Sunnyside ES
Sunnyside English Shepherds
Jasmine
**Beautiful Jazz was spayed in Dec 2020 & retired from our breeding program, then rehomed in 2023.**
'Jazz'
SSacres Rio's Sagacious Jasmine of GMES
DOB 2014-04-02
MDR1 n/n, PRA-PRCD clear, CEA clear, Hyperuricosuria and Hyperuricemia or Urolithiasis clear, DM carrier, also tested clear for 167 other genetic diseases, elbows OFA normal
Jazz, our saddleback sable girl, is 9 years old. We imported her from Green Mountain English Shepherds in North Carolina as a pup. She is a sweet, sweet dog with an amazing off switch. Silent in her crate, and very patient. She's a good watchdog (although her bark is a bit higher than I prefer), and *loves* children. A snuggler- she's the first dog who still loves to climb up in my lap when invited, and nestle her nose under my chin to sleep- and very nurturing. She's a calm dog and will lay at my feet for hours if there's nothing else to do. Can be a bit bossy but generally calls off easily if it's something I don't want her to boss. Extremely smart, easy to train, but not into repetitive obedience... Jazz will retrieve about 3x and then she's done, and has a super gentle mouth so will not tug on anything.
Sadly, Jazz did not pass her OFA hip evaluation, but we are not quite ready to write her off yet. Since both her dad's & grandma's hips were excellent- in the top 5% of the breed- her dam's were good, and the HD is on the side she got rammed by a goat as a puppy, we believe it to be mainly injury induced. Jazz's full litter sister has had a litter as well, and the pups from that who have been tested have had Excellent hips, which gives us further confidence in our plans for a trial breeding. However, we're still going to proceed with care.
We originally chose King as the prospective sire because he's got OFA Good hips, and we're seeing nice hips and temperaments from pups out of Jazz's dam, Sage, crossed with King's sire, Prince. In addition, both of King's parents have excellent hips, and there are good hips further back in his lineage as well. Tragically, King was hit and killed in our driveway the summer of 2017 by someone while I was in town. We ended up choosing Monty, as his OFA hip scores are good and we think he complements her well.
We plan to implement this new information in a protocol where we use an appropriate whelping nest to protect from HD. The dam & pups will be supplemented with Mega C with Collagen (these went off the market in fall 2018 due to the death of the vet producing them but are supposed to be available again through a different distributor possibly in 2020, but were useful in aiding proper joint development; we are using the supplies we have). We also don't overfeed our pups in an effort to reduce strain on their joints as per this information.
The pups will be offered at lower cost than normal and with an OFA spay/neuter (speuter) criteria that requests that the buyers OFA x-ray the hips during speuter [preferably no earlier than 18 months of age]. Any owner who then sends me a copy of the OFA preliminary results (email is fine) will receive a $50 refund (the cost of sending x-rays to OFA for evaluation, so that owners pay no more than they would for the speuter alone).
This will provide crucial information for our breeding program. If pups' hips are good, it will allow a beautiful dog, lovely line and fantastic temperament to be perpetuated. If they aren't, it will give me conclusive evidence to spay her and take her out of the gene pool.
If there is someone interested in a breeding prospect, we will require that hips be tested as passing OFA or PennHip prior to pup being used for breeding. This will ensure that we are improving the breed, rather than perpetuating a possible issue.
**July 2019 update! Got some exciting feedback on hips from one of our Jazz x Monty pups.**
Jazz is gorgeous with poultry, very quick to respond to verbal correction. When off leash in the poultry area she leaves them alone unless I ask her to do something for me. (All stock is behind an 8' elk fence and has lgds in there, so none of the dogs has access without me being there). Jazz very quietly and gently moves and drives them into the area I want when asked. Someone without knowledge might not even realize that she's intentionally moving them... She usually drops back and calls off easily.
In regards to other small livestock, she doesn't like being cornered, will soft air snap to drive them back if they crowd too close, will herd them (usually driving) into area I'd like. She will not push into a wall to wall area of stock to bring one out - too crowded and she's scared of that. But, she'll keep that crowd away from me when I'm working with one of them. And she has protected me once when a sheep tried to ram me- snarling, snapping little fury at 6 mos old... When driving an obstinate sheep, she'll grip lightly on hind feet or side of neck...
She has more pack drive than prey drive, so is usually willing to help me put the various stock into the barn when needed, but is not driven to chase when there's not a need for it. However there have been a few times when that herding drive has kicked in- but ONLY when necessary.
Gentle Jazz 'turned on' for the first time with the ducks last June. Usually she's very calm and gentle with them, but it was right at the summer solstice when our night never truly gets dark here, and they were being recalcitrant about going into their shed since it was still daylight. However, the lgds get the nighttime off their tire tethers and the ducks would have been lunch if left out (rescue dogs still learning to leave poultry alone). So, they had to be put away.
Well, they were wandering slowly, then just turned away from the shed and headed another direction. Jazz went after them like a shot. In no time, those ducks were traveling so fast they had to slide and backtrack to get through the duck door! While she's never had to do that before, this is a classic ES trait- that of providing the necessary force to do the job.
Couldn't be happier with my first English Shepherd.
