I\u2019ve never become bitter as a result of not being able to have my own puppies and so it is with great excitement I can tell you that there will be five dogs going through their final breeding tests in the UK this year. Now, for those of you who know nothing about our breed (where have you been these last few years?)you realise how remarkable that is when you hear there are only 50 of us in the country. I was the tenth one in the UK when I moved here in 2008 and since then, partly thanks to Shadow\u2019s 18 puppies, our numbers have grown steadily. Shadow is excited as her daughter Cinderella will be doing her tests and so will her son Basil (Beethoven). Otis (Casanova) was going to do his, but has decided to wait another year. She\u2019s a very proud mother! We just hope they all pass. They will have had all their health tests before the day, but then have to go through a character test and a test to make sure they are close in appearance to the way we should look. It\u2019s not just about having a pretty face, it\u2019s to make sure we have the right number of teeth and the strength and build to do the job we were bred for originally. I know there are not many of us herding cattle in the UK, but if you don\u2019t make sure we could still do that then we may as well be a Pekingese or a Yorkshire Terrier. Besides, one day we hope there will be some here doing our original work and I don\u2019t fancy the chances of a Yorkie faced with a ton of cow! Shadow probably won\u2019t be able to go to cheer her children along as all being well she will be mated quite soon before that and may still be giving off all sorts of off-putting hormonal smells. The test is taking place in our village so we may get to see them afterwards.<\/p>\n
Alfie\u2019s Diary \u2013 the Book as well as our other books are available HERE<\/a><\/p>\n You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"