Things You Can’t See
I’ve spent years writing about Collies on many
subjects. My writings were from
the point of view of a conformation breeder, exhibitor, and judge so it
followed that I described mostly what you can see. When describing what’s important it’s
always been my aim to stress health and temperament as most important building
blocks for any breeder. Without
both of those basics you can’t have a really good dog. There is more to be enjoyed about any
dog than physical attributes.
Albert Payson Terhune who did so much to make the Collie
popular stressed what’s inside a dog as very important. Terhune knew what a good Collie
conformation wise looked like, but
valued what was inside above all.
He wrote of loyalty, bravery, brains, and other things that don’t show
as being hallmarks of the best Collies.
These descriptions helped many, myself included, to want a Collie above
all breeds. Now we know that some
attributes that Terhune wrote about may stretch the imagination somewhat, but
they sure sold Collies to the public.
If you know your breed’s history beyond dog shows you must
know what the Collie was bred to do. Way back in the Collies’ history was a dog who herded
sheep, guarded the shepherd’s home, and acted as playmate for is children, This
was a trainable dog who took being associated with people naturally and loved
children above all else. They had
brains and loyalty which only showed in their actions not in appearance. Would that we humans valued such things
more in our own species.
In my years of showing and breeding I had two dogs who were
campaigned, both of whom went BB at the CC of A. Ch Jadene’s Breezalong has always stayed in my memory as the
most correct Collie I ever showed.
Ch. Gingeor’s Indelibly Blue was a very correct Collie as well but
Breezy was better in my opinion.
When it comes to hidden traits that make a dog good to live with, there
was no comparison. Hair was hands
down a fun dog to be around and Breezy was a somewhat aloof professional.
They had been raised somewhat differently and that may have
affected the finished product.
Breezy was whelped at my kennel, but left at six weeks to live with his
breeder, Barbara Woodmancy. At
about five months I got him back as Barbara was moving to Florida and didn’t want
him to face the heat. He came back
to me will trained, but had spent life as a kennel dog with minimal human
contact since Barbara had a job as a nurse.
Hair on the other hand was whelped and raised at my
kennel. He had three young boys to
enjoy and was a real extrovert.
When he went to a show he often watched TV with one of the boys while I
visited friends. Breezy on the
other hand would eat, go for a walk and take a nap. Neither dog had any trace of shyness and showed like pros
when the time came. Which one do
you think you’d rather live with as a dog to enjoy?
I hear a great deal about how the Collie has slipped down in
registration rankings. There are
many factors involved in this phenomenon.
What’s on the inside of our dogs may be something to consider as much as
beauty. The whole dog matters to
the public when they shell out their money.
Think about it!
The dinosaur and wife, Phyllis, are facing a new challenge
as I write this blog. Apparently
cancer treatments can have some side effects that take time to show up in an
aging body. We’ll give it our best
shot and thank all our friends for their prayers and well wishes. Getting older isn’t much fun!
