Gr. CH Shagshadow’s Sweet Emma

Winner of 2011 Old English Sheepdog Top Twenty Event

Each year the top twenty ranked sheepdogs in the country are invited to participate in a formal confirmation event held the evening before the OESCA National Championship show. The event format is unique to the Top Twenty. Each dog is featured and judged individually by three judges. Each judge assesses how closely the dog meets the breed standard and then completes a score sheet grading 13 individual characteristics. Judge’s scores are compiled and an average score is determined for each dog. The highest scoring dog is then selected as the winner of the Top Twenty.

For 2011 the judges for the Top Twenty event were Heike Bilsheim from Germany, Michaelanne Johnson from the United States, and Pam Tomes from England.

Although the event was held on Tuesday evening, the winner is always announced two days later at the OESCA National awards banquet. The event winner is identified when Linda Jordan, the Top Twenty co-chair and event coordinator, holds up the arm band number for the winning dog. It was an unbelievable feeling to see her holding number 54 indicating our Sweet Emma was the Top Twenty winner. It is a thrilling but also humbling experience to win this event while competing against the top sheepdogs in the country. In 1998 we won our first Top Twenty with Drew Bear , Ch. Raffles Reprise. Since then we have competed in the Top Twenty with Baby Joe and Piper, two more outstanding sheepdogs. It is especially rewarding that 13 years after Drew Bear’s victory her great grand daughter duplicated her feat by winning the 2011 Top Twenty.

We would like to thank the Old English Sheepdog Top Twenty show committee and the judges for this wonderful competition.

This beautiful compact bitch is what we hoped to produce when we bred Tatum (Ch. Shagshadow’s Sweet Secret) and Tucker (Ch. Shagshadow’s Pandamonium). She has outstanding structure and movement and a wonderful sweet temperament. Although she has only been shown on a limited basis she completed her class bitch show career with all major wins including Best of Winners at the 2010 New England Specialty and Best of Winners at the 2010 OESCA National Specialty. She then went on to win her Grand Championship and qualified for the top 20 in only a handful of shows.

We would like to thank our friend, co-owner, and co-breeder Pat Schneider for this great dog. We would also like to thank our friends and mentors, Jane and Bob Ogg for providing Tucker as stud dog to produce such an outstanding litter. Emma lives at home with us where she loves to play every day with all of our sheepdogs including her grandfather Ch. Shagshadow’s Sweet Baby Joe.