KAP1a

OUR DOGS are an extremely important part of our lives which really can't be helped with three of them living with us. They range in age from our 10 year old bat-mix Shannon (you'll see what I mean), to our academic 3 year old Border Collie, Madison (Maddy to her closest friends), to the newest addition...a cute as a button 4 month old maltese mix, Samantha Jo or Sammy to just about everyone. Here's the scoop on our dogs.

Dog is God spelled backwards

Steve with Maddy at 2 years old...living with a canine genius proves to me that dogs not only have a soul but are capable of thinking above and beyond the abstract.

SHANNON was rescued as a puppy from the Humane Society where she was about to be put to sleep....a day later and she would have been gone. She was so small and strange looking when she was a pup that when I saw her for the first time I thought Kathy and Steve had brought home a rodent. Kathy insisted that she was a Lab mix....yeah, right....she looked more like a fruit bat-chihuahua mix to me!....but we love her just the same.

Well......?. Am I right about the fruit bat similarity or what!! Doesn't it look like she should be hanging upside down in a mango tree or pollinating bannana blossoms?! Sweet Shannon, our very own Flying Fox. She's gotten a bit more temperamental with age and she's almost completely blind but she's still one of a kind.

Shannon was so small when a pup that a Red Tailed Hawk once made an attempt to snag her for dinner. We were walking
down an unpaved country backroad when the hawk made a swoop for her....missed her by inches

'The dog is the only being that loves you more than you love yourself'

Border Collie club

UNDOUBTEDLY the premier herding dog in the canine world, the Border Collie was first referred to in the 1570's in the book Treatise On Englishe Dogges written by Dr. John Caius who was the personal physician to Queen Elizabeth I. He described the dog as ....answering to his master's voice or whistle to bring the sheep back to him. The name Border Collie wasn't specifically mentioned as the dog being described but it is widely accepted that Dr. Caius was describing the ancestor to our modern day Border Collie. In the 18th century many references were made to a collie type dog which was used extensively by Scottish shepherds in the mountains and hills of the border countries in the 1700's thereby giving the breed the name Border Collie.

This club was started in 1975 at the International Sheep Dog Trials in Fair Hill, Maryland and has become one of best storehouses of BC information on the web

BORDER COLLIES are the most intelligent dog ever known to have existed and have an inbuilt desire to please their owners. They also have the ability and desire to turn play into work. The strong natural herding instinct the breed has should be recognized and the trait controlled at an early age otherwise your dog may begin to herd cars, bikes, children or any other unlikely member of what your dog views as the sheep family. Having this instinctual urge to work and please its' owner, Border Collies have become the dog of choice in a number of areas. It's the top choice in competition disciplines such as Obedience, Flyball, Agility, Frisbee, Working Trials and is now accepted in the Show Ring. In the Scottish Highlands, the Border Collie can travel up to 45 miles a day herding sheep without exhaustion and this trait makes it a natural as a Search and Rescue dog where it excels. It comes naturally to this most intelligent of dogs to find what it is seeking. As assistant dogs they can be invaluable and are widely known for their work as Hearing Dogs for the deaf and as willing assitants to the disabled.� In these roles their brain power and initiative are great assets for the work involved.
FOR THOSE of you who as of� yet don't own a Border Collie remember these facts. These dogs are HIGHLY intelligent and, in my opinion, capable of reasoning. This being the case they need to have a challange or outlet for this luminous intellect or you will definitely pay the price in some way. They are VERY active and need channels for this energy. They are not a breed that will lie by the fireplace on a cold winters night but will want to go outside to collect the firewood. They are inevitably STRONG WILLED and from the onset will need to be controlled. An inch for sure will lead to a mile with this breed. Please be sure you can meet all of these parameters before choosing this greatest of all dogs as a companion because they are so much more than a household pet. They will be your soul mate for at least fifteen years and will teach you more about yourself than you ever thought possible.

SEND YOUR PHOTOS send your BC pictures to me in jpeg format and I'll post them on the PHOTO PAGE
CLICK HERE

'You can judge the character of a person by the way they treat a dog'

This painting done in 1837 by Sir Edwin Lanseer shows in heart aching clarity the loyalty and undying love Border Collies have for their master. This painting is titled The Old Shepard's Chief� Mourner and depicts a border collie with its head pressed against the side of his dead master's coffin, his chin resting forlornly on the coffin lid,� a loving and faithful companion even in death. Quite moving.

Sir Edwin Lanseer was born in London in 1802 and was one of 14 children. His painting career attracted many patrons including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In 1824 he visitied Scotland for the first time where he came upon this heart wrenching scene.

A FEW OLD photographs depicting Border Collies. These plus many others can be viewed online at the Border Collie Museum, a marvelous site offering a cornucopia of knowledge and invaluable information on this breed of breeds.

