Snowcollies

The snow is still falling, the wind has picked up and the temps are dropping.  Now we are all inside, staying warm and snuggling with the collies.  But earlier today the collies had fun outside playing in the snow.  So we thought we share some videos from earlier today.

 

 

Collies, like most dogs and children, LOVE snow.  They just can't get enough snow.

 

 

Watching them frolic and play in the snow reminds of when I was a child, I would stay outside playing until my mom made me come inside.

 

This little girl is 6 month old Kelsea.  She is visiting, and this was her first experience with snow.  She was so happy and had so much fun!

Baby it's cold outside..so time to do a review!

Today a storm is hitting our town, and as the snow is falling outside, the collies are bored.  They want to be outside playing in the snow, but we are making them take a break, to warm up.  Which means it is the perfect time to do a review!  We were asked by Chewy.com to review a treat dispensing toy made by Outward Hound.

Kori is wondering what is in the box!

 

Scarlett is patiently waiting for the pictures to be over!

 

 

Can we be done now Mom?  This looks like fun!

 

 

Let's see if they can figure it out...

 

 

 

Kelsea gave it a try...

 

 

And Scarlett is the first to figure it out!

 

 

 

 

As you can see the collies enjoyed this Outward Hound Kibble Drop Toy, and they were all willing to play with it together.   It is made with durable food-safe plastic, and it's BPA, PVC, & phthalate free.  Because it is an interactive toy it helps entertain your dogs when they are stuck inside the house by providing mental stimulation through play.  They are on sale at Chewy.com, and you can find them here: Toys!

We were given this product free of charge from Chewy.com for our honest opinion, and we were not compensated in any way. (other than all the fun we had)  Thanks Chewy and thanks Sydney for sending us these treats!

And we are happy to announce we have just hit 75,000 page views!  Thanks everyone!  Now on to hit that 100,000 mark!

Mondays...

Yawn...he shares my opinion of Mondays!

Still working on computer issues....

So here, just so you know we haven't disappeared!

The Naming of a best friend!

The relationship between dogs and their humans has greatly changed over the last century.  Dogs are now, more than ever before, considered a part of the family.  People cater to their dogs, spending thousands of dollars on products that are designed to make dogs happy and healthy.  With gourmet dog treats, orthopedic dog beds, and toy boxes full of toy dog toys, our dogs have it made.  When working long hours at the office, some people will even drop off their dogs at a doggie daycare center, so their dogs can spend the day happily playing with their friends.

(Kori does not regularly attend doggie daycare, my daughter works at one, and brings Kori to work with her.  Which Kori loves, as you can see by the videos.) 

And with their elevated status, dogs are now given very different monikers.  While we are sure you can still find the occasional Spot, Fluffy, Rover, Buffy, Fido or Champ, people are giving their pets more personal and unique names.  This is a list of the top dog names, is your dog's name on the list?

 1) Max and Bella

2) Charlie and Daisy

3) Jack and Molly

4) Buddy and Lucy

5) Jake and Sadie

6) Tucker and Maggie

7) Duke and Bailey

8) Toby and Chloe

9) Bear and Sophie

10) Oscar and Lola

11) Dexter and Luna

12) Thor and Layla

13) Gunner and Piper

14) Bently and Nala

15) Jax and Stella

So we are curious, what is the most unusual dog name you have heard?  What was the cutest?  What is the most extravagant item you have purchased for your dog? (or your cat?)

We're back!

We had to take a little blogging break, we were on vacation.  We were at the Collie Club of America National specialty show last week.  What a wonderful way to spend the week!  We caught up with friends, competed at the show, and spent the week surrounded by 900+ collies! 

The Girls!

Holly, Abby and Scarlett

Holly competed in the veterans class, and she was so excited to be back in the ring!

 

 

Abby competed in the Best of Variety group, with all the other finished champions.  She looked so beautiful, and it was so great to see her back in the show ring after taking a 3 year break. (to raise her family)

They were offering a free CGC test for all the collies at the National, so both Abby and Holly gave it a try.  And they both passed, so they now have the CGC title after their names!

Scarlett was shown in the smooth bred by exhibitor class, and she looked so great with my daughter.  The judge thought so too, she gave Scarlett 1st place in the Bred By class!  This was quite an honor, and we are so proud of both Scarlett and my daughter!  We recevied a lot of compliments on Scarlett both before her class and after.

 

 

 

The National ended on Saturday, and yesterday we spent the day relaxing.  Last night we took the dogs for a walk on the beach, and the colors in the sky were gorgeous!  It was the perfect ending to my vacation!

