Helena! My old Sal (GSD)

I enjoyed reminiscing about Sal earlier on the GSD thread and, as I am once again pruning out the chaff from my life before carting it with me to pastures new - came across my old Sal's 3 generation pedigree (don't laugh it's in with my kids' birth certificates lol!)

Thought you might like to see her ancestry. I don't think the Oldway Kennels are still going but are mentioned in lots of ancient KC stuff. As you can see she had quite a few impressive forebears.

Haha. I cannot decipher this at all! I just see gibberish.

Oh, well. My reputation of owning mutts from shelters, accidental litters, and "free to good homes" precedes me.

Oh that's interesting Pat, looks like your Sal was a working obedience line just like Zena then? I don't wanna show off here, but Zena has some Sch 3 in her ancestry, along with the show winners you have there

When I look back to old Georgie and his lack of enthusiasm for any training (or much else for that matter ), I can see exactly why they breed these obedience lines.

An absolute doddle to train, show them only once and they've got it, and I have to say, even if you don't follow the course for which this type of dog was bred for, it does make for the most well behaved companion, a real pleasure to have under your feet constantly.

Looking at your comment in the other thread about your Sal being told to go to her bed, you got it spot on there Pat , but you did forget about that final glance she would have given you before climbing into that bed, which said "are you absolutely certain you really want me to do this"?????

Some pics would be great if you have any. Was she a longcoat?

No and she was straight backed. And you've made me remember something I was told back then (remember this was decades ago) that long coats are not waterproof?!

I don't have many photos of her because of course this was pre computer and digi cameras and photos had to be paid for at the chemist! About a fiver a go and if half of them turned out bad it was a fiver for one good pic! These days you can snap away and discard most for nowt.

She was a stunner.

Here's one I found in my Picasa albums. (I put all my scanned photos on disks a while back and doubt I'll ever find time to go through them now)



Aww look at my little boys there! And Jen wasn't even a twinkle in my eye back then.

Sal died when Jen was just under a year old. She can't remember Sal but thinks she does as we all talk about her so much.

Another (these are oldies scanned in at some time) boys are older here (they all grew up together) can't see much of Sal here but she was a real member of the family - one of the kids really!


Proof that I was skinny once lol!

I'm looking for one of her on her 'stair bed' I have it framed here so should be somewhere. It's how I think of her most because it's where we spent our last time and even our last hours together. Here's another of her with 'her boys'. Wherever they were - she was. But I never ever, during her whole life, let them take her out for a walk. Not without me. Too strong a dog. Even tho I considered her to be the best dog in the world. Same reason I'd put her outside or in the kitchen if anyone with toddlers visited. Not because she was upredictable. Because it is better to be safe than sorry


The ears! the ears!

I've always had dogs with great EARS! My CKCS's ears touched the ground if untrimmed. Gloriously long curly ears. Used to trim them just because they got so filthy at the ends.

And Bella's ears - well - no words needed really (apart from maybe 'Yoda'?) LOL!

Well to be honest Myra - I put it up for Helena as she can 'decipher' that's why I put her name in the title!

I've had one dog from rescue and it had to go back. So I never did that again. You've mentioned many, many dogs in your life but you are still only in your twenties?

I am 65 now and almost always 'had a dog' since I was an adult and had one dog when I was a kid at home - call it 'my dog' loosely because it was me that brought it home and begged for it to stay - it would have been drowned with the rest of the pups otherwise. That's how people dealt with unwanted litters in East London back in the 50s and 60s.

I've had since, 2 GSDs, one CKCS and now one Minpin. With the avg lifespan of the dogs I owned being around 11 yrs I wouldn't actually have lived long enough as an adult to have had many more, having had them one at a time with 2 gaps in between. 4 dogs one after the other with no gaps would = roughly 40-45 yrs.

Before my twenties I could only honestly say I'd had ONE dog and that dog lived in my dad's house where I grew up with it from age about 8 until I left home. It was by then quite old and died shortly after.

So, since I became 20 I've had just four dogs (5 if you count the one that went back to Battersea PDQ but it was only with me for about a week) and if I'd had the first one from puppyhood it would have spanned even longer. But I didn't.

I fostered my GSD's mum for a few years before they were able to take her back and when they bred her - I got one of the pups. I never had them both at the same time. I've had just 3 dogs from puppyhood onward - Sal, Charlie and now Bella. I doubt I will live long enough to have another dog in my life now. I just hope I live long enough to cover her natural lifespan.

I only know about you having Jade and Brownie at the same time. And now Jade and Nigredo. But you do mention 'other dogs' from time to time (some of which had to be 'got rid of') I just don't comprehend when and how you had all these other dogs during your short lifetime! Not if they stayed until they died. You must have been just a little kid when you first got Brownie going by the age he was when he died.

I've rescued cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and even a tortoise. And they've lived alongside my dogs.

Perhaps you'll tell me about 'all your dogs' with a bit of a timeline? As I said, baffles me a bit. Unless you mean 'family dogs' going back to when you were a tiddler - even so - in just 20 odd years of life - I don't see how you can have had that many - not unless most of them didn't stay long or live long?

Don't get me wrong - just you saying you get ALL your dogs from shelters. And have a reputation for doing so?

I know you got Nigredo from a shelter but surely it was your parents who got dogs preceding Nigredo? I know of no shelters who will rehome a dog to a ten yr old or however old you must have been when Brownie and Jade came 'into your life'. So am genuinely curious about what dogs YOU have got from Shelters!

Oh your Sal is just like my sacha was, even as a puppy, absolutely identical to your Sal, I will find pics and post them up.

I can see your point above about how many dogs, cos I'm almost your age (not quite that old yet !) and even when I go back to when I was 10 and we had our very first shepherd boy at home, Zena is my 8th one, but I've always had 2 dogs together up until now.

Will dig around in my old pics to find Sacha for you.

You could of course have left it at 'almost your age' without adding the last bit! Witch!

I've found an old B&W photo of me with my 'first dog' old Ruffchops the one I brought home to save him being drowned. And foisted on my grandad round the corner at first but he just kept coming to our house instead!