Bentley joined our family on July 31, 1999. He
was thirteen weeks old and just as cute as a button. His breeder,
Jean Wilson (TJ Shelties) had nicknamed him "Matt,"
because he loved to sleep and just laid around her house like
a doormat for most of the day! Well, that sure didn't last long
in our house. Within forty-eight hours of coming home, he was
shooting around the house like a little rocket! Bentley definitely
liked being the center of attention.
He had a
tough first few weeks in our house. Our older sheltie, Scooter,
had been an only dog for twelve years, and he wasn't too sure
that he wanted another dog in the house. So, for the first month
or so, all of Bentley's overtures to Scooter went unanswered.
One day, however, everything just clicked for the two of them,
and they played happily together from that day forward.
Bentley
is probably the smartest sheltie that I've ever owned, and he
LOVES to work! Bentley competed in his first obedience trial
on April 6, 2002, and on June 21, 2002 he finished his CD in
style at the Three Rivers Shetland Sheepdog Club Specialty in
Pittsburgh. In addition to earning his third CD leg, he also
received the High Scoring Novice Award that day. Bentley is our
first obedience titlist, and we are very proud of what he has
accomplished! We want to thank our trainer, Debbie Miller-Gurchak,
for the countless hours that she spent with us in pursuit of
Bentley's CD.
Bentley
is our empathetic sheltie. He is very sensitive to the feelings
of other dogs and people. When we brought Parker home after having
him neutered, Bentley circled Parker's crate for an hour howling
and crying the entire time. He stopped only long enough to put
his paw thru the crate bars to touch Parker's back as if to say,
"it's okay buddy!" We call him "our gentle
giant." A story about "Mr. B" is featured in Kim
Dearth's book, " The Compassion of Dogs." The
book was published in the fall of 2002, and Bentley was delighted
to see his name in print!
Bentley loves to yodel. Whenever he is excited
or pleased about something, he throws back his head and lets
loose with one of his trademark yodels.
You know
you're doing something right whenever he bestows a double or
triple yodel on you!
