Shep is remembered by British television viewers as inseparable from Blue Peter presenter John Noakes.
Noakes left Blue Peter on 26 June 1978,[1] and the BBC offered to let him keep Shep, as the dog had lived with him since his TV debut.
[3] Noakes was paid a stipend to cover all Shep's costs from the Blue Peter budget (as was Peter Purves for 'Petra' and later Simon Groom for 'Goldie') and as part of the agreement to keep Shep after leaving the show, Noakes agreed to the maintenance of the no-advertising condition.
Baxter was adamant that the programme should no longer be responsible for any of Shep's costs after the dog had left Blue Peter, although she did sympathise with some of his argument and felt that the BBC should pay Noakes for Shep to appear in Go With Noakes or for 'personal appearances' the dog made.
[4][page needed] Soon after this angry confrontation, Noakes relinquished Shep, who went to live with Edith Menzies.