Balruggen German Shepherds Longhaired GSD Breeder Scotland
The start of it all.....
Tess and Bo
Tess and Bo (Boadicea) were our first GSDs. They were bred in a family home in Bedfordshire and had Beaumont and Caladan lines in their pedigrees. We got them as litter sisters (yes, I know, they say never do that!) and there was never a cross word between them. They had excellent temperaments and loved everyone.
Unfortunately, Bo was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis at approx. 14 months. We nearly lost her, but she managed to pull through and lived to the grand old age of 10.5 years, albeit with medication having to be given 3 times a day, every day.
Tess passed through heart failure at 9.5 years. It was definitely a baptism of fire, we had so much to learn and knew so little in those days, but we couldn't have asked for two nicer girls to start with.
Due to the myasthenia and the fact that Tess's hip score was not sufficiently good to breed from, these girls were purely pets.
Breagh
Next came Breagh. She was purchased from a breeder in South Ayrshire. Not the long coat that we expected, she had many German lines in her pedigree... but once again, unfortunately, her hips scores were extremely poor, so much so we thought she may need a double hip replacement at 18 months old! Being such an intrusive and massive operation, we decided not to go ahead and see how she managed on pain medication. We had our own small holding, there was no pressure on her regarding exercise, we just let her do as much or as little as she felt good with..... she was eventually put to sleep at the grand old age of 11.5 years old. In that time she managed to complete her Bronze and Silver Good Citizen tests.
Mishka (Ballynabola Blue Belle)
Sadly, we lost Mishka to Degenerative Myelopathy in June 2014, a week before her 9th birthday. She was born before there was a test available for this horrid disease, so we, and her breeders, were unaware that her genetics held such a devastating shock for us as she got older. She was a very trainable, ball orientated dog, who completed her Good Citizen tests up to and including Gold. She also did a little agility and was very much my 'shadow' dog. She will always be missed and never forgotten.
Sleep well my silent ninja, until we meet again xx
As there is now a genetic test for DM, all of our dogs are now tested for Degenerative Myelopathy.
_JPG.jpg)
Tula (Gurneys Highland Mist)
Devastatingly, Tula was taken from us from Acute Stage 5 Leukaemia. It appeared suddenly, and within 2 weeks we realised that there was no viable treatment options available to help her. She was fading away in front of us, so we made the hard decision to end her suffering. There are no known genetic or environmental links to this horrible disease, it is, sadly, just sheer bad luck.
Such an integral part of our pack, she is hugely missed, such a friendly, smart girl who lives on at Balruggen in her daughters Freya and Hannah and her grand daughter Reba. We, now, also have Teagan, who is Tula's grand-daughter, sired by T'challa (Hannah's litter brother).
​
Dakota (Gentlebears Dark Horizons)
Dakota, the last of our foundation girls, passed to Rainbow Bridge at the beginning of March 2022.
A true matriarch, she was in charge just by sheer presence. We have many happy memories of her which we will hold in our hearts forever - her snorkelling her nose under the water when we went to the beach, the fact she could hear the Postman when he pulled up in his van at the end of the road (never mind near the house!), and that fabulous howl she used to give when she was really pleased to see you!! Such a gentle and beautiful girl, whose eyes looked into your very soul. Rest in peace Cotton Chops, til we meet again.
​
