ABOUT US
Over the past
three decades our family of Shelties has taken us on quite a journey. While we
are currently located on the west coast of Florida, our beginnings were in
New York
where we developed a love for dogs during childhood and then progressed to our
love for the Shetland Sheepdog while living in Pennsylvania.
Early on, fate
would lead me to be employed by an owner and office manager who both were deeply
involved in showing Working and Sporting breeds and they introduced me to the
world of dog shows.
While at an early
show watching Shelties I was captivated with a Shetland Sheepdog bred by
Barbara Kenealy, a Ch. Rockwood's Bac Talk daughter. Sometime later we welcomed
our first Sheltie "Abby" Weedells Illusion O'Rockwood from Barbara and
thus started on our way to raising and showing this wonderful breed. A short
time later we were fortunate to acquire a lovely blue bitch, a CH. Banchory Deep
Purple daughter from Sumersong.
Showing, training,
and breeding a few litters were the focus for me while Bob took joy in playing
with and spoiling the dogs. He was always there to do the mundane chores and
watch our daughter Marianna while I was at the shows. As Marianna grew older and
had her own interests, showing took a back seat to swim classes, soccer,
softball, basketball games. During this time the Shelties were still a big part
of our lives and we adopted two Shelties from the shelter who were about to be
put down. One had oral cancer, the other we called the "junk yard dog"
as he was unaccustomed to living in a house and had many physical and behavioral
problems. Eventually, all of our Shelties from that time reached the geriatric
stage and eventually headed for the
Rainbow
Bridge.
In 2000, I headed
for
Florida
while Bob stayed north to work. A good friend of mine encouraged me to start
showing again and gave me a dog to work with (my first sable). Thus a
reawakening of showing this wonderful breed ensued.
Bob has since
retired and is with me living in "paradise", hence a new start with a
new prefix, "PaRodise", and this time Bob is actively enjoying
training and showing in Obedience and sharing our second start in the dog
world. We will continue to keep our numbers small with an occasional litter and
plan to enjoy our hobby with this loyal and affectionate breed for years to
come.
Bob and I would
like to introduce you to our Sheltie family, present and past. Grab a cool drink
and enjoy your visit.
Patricia & Robert
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