My folks took in a rescue Border Collie when I was about 6 months old (the puppy was about 6 months old, too), and he rewarded us by staying with us for 19 years. He was the ideal dog for kids to grow up with: he took a fair amount of rough-and-tumble, but none of us remember a snap or nip. He went everywhere with me (his photo is still in my iPod).

When he died, we went through the usual "no more dogs" thing, but a Cocker Spaniel pup called Sally (Airleywight Idle Dreams) arrived, and put an end to that plan . Not just that, but she founded a small dynasty!

Sally's daughter Donna (Perwinnes Prima Donna) became a permanent resident, and her daughter Chota (Perwinnes Prima Vera) boarded with us a lot from my Aunt. The "family" were joined by another rescue CS, whom we named Tina (she arrived the day my grandmother died).

When I struck out from home, all the Spaniels were old, but still alive, so I used to see them when I visited. I couldn't keep a dog in an Edinburgh flat, so I was dogless until I moved up here to the Twilight Zone in 1993. Part of the reason for the move was to be able to get hands-on with a dog again!

So, it was back to my first love, Border Collies - Kali and Snorri rule the roost. They have no pedigrees*, they're just Orkney farmyard tinks, but they are exactly what I wanted.

*They do, however, have five-word names, in Icelandic :

Rognvaldur Kali Kolsson Orkneyjar Jarl
("Earl of Orkney")
Snorri Thorgrimur Thorgrimsson Helgafellir Godi
("Naughty Boy Thor's hard man, son of Thor's hard man, the Priest of the Holy Mountain")


So, because they have the names of Norse noblemen, they think they ARE Norse noblemen!

Boiled down - all my life!

Snorri

My mother's parents had a Collie/Terrier cross before I was born. After I was born (almost 22 years ago), Jake would lay right beside my cot and refuse to budge when I was in it. He didn't let my mother anywhere near me! Jake didn't like my mother, he had sense.

They got him after being found as a stray, 5 years before I was born, he lived until he was 19 years old.

Then I got my own first dog, a Westie, when I was 18, after i'd completed my exams, finished school and got my first job. Molly, my Westie, will be 4 in August.

My Aunty gave my mum a corgi bitch that she bred, that we called cindy and that was when I was one and she lived until she was 18, and ever since then I've always a at least one dog and as a kid my mum said I knew all the local dogs and that I had a way with most animals

My parents bought a dog (big black lab called Sam) when I was five and my brother eight because we were both terrified of dogs. I wanted to do competitions and the like but he was terribly ring shy. I begged and begged for a dog of my own but it wasn't until I hit eight and was taken into hospital that my surgeon backed me up!!! (more important thatn the fact he saved my life obviously). Along came Jackson a big "old style" labrador full of mischeif. We trained obedience first and got a few places while I was in my wheelchair, when I got out of the wheelchair however his heelwork stayed a foot away!!! We soon started agility, then flyball. A year or so later along came Spring and so on from there really. So if you start at Jackson 12 years xxx

My first memories of owning dogs,was when i was around 7 or 8 we had a little mutt, that was over over 40 odd yrs ago.....we had a period when my children where growing up, around 15yrs when I have been without a dog....but never again, they are here to stay

ive always been into dogs ,dog was my second word and first word i wrote my dad was allergic so we werent allowed one but i got a dog as soon as i moved away from home and will always have dogs my kids adore our dog

First memory was my mums yorkie she got him as her first dog when she was 16 and we had him until i was four, then an irish wolfhound called gemma- when i was 6 and my sister was 10 we got our first yorkies raggs & mimi,then a poodle foxey,a ckc called lucy, a lab cross called buster, two more irish wolhounds cassie & tessie, an alsation cross that we found we named kushty, another yorkie charlie and now my dobie madison.

I have always loved dogs and as a child used to walk neighbours dogs for them as we couldn't have our own because my father was allergic to dog and cat hair.
I got my first dog in 1974 and we started showing in 1977. Have never been without a dog since, well apart from a week.

my mum was living at home and they had working dogs, collies i think, when i was born. they used to leave me outside in my pram and the dogs would keep guard, the only person they would let near the pram was my mum not even my dad could get near

my first memory is of my aunties st bernard benson, they owned a shop near old trafford and he stayed in the flat upstairs. unfortunately one day he managed to get out of the flat and ran into the traffic

after that i got bit and chased by quite a few dogs and so even though i liked the look of them i wouldn't go anywhere near one. it was only when i met my girlfriend and she was living at her mums with 4 dogs that i was literally thrown in at the deep end

that was about 4-5 years ago now and i haven't looked back, we now have 4 of our own

For the whole of my life I have had Dobermanns around me in one form or another.

When I was born in 1958 my parents already had a Dobe called Charles (I think he was named after Prince Charles as he was very regal).

Then when he died, I think I was about 5 or 6 at the time my Dad got two more Dobes (a brother and sister duo) called King and Queen, but sadly they died two years apart from each other while I was at University.

Then he got Snowball (No he wasn’t white, it’s just that once my Dad brought him home he keep playing in the snow), and then very sadly my Dad passed away and I took snowball in as I had left university by then and my Mum was not able to look after him on her own and I have never been without a Dobe since.

If I could ever fault the breed and it’s on a purely selfish point of view and that’s that their life span is very short compared to other breeds.

The oldest we have ever had a Dobermann live is 11 whereas some other breeds live into there 20’s.

Colin