Welcome to America!

I have a confession. I love big furry dogs. If you ask most folks they can tell you about my passion for Chows or Shih Tzu's but I have a secret love. I can't tell you when it developed or how but somewhere along the animal journey I fell in love with Old English Sheepdogs (OES). It took me several years to find just the right one to fit into my home and once I found him I didn't let him go. His name is Pub and he's almost 9 years old now and 92lbs. He's the love of my life. (Ok, one of several 4 legged loves of my life but he's definitely one of them!)

Recently we received an email from our friends in Taiwan that they had an OES that needed to be sent over to the States. Let's just say I don't remember reading the end of that email because I was already sending them an email begging them to send him to me. Turns out he was potentially going elsewhere. Well, I had to explain this passion to them and that's all it took. It's love and you just have to respect that. So, then our contact in Taiwan sent us an email and told us how the OES had an injured leg that their vet felt was an old injury and not much to be done about it. Our vet often is fond of saying, "If they're not in pain now, don't fix something that will cause them pain!" It didn't matter to me what kind of pieces he was in, I wanted him. I told them to send him to me whether he was lame or not. Well, apparently that was the right answer.

Arthur can be found most days lounging on my bed. I keep the dooor open so he can jump off the bed periodically and come check and make sure I'm still in my office. As long as I don't acknowledge him during these check-ins he goes back to watching TV and hanging out on a very plush bed. (Otherwise when acknowledged, he sometimes likes to jump on my desk which isn't conducive to getting work done!) He also has another love besides me. He loves to ride in the car. In fact, so much so that once he's in, good luck getting him out. If he's in the front seat and trying to get him out one door, he just runs to the other side of the car. It's almost comical until you're the one trying to get him out!

As far as Arthur's bum leg. Yeah. Right. He runs, jumps, leaps, plays as long as I will leave him outside. In fact, I often have to bring him in because he wears all the other dogs out, even the 6 month old puppy. It's quite funny. If there's something wrong with that leg, obviously no one told Arthur. So, we'll enjoy him for a few weeks. He reminds me of Pub in his younger days. I am saddened as I realize Pub is heading into his sunset years and his time with us is probably limited. Arthur reminds me once again why I passionately love this breed.