Can an English Sheep Dog be sexy?

In a word ... no. They're slobbery, klutzy, and constantly look like they've just arrived on the scene after someone spiked their water dish. BUT ... are they not the most loveable creatures? ​

By AKS.9955 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75293197

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A friend of mine, we'll call him Ferdie, isn't the sort who reads romance novels. Not at all. He is the sort to do anything for a friend, though (except hop a flight to come down to Florida-ehem) and my life would be rather drab and sad without him and his insights. Since he's that sort of friend, I didn't need to twist his arm to read the Awaken My Heart series so far. The fact that he loved it on many different levels? That surprised me, but he did. Now Ferdie is a fan of background characters in books. His favorite in mine? Avocado the English Sheep Dog ... a key member of the Zabriese family ... according to him. 

The more I think about it, he might be right: The bumbling Avocado does have his place. 

   “Easy, kiddo,” Katherine rested a hand on my shoulder. “Avocado is about as dangerous as … well, an avocado. All he wants is love.”
    My brain threw out a random thought: “An avocado could kill a parakeet.”
    The obese floor mop flipped his face into my hand, slathered it with dog spit, then sniffled against my fingers.
    “So … Avocado, huh?” Heart pounding, I tried to wipe my hand on my jeans, but the dog would not let up.
    “Galen named him when he was fifteen. Thought it was funny. Unfortunately, my husband loved the name, so it stuck. And, no, there is no cutesy clever nickname to be derived from the name Avocado. Believe me, we tried.”
    As much as I needed to get out of the touchy-feely environment, I found myself laughing.
   Katherine shook her head. “Avi makes him sound like he should be barking in Yiddish, and when Corinne took to calling him Do-Do, we knew it had to stop.”
   “Well then, hello there, Avocado,” I said, trying to move my hand to the top of his head. Fear eased some, I laughed again when the gentle beast nudged my hip, nearly knocking me over.

And I suppose he might have played a small role in fate's plan for bringing Ren and Gale together....

    In one swoop, Galen’s arm swung around my waist just as I fell backward.
    “Jory!” Galen yelled and tugged me upright. I fell against him. “How many times do you have to be told to take Avocado’s leash off in the house?”
    Was he aware that as his gaze was turned toward the living area, waiting for Jory to make an appearance, he still had me in one arm, pulled close?

When I was a kid, we had an English Sheep Dog living next door. He was the biggest one I had ever seen before or since. Lord Fitzgerald aka Fitzie, was loveable and as dumb as a box of rocks covered in concrete. One day, the latch on the fence he often rested his mammoth paws on to watch passersby came loose. The gate swung open. I was terrified! If he bounded toward me, he would knock me over! But at the sight of me, Fitzie jumped on the gate as was his habit ... his paws of course having nothing to rest on. He tried again. And again. And again. He had no clue the gate was no longer there. Maybe he just couldn't see anything under his mop of fur? 
    I often tell people that nobody in Awaken My Heart is based on anyone I've ever known. I should say, 'No person'. Lord Fitzgerald is alive and well in Avocado. 

Anyone out there have an English Sheep Dog? How about a dog they knew from years back that influenced your decision in choosing a pet in adulthood?