TRUE HAUS KENNELS

1. She has never considered leaving my side while not on a leash, not to chase the deer that run by, not to chase a belligerent dog, not to follow a tempting scent while walking in the woods, not while stopping at a rest stop while traveling, not even to chase a squirrel or raccoon while we are in the front yard.

2. She is good to our other two dogs even when she became of age and had to establish herself as the boss. She rules with grace.

3. We meet every evening in a very large field with anywhere from four to twenty dogs and their owners. No fences and every breed and size imaginable( mastiffs to dachunds) are off leash and playing and sometimes arguing. Ella leaves them all alone unless they go for her ball then she is all business. No one now attempts to take her ball. The men compete to through her ball with a chucker just to watch her run the 40 or 50 yards at an all out race and return almost as quickly. They never tire of watching her....she never tires either.

4. She goes regularly with me to the nursing home where my 93 year old friend has lived since Ella was a puppy. She is completely relaxed around all the residents and wheel chairs, visits everyone who wants to say hello, lays quietly for long sessions while I visit and even pulls my friend in her chair to any part of the facility she wants to go. We are headed there as soon as I finish this letter.

5. But her crowning achievement is her relationship with our three grandchildren, 4, 2 and 6 months. She recently spent a week at the lake with them and then ten days with us in FL. Ella always knows where they are, what they are doing, and if they are alright and then makes a judgment as to where she should be. She plays literally for hours with Lilah,4&1/2, in the water, on the dock, in the woods, in and out of the boat, on the golf cart, and Ella always walks right beside Lilah when Lilah is outside unless Ella is chasing a stick Lilah just threw. But most amazing is how Ella obeys Lilah's commands. "Ewwa, stop!" or "Ewwa come" or "Ewwa no!" or "Ewwa, jump in the boat!" is all Ella needs to here and she obeys immediately!! Unbelievable!!
Our two year old,Henry, is into sticks, toy guns and anything that he can plug in and operate... like a vacuum. If he goes in a closet to find a new apparatus Ella is by his side watching his every move. One day Henry pulled down a bunch of trays that came clattering from overhead down around Ella and she never even flinched, just continued to stand with him as he explored.
Our Olivia, 6 months, smiles whenever she sees Ella coming and then she scrunches up her little face for the inevitable lick that Ella gives. Actually that is how she checks all three of them, just a tiny lick on their face.....so tender and gentle.
Ella could be a scripted dog in a movie who is the perfect companion for a busy family. But she is a real life dog in every way. She is truly a dog that one has to see to believe. She is a living testimony to the quality of shepherd that you breed. We didn't teach her, she just knows!!!!! Thank you Jim and Cathy for our dear Ella!

Katherine wing