Well I hope that all goes well for you, I couldn't be without a dog, mind you have never thought how it would be if I couldn't have a large dog, I think since I have had dogs I have only had a few months without a one. I know that is a bit double Dutch, but hope that you understand.
All the best and good luck, I hope that you don't get to envious on this site, I think that we are all dotty about our dogs. And just keep putting pictures and anecdotes on this site all the time..
Dee and the girls

Ah yes, I think if I had this kind of thing when I had an 'empty' house perhaps I wouldn't have gone out and got the first couple of dogs that came my way, loved them both to bits, but they were a terrible handful. A couple of mongrels, that came from a house in Skegness. I had one of them for 15 years, the other unfortunately got cancer and died at the tender age of 7, wouldn't have missed my time with them, but I really should have thought long and hard before getting them, as we do with our Irish, (who are its parents, what has its pedigree got in it, what do its relatives look like etc etc) Ah well that was a long time ago.

Hello Jo - I knew Genesis well, my first Irish setter (Hero) was by his sister Germaine. My next was a grandson of his, Clonageera Fidelity (Star) from his son Starchelle Chicago Bear x Clonageera Stella and my third, Apollo, was a great-grandson. Today we were visited by a great-great grandson, Pure Geniuse at Clonageera (Jason) who is the father of my Troy. Bella is a direct descendent too, too many 'greats' to work out.

I used to visit the Clonageeras a lot when Genesis was in his prime and there were about eight dogs living with Pat and Jim Rutherford at the time. The rest would all leap around yelling and wagging their tails when you arrived but Gem would just sit very still and very tall at the back of the crowd and he was the one who would grab your eye - he'd stay like that till you ignored the rest and went over to make a fuss of him.  I'm now a partner in the Clonageera affix so have tried to learn as much as I can about the great Clonageera dogs of the past from Pat Rutherford