Hamish is our first Shiloh Shepherd and exactly what I wanted when I went out searching to make the addition to our family. After much research regarding my options Hamish MacKota of Shenandoah became part of our family in April of 2004.

Hamish was born on Valentine's Day at Shenandoah Shilohs from the pairing of NS rbCH B&T's Ment To Be Of Ridgewood, ROM, CGC, TDI, TT [Kota], a handsome grey sable plush male; and Shenandoah's Back to the Future [Trinka], a lovely brown sable plush coated female. I had been speaking to Christi Yonavick of Ridgewood Shilohs about her upcoming breedings and she mentioned a breeding of one of her progeny. After much discussion and research I wanted to attend this LER not to get a puppy but to meet some additional Shiloh Shepherds, their breeders and get a sense of the LER process.

I hadn't planned on coming home with a puppy but Hamish ended up testing out exactly as I would have wanted and more than that, we made a connection — although some might just call that puppy-itis. I had done the research on the litter and now I had a hard decision to make, I had thought the timing wrong but could I pass on a puppy that just "fit" so well? The stars aligned and little light blue boy became part of our family, the foundation of our Shiloh adventure and Mac Shilohs.

Hamish's pedigree includes many historic Shilohs such as CJ's Lobo Amado de Windsong, Shiloh's Captain-Caliber Baker, Bionic Black Smoke of Zion, Shiloh's Secret Sampson-Woo, and Windsong's Katrinka D'Shiloh to name but a few.

Hamish only showed a handful of times but James was able to put some points on Hamish so he is Breed Champion Pointed. We do not get to show often, but try to at least make our parent club and/or registry specialties. He is, however, now retired much to his utter glee! Now he gets to go to events to visit and just get lots of loving, his favorite pastime!

Hamish has completed his health testing as per his registry and our personal standards. Hamish received his OFA Heart Certification [Cardiologist] at 31 months as well as passed his CERF eye exam. He was OFA Certified Thyroid Normal at 36 months. He also has OFA Certified normal elbows but his hips have not come back as we would have wished for. PennHip numbers at 25 months are .46/.46, no DJD but his OFA Hips showed Mild Dysplasia, Unilateral Left, Subluxation, No Remodeling. He will not be bred.

Hamish is so much more than any health testing shows, what show points he has or what champion dogs stack his pedigree. He was meant to be part of our family and he more than surpasses our expectations on that count. Hamish was labeled "the sensitive one" by his breeder and he has proven time and time again that is a good thing. He is my best friend, my best nurse, a momma's boy, a benevolent alpha, and so much more than we could have EVER expected. We got the plus side of sensitive with very little of the negative — we did get a lot of chattiness though! Hamish's father Kota and brother Tylor are working Therapy Dogs and we hope to be able to try our hands [and paws] at that as well.

You can see more pictures of Hamish in the galleries in our A Dog's Life section.