As long as I can remember, I’ve allways loved dogs. I’m the only one in the family to love dogs, so no matter how hard I’d beg for a puppy my parents never allowed me to have one. Instead I had snails, silk worms, fishes and hamsters, which of course are not exactly the same as a dog.

When I was 12, I started a collection of dog cards. That was the first time I saw a picture of a bobtail. As I always knew I would have a dog, no matter how long it would take, I began wondering about it. It had to be a shepherd dog (as I rate sheepdogs the most intelligent and friendly dogs), a medium sized dog, not too small nor too big (something around 55-65 cm would do), with long hair (short coated dogs are not actually dogs, for me …), and light coloured. Given these “requirements”, my “list” was restricted to only two breeds: Briards and Bobtails. As Briards were said to have sometimes a nasty temper, and I liked the white/grey look, I decided on the bobtail.

In the mean time, I finally convinced my parents to allow me to keep a dog. It was a mongrel puppy bitch (with some Yorkie blood somewhere) that became my companion and lived to the age of 12.
 

Noucky - the day she arrived home 

Some years later 

When Noucky died, after surpassing the grief of loosing her, and as I was finally living on my own, I decided that it was the time to finally have a purebred, bobtail puppy bitch. It was not easy though. I finally found out that there was only one breeder in Portugal, and managed to get his contact. He said that one of his bitches was going to have puppies soon, so I got really excited. I waited for good news in the next couple of months until I phoned the breeder again. He said that the litter was born, that there was only a female and that he was keeping her. It was total disappointment! After all those expectations it was hard thinking of waiting a whole year to have a puppy. So, I bought a French dog magazine and started to look for bobtail advertisements. Luckily, there was a litter available from a breeder near Perpignan, close to the Spanish border. I contacted him and soon we were heading towards France to collect my first puppy. She was to become F.Wendy d’al sola de Bonabosc (Ch. Amadeus Lover des Korils d’Armor x Up and Down du Moulin du Pont). As you can see, we had not much care in choosing our breeder, but we were lucky. M. Danoy showed us the photos of the ancestors and their show achievements, the commercial that he had made for Pedigree, and convinced us that we should show our little girl. When we received the pedigree, we found out a lot of funny names and a lot of Champions too. So we decided to enter Wendy in a show. Wendy took Best Puppy and I got hooked on shows.

Unfortunately Wendy died when she was only 6 months old (nobody knows really why, but it was probably an electric shock), and I almost gave up having dogs, after losing 2 loved ones within one year. Of Wendy I remember she was a somehow fat, lazy bitch, with a sweet temperament. I still remember her, in the back seat of the car, licking my ears and the feeling of it.

After some thought I decided to have another try. I contacted M. Danoy again, hoping that he would not refuse me a second chance. He didn’t, so soon we set off to France again, and brought Fleur d’al sola de Bonabosc. She was to become my foundation bitch. She always had a nasty behaviour towards other dogs (especially Poodles, the little white ones – who could blame her?), so for the day-to-day life it was not so simple to live with. But I always loved her super memory, her sense of humour, the ability to learn quickly (the things that she accepted to learn) and the true bobtail behaviour regarding humans. It was her that truly hooked me on bobtails and proved that my choice, how silly it could be at the start, was absolutely right. Since she was 3 months old, she went to work with me every day and was adored by everyone. When we arrived every morning, she would visit my colleagues, who always had a treat for her. She could smell food from a 20 m distance and liked to play the “starving dog” act, with great success I must confess.

Despite having good bloodlines behind her, it soon became obvious that she would never be a good show dog. Deciding if I should breed from her was not simple but eventually it proved to be a good decision. 

OUR KENNEL NAME

When I decided to breed, I began thinking of a kennel name. As it was a british breed and I was thinking of giving English names to the dogs, the kennel name should be English too. I first had chosen “Woolygan’s”, for obvious reasons, but it was refused. Eventually, the affix “Sealords” was accepted (back in 1992) and I started breeding under that prefix (with the first litter being born in the beginning of 1994).

Why “Sealords”? I think that the affix should have something to do with the dogs you breed, with the breeder, and/or the place he lives in. For those who don’t know, back in the 1400’s, Portuguese sailors set out from this little lost country in small ships to discover the world, which was really a great feat. For 3 centuries, Portuguese sailors were truly the Lords of the Sea (hence Sealords, as an homage to those heroic people). The logo is also based on that. Behind the Bobtail profile, you see a triangular (or latin) sail, which allowed sailing against the wind, and was a revolution in sea sailing at the time. In the sail, you see a cross – named “Christ’s Cross”  -  as you could find in the Portuguese flag at the time (as well as in all documents and even monuments). And the letter “O” is actually an astrolab, an instrument of arabic origins that the Portuguese improved, that allowed to measure the height of the stars and so to determine the position of the ships when they were in the middle of the sea.

OUR DOGS

For me, dogs are man’s companions. I think that a dog’s life is not complete if it is not shared with the owner. So, my dogs live as normal family dogs, that is, in the house, and sleep in my bedroom, around my bed (OK, sometimes on my bed, which is not so simple as they like the pillows as much as I do). But when I’m away, they stay in a sheltered place (you can hardly call it a kennel), where they are protected from the sun, the rain (and the neighbours …). It is in that place (that measures 14 m x 2 m) that we play ball, their favourite activity, that keeps them fit (the kennel is also used by the kids to play, I think the “police-prisoners” thing …). Besides the “kennel”, and when I’m at home, they may roam around the house, but normally, if I’m not playing with them, they prefer staying quietly inside the house with me (which is very puzzling to my mother, who really doesn’t understand why the kennel, which is supposed to have dogs inside, is always empty). 

                                      The "kennel"

BREEDING PHILOSOPHY

There are 3 things I have in mind when breeding:

- the standard: The standard is our Bible as breeders and the aim is to breed dogs as close to the standard as possible. 

All the bitches have been rated as "Excellent" by breed specialist judges
 

- health: a good dog is a healthy dog. Our breed was a working breed, so a sick or a cripple dog would be of no use. 

All the dogs are X-rayed and free from hip dysplasia.
 

- temperament: the vast majority of our dogs end up as pet dogs, living with families that probably don’t have a deep knowledge of canine behaviour and how to deal with it. So the aim is to breed dogs that are “easy to live with”, that is, dogs with stable, bomb proof temperaments, and the true bobtail sweet, playful disposition. 

I don't breed from very dominant, nervous, or unstable dogs.
 

I only breed occasionally (one litter every 2 years, in average), and in order to keep a puppy for myself, to continue my line. So litters are carefully planned. The puppies are born and reared in the house, where they get a lot of attention and contact with the noises of the day-to-day life (TV, vacuum cleaner, etc). We also invite the kids in the neighbourhood to play with them. They are properly dewormed and vaccinated and are registered with the Portuguese Kennel Club (FCI member) - so pedigrees are fully recognized by the other FCI members and also by the KC, AKC and other non-FCI members.
 
 

I assume a lifelong committement with my puppies and their owners, so, besides being always available to assist the owners in every problem they may have, regarding feeding, grooming, training, etc, I'm also prepared to take back any dog, at any time, for whatever reason.