BRADSHAWS BOYS

Hi 

Our names are Graham  and Barbara Bradshaw and we live in Lincolnshire. We have two daughters Sarah and Jodie. Sarah is married to our son in law Edward and Jodie lives with her boyfriend,Nick.

I am self employed in the Plumbing trade and Barbara works part time as a Domestic Cleaner.

We have two Border Collies, Glen and Sonny,who are brothers.

We had our first dog Appx 33 years ago,a Jack Russell named Scampi. Scampi unfortunately died at about 2 years of age. We then got a Collie Cross named Rex,who lived to be about 15 when he passed away due to old age. We then purchased a Border Collie whom we named Skip,this dog became the love of our lives,he was a fantastic boy. Skip died at 12 from a kidney failure. It was one of the saddest days our lives. We found that life was not the same without a Border Collie around the place so we decided to look for another. When looking on the internet we came across a Border Collie breeder, Mrs Chris Green(Jackscrofter) who at the time had a Border Collie dog pup for sale,the last one remaining from her litter of 2006. So we arranged to go and have a look at this little pup. After we had met Chris and had a chat she told us that the pup was ours if we wanted him. It did'nt take long to decide that this pup was for us,and we agreed to purchase the pup who was to be named Glen. Glen was 8 weeks old when he came to live with us in Lincolnshire. We took Glen to puppy socialising classes and it was at these classes that we were told that Glen may well make a good show dog. So we got some information on dog showing,went along to the Border Collie Club of GB Open show to see what went on and we were hooked.

We were so into dog showing that we asked Chris Green if another pup could be purchased from her 2007 litter. This she agreed to, so again of we went to have a look at the pups from the 2007 litters.  A full brother to Glen was chosen whom we named Sonny. Sonny has also been entered into the show ring.

These two wonderful Border Collies have been a godsend to us and we have had such a lot of enjoyment out of them in such a short space of time. We have'nt set the show world alight,but we really enjoy it and all being well we will continue to show both boys. We try to take each show as it comes and although sometimes we get deflated by the results we try to put on a brave face and realise that our boys are the best  whatever the results. At the end of the day its the boys health and happiness that is important and the showing is just a bonus.We have met some nice people in our short time showing the boys. We also appreciate all their Border Collies and what ever success is acheived with their dogs is well deserved. We spend virtually all our spare time with Glen and Sonny. Weekends we go showing or taking the boys for a run on the marsh or on a beach somewhere. Everyday our dogs are excersised both physically and mentally,this we feel important to keep them in good health. We never go on a holiday unless we find accomadation that takes in dogs. This year,2008, we have had two fantastic holidays in the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. Both holiday venues are a paradise for dog walking.

Stop Press: 2009,We have now started Agility classes with Glen. He is getting on really well. The lessons are based on competion but at the moment we only intend doing Agility just for fun. We also have some jumps etc of our own and train both Glen and Sonny on our neighbours field.

Glen practicing agility at home.

 We are both very grateful to Mrs Chris Green for breeding us two fantastic Border Collies. They are a joy to have around the place and we would'nt be without them.

We would also like to thank Mrs C.Freeman who is the owner of Glen and Sonny's father. Sorcerers Apprentice at Shepherdspal "Ozzy"