STUD MUFFIN
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His official name is “Bagatelle Rock and Moon Roll.” But when this multi-time Grand Champion Old English Sheepdog is not competing in kennel shows throughout Canada and the United States, the four-year-old sweet shaggy dog with a top-knot answers to “Matteo.”
Matteo’s home town is Montreal but he spends winters sojourning in south Florida. Several times each day his owner, Sally Berretta, drives Matteo and “brother” Rocky in a golf cart to the spacious dog park in their gated community.
At the dog park, an observer immediately notes that, while other dogs like Mulligan and Rover romp, play and bark rambunctiously, Matteo strides the acreage with a gentle bear-like shuffle, exhibiting the effortless and unmistakable gait of a champion.
This a big week for the champ. Sally is awaiting a phone call from a breeder in northern Florida which will indicate that “Busy Boots River of Stars” (and doncha love her name!) is ready for mating. Stud Muffin Matteo has already sired six times in both the United States and Canada. He pockets a hefty fee for each mating. What makes Sally happy is that she’s been told he’s “a perfect gentleman.” (Nuff said about that.)
“I’ve never had such a sweet well-rounded sheepdog,” Sally says. “His temperament is outstanding and he conforms to all the criteria of the AKC Breed Standard. Competing with him in the ring is like a golfer playing in the Masters. It’s the best, especially when he wins.”
Sally speaks with 30 years experience of owning — then showing — Old English Sheepdogs. At one point she toted three “bobtails” in a humongous 38-foot-long Holiday Rambler Ambassador motorhome, driving from Montreal to shows in Virginia, then Tucson, then California, then Saskatchewan, then back to Montreal.
“The motorhome was huge and actually nicer than some apartments,” she says. “We spent nights in beautiful campgrounds with Class A accommodations. I was never lonely — not with three dogs! And I got to see places I never thought I’d visit, like Yellowstone and other national parks. But maintaining the diesel van became a huge responsibility.”
These days Sally is content taking Matteo to kennel shows in Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey. That’s when his cute top-knot gets combed out during a three hour pre-show grooming session.
Matteo lies on a special table while Sally carefully parts and line brushes every inch of his thick double coat. “We wash his white areas, I ‘rat up’ the beard and the bum, and make sure his teeth have been brushed with doggy toothpaste.” Then it’s Show Time.
Last summer Sally drove Matteo to Minnesota where he met several puppies he had sired who were also being shown. “It was a fun reunion and we took this photo,” Sally says.
A pundit one said, “If you don’t own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.” There is nothing wrong with Sally Berretta’s life!.