Kori, pretty girl!



Ryder

Snowy Valentines!

This post is a day late, but we wanted to share our Valentine's Day pictures!

Ryder and Scarlett, and all the rest of our collies, want to send love to Lad, the collie from our earlier post.  He had surgery, and sadly they had to remove most of his lower jaw.  He is currently being fed through a feeding tube, and he is trying to drink.  But he is healing, and it's hopeful that he will be ok, once he gains weight.  The police know who shot Lad, so we are all hoping  Lad's abuser will be prosecuted.

And it snowed here, again, and another storm is about to start.  The collies are Loving all this snow!

With the snow just starting to fall, we decided to head to "our" park, so the collies could get some exercise. As usual, we had the park to ourselves, they had so much fun!

Socializing your puppy...

I have listened to my coworkers complain about how their dogs do not get along with other dogs.  They complain about how they can't take their dogs anywhere.  They question why their dogs behave this way, but in may cases, this behavior is the result of a lack of socialization when the dog was young. 

For a puppy to mature into a friendly, confident adult dog, he or she must be exposed to many different people, animals, experiences and places.  Your puppy should have a variety of interesting experiences, and every new experience should be treated as a fun, new adventure.  Your puppy needs to bond with you, so that they trust you to lead the way in these new situations that are potentially frightening to a young puppy.  From the time a puppy is 8 weeks old, until she is 16 weeks old, is the ideal time to introduce your puppy to new people, animals, places and experiences. 

This includes giving her a first bath, trimming her nails so she doesn't mind you touching her paws.  And invite young children, who are gentle, to interact with your puppy under close supervision.  If you are a woman, living alone, introduce your puppy to friendly men, especially those in uniform.  Begin leash and collar training, most puppies do not like being led by a leash at first, so make it a game and reward them for following you.

But one of the best things you can do for your puppy is help her to learn how to play with other dogs.  Many dog training facilities offer Puppy Kindergarten classes, where puppies can play and interact with each other in a safe environment with supervision by trainers.

There is a checklist of things/people you should introduce to your puppy before he or she is 16 weeks old.
Unfamiliar People
Men
Women
People of different ethnicities
Men with deep voices
Tall men
Men with beards
People in uniforms
Elderly
People wearing hats
People wearing hoodies
People with canes, walkers or crutches
People in wheelchairs
Teenagers
young children
toddlers
babies
People running/jogging

Unfamiliar animals
Older dogs
other puppies
Dogs who play well with others
cats
horses and livestock

New Surfaces
concrete
slippery surfaces
metal surfaces
standing on a table, for examination
wet grass
mud
snow (if possible)

Unfamiliar sounds
Vacuum cleaner
blender
microwave
fireworks
knocking on the door
ringing the door bell
sirens

Things with wheels
bicycles
skateboards
wheelchairs
cars
buses
motorcycles

Places
stores (like Petco/Petsmart
city environment
country environment

The idea is to expose your puppy to as many new things, in a fun and positive way, as possible.  This will help to prevent your adult dog from reacting with fear or aggression.  After all, you could have a dog who never leaves the house/yard and is afraid of strangers or other animals.  Or you could have a dog that can go anywhere with you, and who thinks each new experience is an adventure.  Which would you want?  Kori is very happy that we took her to puppy socialization classes as a puppy, you can see it when you watch her visit Doggie Daycare with my daughter. It's up to you!

Doggie fun!

My daughter took our smooth girl, Kori to work with her today!

This made me smile, on this cold, snowy day, so I thought I would share the smile!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

On Saturday, my daughter took Abby to work with her.  Abby needed a bath, so she went to the kennel for the full spa treatment!  (I'm not sure Abby appreciated this particular Christmas gift!) After she was clean and dry, my daughter put Abby's Christmas jingle collar back on, and she went out to play with some of the daycare dogs.

Yesterday we spent the day in New York City.  We went to see the musical, A Christmas Story, which is based on the movie.  We did a lot of walking, and spent quite a bit of time riding on the subways, as we got on the wrong train and ended up in Brooklyn!  But we still had a great time, and the weather was unseasonably warm.  It was in the 60's, and we saw many people wandering around in shorts...in December...in New England!  The city was fully decorated for Christmas, and the store window displays were beautiful.

The collies would have enjoyed all the walking we did, but it was very crowded.  So they stayed home and one of my daughter's friends stopped over a couple times to let them outside.  Tonight it's back out to fight the crowds, so I can finish up my Christmas shopping.  Hope you are all enjoying the hustle and bustle and the magic of the Christmas season!

