We came home from our visit to the kennels with more than a puppy, Egor. The people at the kennel liked Sasha’s pedigree and asked if we would consider letting their dog Gel mate with her when her second season came in a few months. Gel was a large, golden magnificent looking animal, with a good pedigree and  as we had always thought we would let Sasha have at least one litter of puppies we agreed. We left armed with information about the whelping box we were to make, registering a name for a kennel so that the puppies could be registered and other information that was pertinent to dog breeding and our little male puppy.

Macarra again disappeared with her nose out of joint but for a lesser period of time. Sasha was more than happy to have company and accepted the puppy with glee. A couple of weeks later a friend turned up with a black and white kitten that he had found dumped. We were the only people he knew that had a house and could take animals so he thought he’d deposit it with us. Macarra again went to her retreat under the house but this time she didn’t even last 24 hours. She came back and made sure that both kitten and puppy knew who was boss. Whiskey and Egor, both being babies, formed a real bond, with the cat curled up between the dog’s feet along his abdomen. When both at home they were together much of the time.

Egor grew. I’d never had a male dog before and I was really enjoying his personality. He liked to make his own mind up about people, always liking them but never giving the impression that he would be just as happy with the visitor as with us. Unfortunately, again he was very much my dog. I tried not to let it happen and Paul did his training at GSDL dog training but the day-to-day fell to me or it wouldn’t have happened. An uncontrollable dog, particularly a big one like a German Shepherd, is not an enjoyable house mate if not obedient. Dogs, like children, enjoy knowing what the boundaries are and I think when they have a choice will attach themselves to the person that commands them. If I was at work then, they were more than happy to transfer their attention to Paul.

One of their happiest outings was to Lane Cove River Park. We would throw sticks into the river and they would usually bring them back together. Sasha was the branch manager and Egor the sub branch manager.

We were almost ready with our preparations for breeding and Sasha was nearly at her time of readiness.