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Obituary
Mrs Jean Gould
JEAN
GOULD of the Rollingsea OES passed away on Sunday 17th February.
Jean had been living in a nursing home for the last twenty months
and did not recover from a stroke she suffered just prior to
Christmas. Her funeral service was held at Penmount Crematorium,
Truro on Tuesday 26th February.
Jean did not come from a ‘doggy’ family but had always
had a strong interest in, and love of, animals - and dogs in
particular.
She had her first Old English Sheepdog in 1929 when as a schoolgirl
she gave a home to Lassie, a two year old who refused to bark
when rounding up the sheep and was going to be shot. Lassie
lived to a good age but was put to sleep during the war years.
Pedigree puppies were not easy to find and Jean had a young
family and so Jean had a few years without the company of a
Bobtail.
In 1951 Jean purchased Linnifold Mischief from Mr & Mrs
Mason. Misty was to become Jean’s first show dog and her
first Champion but sadly Jean was unable to get her in to whelp.
Jean then purchased a dog to be called Rollingsea Surfirder
and a bitch Rollingsea Starlight. These two were to become the
foundation of the Rollingsea kennels. Rollingsea Surfirder did
not enjoy being shown, even to the extent of rolling on his
back in the showring, but Starlight was made up in 1963. Starlight
whelped Rollingsea Snowboots in 1965 and Jean’s late husband
persuaded her to keep this promising puppy as Starlight’s
previous litters had all been sold; one of these was a dog sold
to Stan & Margaret Fisher who became Ch. Rollingsea Ringleader.
Snowboots became a well known sire and, among many others, sired
a Twotrees litter from Prospectblue Louise which included Champions
Prospectblue Twotrees Arrabella and Rollingsea Twotrees Aurora.
Jean began line breeding from Aurora who produced litter brother
and sister Ch. Rollingsea Viceroy and Ch. R. Venus. The next
generation included Ch. R. Christobelle, overseas Champions
in Europe, Australia and USA. When Viceroy was 6 years old he
went to live with Caj Haakansson in the USA and sired some American
Champions.
Jean judged many times in England and Wales at Championship
level including Crufts in 1982. She also judged all over Europe,
in the USA and Australia. Jean was keen to try to eliminate
hereditary faults, particularly hip dysplasia, and was keen
to encourage X raying of breeding stock. She ran the entire
‘V’ litter, the first line breeding, on until six
months so they could be X rayed before going on to their new
homes. She served on the Old English Sheepdog Club committee
for some years and was also a founder member of the Old English
Sheepdog Club of Wales.
Jean wrote two books, “All About the Old English Sheepdog”
published in 1973 and “All About Dog Breeding for Quality
and Soundness” in 1978.
She will be remembered by her many friends for her interest
in the puppies she bred and their progeny, for seeing the best
in every human being and every dog and her commitment to the
breed. The Old English Sheepdog has lost a great friend. Our
condolences go to her two sons, daughter and four grandchildren.
Jenny Joice
Chairman, The Old English Sheepdog Club
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