'I came across a photograph of him not long ago, his black face with the long snout sniffing at something in the air, his tail straight and pointing, his eyes flashing in some momentary excitement. Looking at a faded photograph taken more than forty years before, even as a grown man, I would admit I still missed him.'

A Border Collie from 1893

An old card dating from 1865

THE TRUE domain of a Border Collie....a sheep farm

BORDER COLLIES are bred for intelligence, stamina and working ability....not for looks. This being the case, no two border collies look alike. They can range in coat type from rough to long hair to short hair or anything in between. They have a double coat, short hair beneath long hair, and the short hair sheds off completely in the summer....so yes, they do shed. The color range is even more remarkable ranging from black, black and white, tri-colored (black, white and tan), red, blue (slate blue), red and blue merle, sable and all varieties of spotted.

BORDER COLLIES above all are workaholics...this is their outstanding characteristic (besides their intelligence)...the desire or better put, the necessity to work. They herd with their head lowered eyeing the sheep with an absolute intense stare, wolf-like in its' intensity, their amber eyes glowing. They notice every movement the herd makes and adjust to it, at times imperceptibly. These dogs are happiest when working the hardest. Border Collies endurance is legendary...a 1 or 2 mile run hardly warms the dog up. As was stated earlier, dogs of the Scottish Highlands regularly herd 45 miles a day and they do this every day. Boy are they happy!
THESE DOGS are always at your side, always underfoot, always watching you with that unreal intensity. They'll rush to you if they think anything is wrong, usually stopping in front of you and staring right into your eyes. They are people oriented and thrive on attention.

They are also very affectionate and are quite soft in their temperament...they don't take too well to rough handling when being corrected or taught. They should be trained by following the motivational method with plenty of reward treats. If they become too stressed when learning they'll either shut down and ignore you or run at warp speed trying to do� everything at once and invariably make mistakes. Be kind but firm and their intelligence will reward you.

Border Collies are what can be classified as sight oriented...when being trained they are oblivious to everything around them. Their concentration is so intense that their whole being is focused on the trainer and the task at hand. They are also very sensitive to sounds. Many become distracted with any unusual or loud noise. I know my dog Maddy can even be spooked by the sound of water coming out of the garden hose. Even the sound of our metal salad tongs used to send her into a dither. She's calmed down a bit though.

These dogs take a LOT of commitment and if you're not willing to change your lifestyle in many ways to suit the dog then a Border Collie is not for you. These dogs are too intelligent and sensitive to be ignored. They are typically more work than other breeds and generally won't make a good family pet if your idea of a pet dog is to throw a tennis ball for 10 minutes a day and expect the dog to sleep for the remainder. Uh, Uh...it ain't gonna work with a Border Collie. They are strong willed and work oriented with a strong dose of genius thrown in. Don't excpect them to sleep at the foot of the sofa all day. They'll more than likely rearrange your living room if ignored! Many Border Collies end up in shelters where they become very emotionally distraught and neurotic because of this fact and this is truly a crime. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Border Collie country. Wicklow Valley, Ireland

' We are shaped and fashioned by what we give'

MADDY is so smart you'd almost think she's a person morphed into a dog! Really! It's spooky! She was housebroken in two days and hasn't had an accident since. She knows the difference between a rubber ball and a tennis ball....in fact she even knows the difference between different tennis balls! She knows to bring her Frisbee when told to and even opens the cupboard door to get it. When hungry she noses the closet door where the food is stored or when she wants a snack she'll nose the drawer that holds the pig ear. She's always watching me (her and I are an item) and knows what I'm going to do before I even do it. When playing with the balls or Frisbee she places them in your lap or if you tell her to, in your hand. She ALWAYS returns them to you immediately upon retrieval. She knows the difference between upstairs, bedroom, car, truck, left, right and I could go on. To live with an intelligent dog is to touch on something truly spiritual. As you can tell this dog is something very special to me. She's a major part of my life.

MADDY in 1998 at 4 months....she stares directly at you and won't look away. You can truly see the intelligence in her eyes.

1998

1999

Last but not least the newest member of our family...Samantha. Beyond a doubt a calendar girl. She's a malteese mix and as you can see from the picture can almost fit in a large soup bowl. She's an alpha female and won't back down from any dog or circumstance. She absolutely adores Maddy (who wouldn't?) and watches her endlessly, mimicing her actions which of course are all good!

Do not stand at my grave and weep...click

Kathy wanted so badly a dog to try and fill the void left by our beloved FLUFFY who past on in December of 1997. No dog could ever replace the presence that she brought to our lives or the absolute devotion she gave to Kathy, but in Sammy we at least touch base with that certain demeanor and poise that was Fluffy.

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