee dogs and one is an outstanding soccer player! My six  year old grandson played with him for a half hour and said the dog only missed two balls!

We have learned a little about what the pups have become so far!

Lyndie is great in the house, just happy to by near us. She loves sleeping on Tom’s lap with her head on his shoulder as he sits in the recliner in the evening.

She likes to walk the horses out to the pasture with me and is careful around them. She heard me reprimand Bergie for barking and chasing at the fence when the horses and I were going to the pasture and gave Bergie a nip and Bergie does not bark anymore when we are walking out! Lyndie likes to keep things in order as our other English Shepherds do.

Lyndie received her Canine Good Citizen certificate at our English Shepherd Gathering here in Sept of 09. I have to say I was teary, to think how far she had come! She is MDR1 normal/normal and her hips are OFA good.

We bred Lyndie to Treve and on June 27^th 2010 and eleven pups were born. We have seven males and four females. Three are tri color boys, two are tri color girls, four are black and white boys and two are black and white girls. All have gorgeous markings, nice white blazes, big white chests, white collars, white feet and white tips on their tails. They are happy, healthy pups and incredibly cute! It has been a joy to care for them and watch them grow.

The pups are five weeks old and for now we have eight wonderful homes for them. Most pups are going to homes with friends who have gotten to know our English Shepherds over the many years and one to a new neighbor!

We are enjoying every moment with the pups!

Judie Sutherland Article  Back to Top

"Bouncing on his mother's hip as she walks down the aisle of the kennel. Dogs rush through the canvas flaps in the barn wall, look at him, take his scent. His father, sitting at the kitchen table, papers strewn before them. Pictures of dogs. His father's voice quiet in his ear, talking through a line cross, the corner of a pedigree pinched between his fingers. Running through the yard, past the milk house, throwing the fence gate closed before Almondine can catch him. He crouches in the tall weeds and watches. She loves to jump. Her stride draws up and she sails over the fence. In a moment, she's next to him, panting." -- from "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski

By Judith Sutherland
Farm and Dairy columnist

I grew up with dogs, and can't imagine a life without them. A book of a boy and his dogs was a gift to me from my sister, knowing I would love it.

Edgar Sawtelle, in this novel, is born in to a family who breeds and trains dogs. Though Edgar can hear, he cannot speak. He trains the dogs to follow his training with sign language. He spends hours upon hours with the dogs, not only in the barn, but walking the farm, spending time on the porch. His beloved Almondine, a Sawtelle dog who has watched Edgar grow from a baby to a hard-working boy, spends nearly every moment with him. They understand one another.

This fictional tale makes me ponder the many things that we are born in to, the strengths and traits that might be woven in to our souls before we arrive and begin walking about on this old Earth.

I never had the opportunity to know my paternal grandmother, who died in her mid-30s of a tonsillectomy gone wrong. My father, the oldest of the children, had to become a man at the age of 12. He took over her dog business as best he could, because it was the black and tan English Shepherds who helped to put food on the table. My grandparents raised hundreds of these puppies each year, shipping them in hand-made crates by rail car to all 48 states over the course of the years.

It has always astounded me when older people in the community tell me they see many of her personality traits in me. I was born with a love of dogs, an understanding of dogs, that sometimes goes beyond reason. I have studied pedigrees, raised beautiful litters of puppies, enjoyed the process of matching each pup to the right family. For me, there is really nothing more rewarding than seeing that connection, happiness blooming in the new family as well as in the young pup.

English Shepherds are known for their intelligence, their ability to become a working member of the farm family. I have witnessed it many times, and still it amazes me. Bill, a long-lived English Shepherd with whom I was lucky enough to grow up, knew when he was needed without being told. He herded up the milk cows from the far pasture right on time each day, knowing to treat the young heifers with more aggression, showing his tender side with the older matriarchs of the herd.

He could sort hogs on market day in a way that defied human reasoning. "Well, I'll be darned. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Earl Boyd once said when he came to load our hogs for market.  Dad just smiled and said, "I've heard that a whole lot of times in my life when it comes to these dogs."

We once sold a pup to a family in Minnesota. A few years later, we received a letter thanking us for the heroic dog. He had followed their son and nephew on a hike. Perhaps a bit too young to know better, they walked across a lake that was not completely frozen. The dog began barking frantically, refusing to follow them. The boys continued across, and fell through the ice. The dog pulled the first boy from the icy water and continued to bark frantically as the ice broke away with each attempt to save the other. A neighbor who knew the family well realized the bark was unusual for that dog. He jumped in his truck, arriving in time to save the boy with a rope and a whole lot of luck.

I felt a whole lot like my dad when I wrote back, saying how pleased I was to hear this story, but that I wasn't totally shocked by the dog's determination and intelligence. I grew up hearing such great dog stories and treasure each one.

It makes me wonder, as I always do, just how much our dogs are capable of learning and doing. I just know I wouldn't want to walk this life without them.