Some anecdotes from 2015:
Apr 23
The chickens got out today through a hole in the fence that had been covered by snow all winter. I grabbed Jazz, and went down there and, despite the fact that she's only just hit 1 year of age and hadn't worked at herding since the fall, she very quickly grasped what I was wanting, rounded up all but one chicken calmly, gently and efficiently, and sent them through the gate my son opened, then went back for the last chicken which darted back into the pasture through the hole in the fence shortly thereafter. So very, very pleased!
Apr 26
Went biking with Jazz for the first time ever yesterday. Took Skye along too. Jazz handled it like a pro 😍. Wasn't fazed by being harnessed, nor by being attached to a moving object she'd never seen before- just trotted along beside me cheerfully the whole way (kept it short- only went about 1/2 mile for the inaugural journey-but so *very* pleased!! 💕)
May 14
Introduced Jazz to the babies today. She wasn't sure what to think of them, but was gentle.
Jul 22
Jazz is becoming more and more helpful in the barnyard as she gains more experience. The other day she helped me round up three different does from amongst the herd at the far side of the pasture (about 3 acres of bush), bring them back to the barn and catch them for hoof trimming. Yet she is quiet and unobtrusive in the barn yard, leaving everything alone and moving slowly with head and ears lowered a bit so as to avoid scaring anything unless I ask her to get involved. 😍 She is such a good example to the pups, who take turns being on leash in the pasture and barn in observation mode...I also have a Nubian in milk, and since the deworming milk withdrawal time isn't over yet, I give the milk to the chickens. As a result, I'm not as picky about keeping my hands as clean as I would if we were using it. All that to say, she lays right behind me when I'm milking and waits for me to get milk on my hands, running down my arms- which I hate! Lol (doe's teats are a bit small so I seem to regularly squirt milk on my hands :p ) So, I hold my arm out behind me and she fastidiously licks all the milk off. Gonna have to figure out a new routine when we can use the milk again!
Describe your image.
Describe your image.
Jul 13
Couple neat stories with Jazz the past couple of days. The boys had a friend over on the
weekend, and I got them to candle the eggs some of our chickens were sitting on. One of the chickens escaped out of the coop. The boys spent about 10 minutes tearing around trying to round up that chicken. I was busy with other chores, but told them a couple of times to go get Jazz. They didn't want to go back up to the house to get her, and one said, 'She won't help.' I disagreed. Eventually they went and got her after the guest tripped and fell over a log in the heat of the chase. I told Jazz to put her away. Within 10 seconds, that chicken was back in the coop! 😍
Then yesterday, we weighed our Boer kids. They're getting heavy, and squirmy. 43 lbs of sheer muscle is NOT easy to hold onto. One got away from my youngest son *outside* the pasture. They, again, spent a few minutes trying to catch her. I got Jazz, went down, and in about the same amount of time as with the chicken, Jazz rounded her up and drove her right into my arms. Sooo helpful! 😍 Some might wonder why Jazz wasn't with us already. I have one goat who hates her and seriously tries to kill her at every opportunity. Jazz is pretty ferocious when she expects a fight, but this goat always waits until our backs are turned and we're busy with other things, and then hits from behind like lightning. It's no fun being blindsided by an ornery goat at any time, let alone just when you're successfully working with another chicken/duck/goat. So, unless I have that goat put away, I don't bring Jazz into the pasture. Since she's still young and impressionable and learning what's what, I don't want EVERY visit to the pasture to be a stressful and negative experience. As she gains confidence moving the less aggressive stock, I think she'll eventually be able to take that goat on, but for now, we're just trying to keep it more balanced. (An update- got after that goat fairly strictly the last time she pile drove Jazz. She no longer attacks. Just took ONCE. Says something for the intelligence of goats! And Jazz is getting more comfortable in the barnyard with her present now. Yay ! 💕 )
Aug 4
My helpers, Jazz and King, watching the free ranging herd today 😍 Jazz loves to sit under or on my feet/legs in between herding jobs.
Dec 15
Jazz helped me with the
goats today 😍 I let the
buck and his girls out
from the stall they've
been sequestered in for
the past couple of days,
but failed to notice first
that one of this year's
doelings already out in
the pen was in heat.
The buck headed
straight for her. I ran
and pushed him off.
I don't run, ever.
This got all the goats in a tizzy. I usually just casually walk up and grab a neck or leg, but there was not going to be any 'calm walk through and catch' to get the kid put in another area this time. So, it was 'chase on'. Not how I usually do things, so Jazz was perplexed at first. But she figured out fairly quickly who it was I was trying to outmaneuver, and cut her off at the pass several times. Within about 5 minutes, we had her cornered at a hay bale. Once I got Blessing caught, Jazz got a treat and big praise pet. She was so happy she'd done what I wanted, she about turned inside out wagging. The interesting thing is the minute I got ahold of that kid and finished praising her, Jazz backed off and carried on with her usual disinterested behaviour- sniffing the ground and eating goat pellets. But, as I was transferring the grip on the doeling from one hand to the other, she managed to wiggle loose- briefly- b/c Jazz was on her in a flash and I was able to grab her again within about 5 steps. 💕
Jan 2023
I miss my heart dog, but she landed in the cushiest home imaginable. She is loved to the moon and back and in return is showering affection on her new owners.