Our collies...

Since we have been bad about updating, I decided to make a video!

In order of appearance : Holly, Abby, Ryder, Kori, Scarlett and my amazing daughter!

The return of Lassie

In the past, I’ve written about my family and our history of collies.  My Uncle was the first to fall in love with the collie breed.  He also loved to travel, and he would pack up his children and collies in their RV, and they traveled all over the United States.  He would send letters to his mother, my grandmother, about their adventures.  They traveled as far east as Cape Cod, and as far west as Alaska!  I inherited those letters, and I wonder what it would have been like, to see all those amazing places, with my collies by my side.

My uncle gave my grandparents their first collie, Jade.  He was a sweet, tri-color, rough collie and made a lasting impression on my sister.  As an adult, when she was ready for a puppy, she asked my uncle to send her a collie of her own.  That collie, another male tri-color, was different than Jade though.  My sister’s first collie was a smooth collie, and she named him Reggie. 

Jade with my Grandmother

I grew up loving all dogs, completely dog crazy.  (and that hasn’t changed)  But I was also a huge fan of the Lassie movies, and Albert Payson Terhune’s books, which were written about his Sunnybank Collies.  I eagerly looked forward to my Uncle and cousins visiting us, but also couldn’t wait to see their beautiful collies.  So it isn’t really a surprise that I planned and dreamed of the day I would one day have a collie of my own.

Lassie

When I read one of Terhune’s books or when I watched one of the old Lassie movies, I am transported back in time, back to a time when I believed a collie could fix all of life’s problems.  I remember how much I loved watching those reruns of the old Lassie movies on a rainy afternoon, or reading those musty, but deeply treasured, out of print books.  So it was with both delight and some misgivings that I learned of DreamWorks Animation’s intention to produce a new Lassie movie.  In the past whenever a new movie came out featuring a specific dog breed it would mean disaster for that breed.  There would be a rash of individuals and puppy mills producing the puppies of that particular breed.   The puppies were mass-produced to cash in on the current popularity of the breed, and the parents of these puppies were not health tested, and little thought was given to temperament or genetic issues.  Before long, all those poorly bred puppies, that were the current fad, ended up in rescues and animal shelters. 

 (Scarlett puppy loves Lassie movies!)

Because of this, I naturally worry what a new Lassie movie might mean for the collie breed.  However, it would be wonderful to see Lassie capture the hearts and imaginations of a new generation.  When people were asked what words they associated with Lassie, the most common answers were “loyal, brave, hero and heartwarming.”  When we take our collies for a walk, someone always calls out to them, “Hi Lassie!”  And all too often I hear people say to each other as we pass, “Look, it’s a collie, isn’t she beautiful?  You never see collies anymore!”  In fact there are so few collies being registered with the AKC these days, that collie owners are encouraged by the Collie Club of America to have their collies act at ambassadors for the breed.  So while it would be great if there was more recognition of what this wonderful breed has to offer, collie breeders are greeting the news of a new Lassie movie with some trepidation.

Ryder, showing off his Lassie collection!

What do  you think?  Is a new Lassie movie a good thing or a bad thing?  Do you have a dog breed that was part of a past fad? (Dalmatian, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Great Dane, etc). I have to admit, despite my misgivings, I can’t wait to see the new Lassie series!

What a weekend!

Our dog show weekend is over, and what a weekend we had!  Scarlett was entered on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  She won Winner's Bitch and Best of Winner's all three days! I'm so proud of Scarlett and my daughter!

This was from today's Winners Bitch class.  I'm already looking for new shows to enter!

Lad - In Loving Memory

Our Lad would have been 9 years old today.  We still miss him, all the time.

Back at the dog shows...and Holly update!

We had a fun weekend at the show!  I enjoyed spending my birthday surrounded by collies and friends up in Maine.  Holly was back to her old, happy self.  She was really excited to be back at a dog show!

Only Scarlett and Holly came with us, Ryder wants to make sure he isn't left behind next time!

Scarlett  didn't win any points this weekend, but she did a great job considering it was only her second dog show!

And watching Holly, so happy she was bouncing in the ring, brought a smile to everyone's face. It was hard to believe she was so sick last week, or that she is now old to be in the veteran's class!

Wordless Wednesday - Love is...Sweet Dreams!

Abby must be dreaming of something very happy!

Why show dogs?

My daughter and I live with our five collies, and we both take care of them.  But my daughter is the one who is responsible for handling them at dog shows.

First dog show

She began learning how to show collies ten years ago, when she was just a little girl.  She started out as a junior handler, and now that she is in college, she wants to become a professional dog handler.

