What lovely pics Tassle and such a nice story, do you have others now?

Elkhound - he chose us! We bought him from a 'kennels' which I now know was a glorified puppy farm. OH wanted a Husky or Akita but having looked into them I didn't think they were suitable at the time. Loki was fab in evey way, a true best friend. I don't think I could ever have another though.

Estrelas- discovered them on the benches at Crufts a couple of years ago. For me they are perfect. Clever, stubborn (yeah I like that) beautiful, protective and gentle. They are my passion and I would never be without them now.

Jack Russell Terrier- my friend bred Rogue and I saw her and fell in love. She will be my agility dog, and is a great little friend for the kids too. I wouldn't have a terrier from lines I didn't know though! Too many with questionable temperaments.

Malamute - next on the list. OH's dog of choice. He always wanted one and when he goes self employed he'll have the time to devote to his own dog.

When my daughter gets older she wants her own smallish breed to show, so we will have more of an idea what she is having after she's been to DD in March!

Yeah....a couple.

I lost Skip at 16 years old about 5 years ago.
Mum got me Jasper (red and white BC) when I was 12 - he is still going

I Got Tass when I was 18 - she was meant to be my Black and white BC - but a few things went wrong (the colour for starters! I swear she was black and white at 3 weeks )

Trip (GundogX) came next as a rescue/rehome from one of my classes in Norfolk.....Gabe (GSDx) appeared (or should I say - re-appeared) when I got back from Norfolk

Then Siren (BC) - as my first pup from a good breeder -came along 2 1/2 years ago.

...all good(ish) but I do love the collies

I didnt choose either of the 2 collies I have - The ex chose Jed as he was supposed to be his dog and Jessie is a rescue and was chosen for temperament, not breed.

When deciding on a second dog, it was my turn to choose a breed and GWP's were on my list because of their looks mainly. Most were too expensive at the time and a cross litter came up. I researched Slovaks which were basically the same as a GWP anyway so I went ahead.

I've since learnt that GWP's are not a good gundog to start with but Flynn is my star and is proving himself to be a very good dog now that i'm putting in the proper effort with his training.

I didnt i wanted a boxer and I DID NOT WANT A STAFFY. but when i was walking around the kennels one look at Bruce and something just felt right. I think its safe to say im bull breed enthusiast now.
I think i may have a boxer one day but id be quite happy with staffies, EBT's and *cough* Amstaffs *cough* etc

That's gorgeous! Love the pics of mini you ;o)

I remember your posts ''yuck, my sister is getting a yorkie'' etc etc and now look at you ;o) It's nice.

Ahhh, The English Springer Spaniel. The ultimate in Jekyll and Hyde breeds.

We chose the breed because we were friends with some people in our old village who owned them and everytime we saw them out and about on walks they were bonkers, yet in the home full of cuddles and mischief. We knew the minute we saw Eddie on a snow day pulling little Evie on her sled whilst also holding onto his tennis ball that they were the ones for us. A perfect mix of smart, mischief, active and dopey cuddles. I would not be without one now, ever.

I had mongrels growing up but fell in love with border collies (probably from watching one man and his dog) because they always seemed so loyal.

It was years before we were in a position to get a dog of our own and we decided to get an older rescue.
We went to our local rescue centre and narrowed it down to a choice of two - a sweet coarse-coated lurcher type and a border collie.

By then I had read enough to know that border collies didn't make good 'normal' pets, so much as I loved the breed, I would've opted for the lurcher. But OH persuaded me to meet the collie and I quickly realised that this lad was unlikely to be the hyper, destructive whirlwind that I feared.

So we got our first border collie and although the subsequent two have been far more of a challenge, I have never regretted it and am besotted with the breed.

I do love other breeds and wouldn't mind owning almost any type of dog, its just that when it comes down to the final choice, I always seem to come home with another collie!

I have a fascination with the origin of dogs and am attracted to dogs that look like those first primitive dogs. So wolfy looking, wild dog looking and the desert dogs...

My first ever dog is Selkie, the Samoyed. I wanted a Husky, but lots of research later I decided a Samoyed would be a better and more sensible first ever dog. I really didn't know if i was going to be able to handle the 'wildness' and 'difficult first dog' reports in all the husky books.

After her a lancashire heeler sort of fell into my lap. He was a broken little thing badly abused and terrified. Not in any way my chosen breed and after owning one, I never would again. His genetic problems and poor little broken turned out legs just hurt my heart to see. But I loved my little man and was heart broken to lose him 6yrs later.

Pharaoh was my next choice. A lurcher.. From the arctic to the desert. In his case I was searching for that typical pariah dog, Pharaoh hound/saluki dog. The typical primitive desert dog. The dog warden who had helped me rescue Jackjack found him for me. His Father was a greyhound but his mother was a saluki/pharaoh hound mix. He looked just perfect. He was one of a huge litter and his mum had abandoned them. I took on two of them to hand raise at just three weeks old and could never give him up. He is my little baby. (My Mum now has his sister)

Then finally Kismet the Huskamute.. Back to my first love. A northern breed primitive. In hindsight perhaps I should have held out for a pure bred husky or a Malamute. But my heart ruled my head and I fell in love.

Pharoah hound, Basenji's, Saluki's and Greyhounds - all so stunning!!

Miniature Schnauzer - OH and I both love Airedales but as we were novice owners we worked our way down to a Mini Schnauzer. But having done the sensible thing we ended up with a dog with ADHD! Love her anyway!

Affenpinschers - saw them at Discover Dogs and fell in love, read up and decided that they would suit us nicely, in fact they are so lovely I couldn't stop at one!

If I get another dog, which I'm not, really, I'm not getting another dog, can you see how hard I'm trying to convince myself? It will either be a Mini Poodle or a Finnish Spitz as I'd like another dog to try agility with.

J.