About Merrimac Farm

''MERRIMAC FARM is a seventeen acre estate outside of Redmond, Washington. andnbsp;Founded in 1906 by George Magnuson, Merrileeand#39;s grandfather, who was a dairy farmer, the farm remained a working farm into the late 60and#39;s. andnbsp;In the mid 70and#39;s, Merrilee purchased the family farm. andnbsp;With her husband Bill, the Magnuson Farm became MerriMac Farm, combining their names, Merrilee and McCarthy. andnbsp; For ten years they entertained on the road while maintaining the farm and breeding Egyptian Arabian horses. andnbsp;The Old English Sheepdogs were on the farm but there wasnand#39;t a breeding program in place.

''MERRILEE: andnbsp; In 1960 I bought my first OES. andnbsp;I saved up $100 and got an all white girl named andquot;Bridgetandquot; from Hazel Foster Collins. andnbsp;She was an experience. andnbsp;Amazingly, andnbsp;I stayed with the breed despite her and her white factor and In 1969 purchased andquot;LuLuandquot; , a daughter of Hazeland#39;s breeding, andnbsp;Am./Can. Ch. Driftwoodand#39;s Oliver Twist. andnbsp;He was a great winning boy in the 60and#39;s here in the northwest, owned by Jack and Rosemary Murphy , who became my two dear friends. andnbsp;After hiring handlers and groomers for LuLu I decided I to try my hand at showing. andnbsp;So in 1978, I was at a dog show in Portland, Or. in search of a show pup. andnbsp;There I saw consistent type coming from a sire named Ch. Cheerio Heavy Number, owned by Ken and Paula Leach. andnbsp;The type was bear-like and I really loved the look. andnbsp;I called the Leaches and went to see clipped down andquot;Tuffyandquot; and was so taken with this extremely handsome male, I put in my order for a show male pup. The following year, we got our magnificent andquot;Boomerandquot;. andnbsp;Boomer travelled all over the country with us and we loved him so. andnbsp;Unfortunately, we lost Boomer to heart failure early on and the Leaches were so kind to replace him with another andquot;Tuffyandquot; son, andnbsp;Cheerio Tuffson of MerriMac aka andquot;Bubbaandquot;. andnbsp; While waiting for andquot;Bubbaand#39;s arrival andnbsp;we purchased andquot;Bessieandquot; from the Leaches. andnbsp;andquot;Bessieandquot; aka Cheerio Liland#39; Bessie Smiff, was the most perfect girl for us to start a breeding program with. andnbsp;Her smart personality and beautiful conformation combined with the handsome andquot;Bubbaandquot; andnbsp;gave us a wonderful beginning. andnbsp;Along with the look came the most beautiful movement. andnbsp;From that only breeding, came andquot;Blossomandquot; and andquot;Beaulahandquot;, our foundation girls. andnbsp;Both were outcrossed to Elizabeth Tokachand#39;s line at Galliyard. andnbsp;andquot;Blossomandquot; aka MerriMac Ballroom Dancer, andnbsp;was bred to Lizand#39;s Am./Can. Ch. Banbury Royal Sultan with tremendous results. andnbsp;I now had what I needed to take into the ring. andnbsp;Liz was the best mentor anyone could have going into the ring for the first time. andnbsp;I have so much to be grateful to her for. andnbsp;Iand#39;m grateful for the trips to the shows and learning the ropes and just talking about dogs. andnbsp; I only bred to andquot;Turkiandquot; once but then went on to breed to his sons to solidify the type and movement.

''TODAY: andnbsp; The horses are all gone from MerriMac Farm but the OES have the entire run of andnbsp;the place. andnbsp;With large mown fields and so many different areas to explore, the dogs are free to run and play - andnbsp;to be healthy, happy and sound. andnbsp;We believe in a program of good feeding, supplementation and a reasonable vaccination protocol. andnbsp;Gone are the days of over- vaccination, leading to suppressed immune systems. andnbsp; andnbsp;Breeding dogs is a big responsibility - to the dogs you create and to the people who take them as their own. andnbsp;We continue to learn with every step we take. andnbsp;We are constantly evaluating our strengths and our weaknesses in hopes of giving health and happiness and beauty to this breed, the great Old English Sheepdog.

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