My daughter and Abby, winning the tough Open class at the CCA 2008 National

Dogs respond well to her in the ring, and my daughter is becoming recognized as a great collie handler.  She is good with dogs, and has even been hired to handle other people's collies at dog shows.

It's been a wonderful experience, watching my daughter grow up,  and her time competing at dog shows has been an important part of her life.  It has taught her patience, responsibility and good sportsmanship.  She has had to spend years practicing and training.  She has attended classes and seminars, and has been mentored by many well-known collie handlers over the years.

Westminster 2012

She has learned to set goals, and work hard to achieve them.  She wanted to qualify to compete at Westminster, and she did it, twice. 

My daughter and Holly, Westminster Dog Show 2012

She was ranked amoung the Collie Club of America's Top Twenty Junior Handlers for last five years of her junior handling career.  And while she misses competing in junior handling, she now helps younger junior handlers develop their handling skills.

The 2012 Collie Club of America Top Ten Junior handlers invitational

Competing at dog shows has kept us spending time together as a family.  When most teenagers would rather be off with their friends, my daughter and I were traveling all over the country to compete in dog shows.  She has also developed life-long friendships with other junior handlers by competing in this sport.

(Winner's Bitch competition at the CCA 2008 National)

And the people we have met over the years have made us realize that we are now part of a dog show community.  And they have recognized my daughter's efforts by awarding her a college scholarship!  I know that many people look at dog shows and cannot understand the appeal.  Some may even dislike dog shows, or find them boring.  But I will always be grateful for what dog shows have brought into our lives, and how they helped mold my daughter into the amazing person she has become...

Christmas - collie style!

Does your dog have a Christmas wish list? With Christmas 24 days away, we have begun our Christmas shopping.  But the only family members I have bought presents for are the collies and Pumpkin kitty.

I actually braved the Black Friday sales, and went shopping at Petco and Petsmart.  Of course, I waited until the early evening to go shopping, to avoid the traffic and crowds.  But the sales were too good to pass up, and now there will be some very happy collies on Christmas morning!  Between the gifts that I bought for them, and whatever Santa brings, they should be good and spoiled on December 25th!

Kori modeling her new Christmas sweater, an early present!

I am curious though, do you buy your pets Christmas presents?  Do you wrap them and put them under the tree?  Do your dogs get excited on Christmas morning, and joyfully tear open their presents?  Our dog Mojo, who we lost 6 years ago, took great delight in opening her presents.  And our collie Lad, who we lost 14 months ago, loved opening his presents.  He actually loved opening presents so much, that when he was done opening his own presents, he would help my daughter open hers!

Now that my daughter is older, and in her first year of college, she doesn't feel the same deep joy and excitement on Christmas morning that she experienced as a young child.  It's still her favorite holiday, and she enjoys giving and receiving presents as much as anyone else.  But watching our collies on Christmas morning helps us to recapture the innocent joy she felt as a little girl eagerly opening presents to see what Santa had brought for her.

Scarlett the elf, waiting for Santa!

So as we wrap our gifts to our collies, and put their names on their presents, we look forward to watching them open and play with their new toys.  Here’s a video for you to enjoy from the fun chaos of last year’s Christmas morning, when Ryder and Kori were just young pups.  I can't wait to see what happens this Christmas morning!

Our collies...

Rough collies are easily recognizable, as just about everyone knows Lassie!  They are beautiful, sweet and loyal dogs.  They are easy to train, and excel in obedience, herding and agility, but then, so are the smooth coated collies.

When my uncle introduced us to his first smooth collie, I didn’t like the way they looked at all.  I was so used to seeing the beautiful rough coated collie, that at first glance,  a short haired collie looked very odd to me.  Over the years, the Smooths have improved a lot, they are now very beautiful dogs.  I think this is the direct result of our being able to breed smooth and rough collies together.  Unfortunately, in Europe they are considered separate dog breeds, and as such, they cannot be bred together.  While smooth collies are gaining in popularity here in the States, in Europe the smooth collie is on the “Vulnerable Breeds” list.  Which means there are so few of them, that the breed is in danger.

I’ve always known that I would have a collie in my life, one day. (If you’ve read my earlier posts, then you know all about my love of Lassie and the Sunnybank collies)  And the picture I always had formed in my mind was a sable and white or a blue merle ROUGH collie.  But when it came time to choose our first collie, out of a litter of five puppies, my daughter and I chose the only smooth puppy.  By this time, we had fallen in love with the smooth variety of collies.  This was because my daughter’s first junior handling collie, was a smooth collie named Mariah.  Mariah belonged to my sister, and most of her other collies are smooth as well.  So it wasn’t really a surprise that when it was time to choose our first collie, we decided we wanted a smooth collie.  And that smooth puppy boy grew up to be one of the best dogs we have ever known.  We named him Lad, after Albert Payson Terhune’s collie, Sunnybank Lad.

