Our beardie story
My wife and I bought our first dog, a bobtail or old English sheepdog , when we were 22. Sadly enough we were forced to put him to sleep at the age of 10 months because he started attacking us due to inbreeding.
We were so inexperienced in choosing a dog and the people who had sold us this dog were treating them as merchandise. They could offer up to 30 different breeds !!
A few months later I saw a note in the newspaper that border collies were for sale. I knew this kind of dog from watching the series on the BBC “ One man and his dog”, so we went to have a look. Looking is buying when you see 3 dogs of about 3 months old, all together in a horse stable. I was the lucky one to make a choice and for the next 12 years Pineau lived happily with us.
During this time our 2 daughters – Charlotte and Julie - were born and they both had a lovely time with our border collie. They even played with their dolls in the basket when Pineau was asleep. They kissed him every morning more than me, their father.
When Pineau died it felt like a part of ourselves had been ripped out . The girls cried every morning. One of them refused to eat and the other one just stood in the corner facing the wall and kept on crying.
One week later we bought a West Highland white terrier, Cleo, and the smile on the faces of the girls returned. Little did we know the trouble we would be facing ahead !
The trouble began when Cleo reached the age of 4. She developed colitis. We obtained the advice of 4 different vets and I talked to a professor who teaches at the university. We even went to an animal hospital in The Netherlands but the veterinarians there could not help us either. They shared the opinion of their Belgian colleagues.
Knowing that Cleo wouldn’t live long, we considered buying a second dog to avoid the heartbreaking situation we had experienced earlier in our life.
One fine day my wife took the girls and Cleo for a walk in the woods. Unbelievable but true : precisely on that day she met an old schoolfriend Annick with her 2 dogs. You’ve guessed right : bearded collies named Gringo and Lucky
Once back home it began : Why don’t we buy a bearded collie ? That was the question of the day.
This old schoolfriend also knew about a rehoming of a bearded collie, Lizzy, aged 4.
We tried the rehoming but that was out of the question because our cat, Mousty, kept on attacking Lizzy and defending his territorry. Lizzy returned to her owners where she still lives today.
I still wasn’t convinced to buy a bearded collie because I thought that a dog with such a fur would need extra attention in grooming compared with the border collie and the West Highland white terrier. To simulate a wet bearded collie in the house I even dragged a wet rag through the garden and brought it inside and let it dry. Till today we are all still laughing with it.
All the beardies Lizzy, Gringo and Lucky came from the same breeder, Erik.
We met Erik and Carine in January 2004 on a Sunday at home with all their beardies. A brand new world opened for us and all my doubts vanished in an instant.
On February 27th 2004 our lovely beardie boy Toby – Announce me as Devotion - was born in a litter of 7 pups.
Eight weeks later we proudly introduced him to Cleo and they became great friends.
The health of Cleo, suffering a very severe stage of colitis at that time, reached an incurable level when Toby was about the age of two.
I decided to put Cleo, aged 8, asleep because she was slowly dying. Together with our veterinarian we stopped the suffering. My youngest daughter Julie remained with us the whole time. Our veterinarian did a wonderful job explaining to her why this was necessary. So brave she was watching it all happen. But sadness again.
Without the leader of the herd Toby felt lost. One month later all joy and fun disappeared out of this young dog, he stood in the middle of the garden howling for her to come out and play. Heartbreaking to watch.
We quickly decided to give Toby and ourselves a new puppy. Right ! A West Highland white terrier. After an intensive search on the internet, we found a breeder not far from our home, Mary-Leen and Dirk.
Again we were lucky to find such honest breeders just like Erik.
In August 2006 Pebbles – Fairytale of Westerlyhills – became Toby’s new companion. Both dogs are so healthty which results in lots of playing together. It’s truly a joy to watch them.
We already have the desire to let them be accompanied by their own puppies, of course all in proper time and with good sense.
The most important lesson for me is that one shoul never rush into purchasing a puppy. Take no changes, look before you leap.
End of story
Peter – Anne – Charlotte - Julie
When Toby first met Pebbles.
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