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!