My daughter with Lad

He protected us, he loved us and he made us laugh with his antics.  He was also a clever boy, and learned at a young age, to pick up his dog bowl, and carry it over to us while we were eating.  We could never resist this collie, pleading with his eyes, holding out his bowl, asking us to share.

Lad, August 2011

And while Lad understood a large amount of our words, he communicated with us without words, and always made himself understood.  His profound empathy, always ensured that he correctly interpreted our moods, and enabled him to comfort us in times of sadness.  He was everything a collie should be, and he was everything you could want in a best friend.  We lost him last September, when he was only 7 years old.  And we still miss him every day.

Lad, Sept 2011

But Lad is not the only smooth collie who came into our lives.  Five years ago a little sable and white, smooth collie pup joined our family.  Her name is Abby, and she is truly one of the sweetest dogs.  Albert Payson Terhune called his collie, Bruce, “The Dog Without A Fault.”  He also called him, “Bruce the beautiful.”  I think Abby, who is a descendent of Bruce, takes after him.  Not only is she beautiful, she couldn’t do something wrong if she tried.  She is the dog who wants nothing more than to stay by my side.  If I am on the computer, she can be found sleeping next to my chair.  If I am in a room with the door shut, when I open the door she will be right there, waiting for me.  Abby also excels in herding, and could compete in herding events if we lived close enough to any trainers/facilities that specialized in herding.  We took her to a herding instinct test twice, and she earned her HIT with ease.  Since we can’t find any herding facilities nearby, and since she is already a champion, we are thinking of pursuing the new title of “Grand Champion” with her.

Abby 2010

When my daughter’s first junior handling collie, Mariah, was ready to retire from dog shows, she found a new partner in Holly.  Holly and my daughter have an amazing bond, that is clearly visible whenever you watch them in the show ring.  When my daughter moves even the slightest bit, Holly adjusts her own body.  And since we lost Lad, Holly has been taking over his duties as watch dog.  She lets us know when someone is outside our house, or if she hears anything suspicious she lets know immediately!  She has taken on the responsibility of stopping the younger dogs, if she thinks they are playing too rough.  Holly also has a sense of humor, and like Lad, she laughs with her eyes and body.  There is no doubt when you look at her wiggling body , wagging tail and happy face that she is laughing.  Her nickname is “Holly the happy collie.”  Holly is so eager to please, she has also earned her HIT and her CGC.  When Holly turns 8 years old, we are going to enter her in the veterans class at dog shows.  Even though she is a champion, Holly LOVES dog shows.  There is no place she is happier than in the show ring.  So to keep her happy, we will work on her Grand Championship in the Veteran’s class.

Last year Kori and Ryder joined our family.  They were born on August 30, right after a hurricane hit the East Coast leaving us without power for days.  Abby decided in the middle of the night, while we had no electricity, that it was a good time to have her puppies.  Ryder was the first puppy born, and he was actually stuck during the delivery.  All that was visible was his little nose and mouth!  We were on the highway, rushing Abby to the animal hospital, when Ryder was born, with a lot of help from my daughter.  That’s how he got his name, he was born while “riding in the car.”   We had decided to keep Kori, the smooth girl in the litter.  But her two rough brothers stole our hearts, and we decided to keep Ryder too.  After his dramatic entrance into this world, we couldn’t let him go.  He is just as sweet and gentle as his mother, Abby.  And Kori, our smooth girl is a sassy, challenging collie.  We hope to try agility and obedience with her, as she has a lot of energy and we think she would enjoy competing in those events.  The third puppy in the litter, Luke, went to live with a family who had recently lost their elderly collie.  The family has two young boys, who are Luke's best friends, and he goes everywhere with them.

Finally, a couple months ago, little Scarlett joined our family.  She is a smooth puppy too, and is becoming a beautiful young collie.  We are eagerly looking forward to discovering her talents and watching as her personality develops.

Scarlett 8-19-12

So that’s our family of collies, four smooth girls and one rough boy!

We took Ryder and Kori to the dog park this evening - the park was empty, but they still had fun!

Uh Oh - there be Pirates at the dog park!  :)

Collie pup loves Lassie!

Scarlett loves her Lassie movies!