Past Partners

Duncan (left) and Flyboy (right) were my first two Border Collies. Duncan was intuitive, easy to train and smart even for a Border Collie. Flyboy had the kind of true bravery and power that people spend their lifetimes looking for in a dog. Their loyalty was endless and they will always be very special to me. They were best buddies and rarely found apart. In a cruel twist of fate I lost both of them to the same type of cancer at the same age.

Freya was the first dog I really trialed on sheep. Our very first time out I was so nervous that I reversed all her flanks. She still took first place. I credit her with starting my addiction of training Border Collies to work stock. While she was a keen working dog, she genuinely enjoyed her retirement as a spoiled pet.

Luna is the one that got away. She was a lovely dog sired by a littermate to David Henry's Holly and out of his Beryl. Juniper is her grand niece and I see a lot in common between the two of them.

Sage is from Freya's only litter. He is perhaps the most challenging dog I have ever trained to work sheep. He has excellent natural stock sense and scope, but tension haunted him during his entire career. I could certainly never fault his enthusiasm or heart. He never gave up on me and I never gave up on him. Sage had to be retired due to heart disease, but he still has the desire to put in a full day of work.

Frankie is a littermate to Sage. His story is one of hope and heartbreak. He was difficult to start, but with the expert help of Bobby Dalziel, he settled in to be a great working partner. He was just beggining a very promising working career when he started to go deaf. Sadly, Frankie was affected with early onset deafness. If we are lucky, a DNA test will be available in the near future so that this disease will become a thing of the past.

Hazel was perhaps the most natural dog I ever trained. In fact, I am not really sure I can say I trained her. She just did everything naturally. Unfortunately, she absolutely hated trialing. Hazel was sold as a work dog to a sheep farm.

Ivy was from the Cap x Juniper breeding. She was very much like her dam, Juniper, in that she was tenacious and would work anything. Her scope and outrun were without fault. She was an opinionated little monster who was taken from me far too young. I miss her terribly.

I imported Lass from Wales just after she turned a year old. She was a late bloomer, only really settling into her work when she was almost 3 years old. She had great feel though and was consistent on the trial field when I ran her. I bred her to Tweed once before selling her. Lass currently has a job doing sheep and duck herding demos with The Quack Pack. It's the ideal position for her because she adores children. It seems that Lass has quite the YouTube following.

Gilly is the pup I kept from Lass' litter. She is sweet, eager to please, athletic and a blast to be around. Unfortunately, she enjoys games more than she enjoys working sheep, so she was sold as an agility dog. I wish her luck in her new career.