Cei is a love but unfortunately suffers from a condition called diabetes insipidus. It means his kidneys do not concentrate urine properly so unmedicated he wants to drink constantly and then it goes straight through him. Luckily it is easily controlled with medication. Of course this disallows him from conformation competition. He could compete in other avenues but I had such hopes for Arthur’s brother, learning of his disability took the heart out of me. But he has a good life, running our property and sneaking down to the water when no one is looking.

Traditionally, “selkies” were mythical creatures: half seal & half human;living partly at sea and partly on land (while always longing to be in the water).   In our minds, this is the 1 nature of Flat-Coats! On the Orkney Isles, ‘selkie’ is still the word for ‘seal’.  Our Selkie lives up to her name by being a strong, agile, and enthusiastic swimmer with an impish personality.  Very much like her mother (Dory), Selkie *is* our seal!

My first love when it came to dogs was Shetland Sheepdogs. But most of my friends had Flat-coated retrievers and the more I hung around with them, threw birds for them and went to 2 FC Nationals with a Sheltie, the more I saw the wisdom and the light of getting my very own FCR back in 2001. Breezy was my first and has shown me the ropes of owning a FCR. Over the years we have become fast best friends and enjoy doing obedience, agility, hanging out, and her favorite–field. She has also made me realize that I can have two first loves.

Tex is our liver boy who started out as my husband’s dog. However, my husband didn’t realize how much work was involved in training the dogs, so I took over.  Tex is one of the sweetest dogs in our house.  He enjoys his therapy dog work.  He is a maniac about the water and enjoys his birds.  He is an honest worker and tries hard for me.  Tex is 4 months older than our other youngster, Zealot.  Having 2 puppies so close has been an experience that I would not repeat, but I would never give them up.