About sixteen years ago when I retired, I realized that sitting on the front porch was becoming merely an extended coffee break. When further warned by my cardiologist my newly acquired role as part-time neighborhood observer/ shopping mall spectator was endangering my arteries, I decided to get out of my lounge chair and go back to work.
I had always kept Old Fashion Farm Collies as pets since leaving my boyhood farm, and decided to take a chance on breeding my two females to determine if there could possibly be a market for these once generic American dogs?
Well, it turned out that with proper marketing tactics — I am a retired public relations flack — there did exist a thriving market for these puppies. In fact, because so many old timers remembered these fine dogs from long ago, and the legends of the English Shepherd dogs were still ingrained in the tales told to their offspring, I was able to turn my leisure retirement hours into a fun and developing business.
Today I have a dozen dogs in the AppleYard Kennel, and always a waiting list for their whelps. Along with dog breeding and marketing these old fashion farm shepherds, I managed to find time to write a book about the breed of English Shepherd dogs, and now royalties also are a supplemental retirement income.
I have discovered it is possible to turn folklore into profit with a little imagination and ingenuity, and sometimes an idea for a home-based business exists in a simple hobby that has been with you all along. My pets not only got my blood flowing once again, but also stimulated my cash flow as well.