What influenced me

I was not yet in my teens when I first read these lines:

…and trotting soberly at his heels, with the gravest, saddest eyes you ever saw, a sheep-dog puppy, perfectly compact, utterly lithe, inimitably graceful with is airy-fairy action: a gentleman every inch. Silently he worked, and resolute, and even in those days had that famous trick of coaxing the sheep to do his wishes. ‘Och, the devil’s in the dog! It’s no cannie ava!’

From Bob Son of Battle by Alfred Ollivant, Garden City Publishing Co., copyright Doubleday, Page & Co., 1898.

But it was many decades before I found a community of dogs and dogfolk that would provide a congenial setting in which I might pursue the image of that gallant dog of my childhood fantasies.

True, our Border Collies, raised in the gentle suburbs of Los Angeles, California, need hardly endure the epic struggles of “Owd Bob” in the rough hill country of northern England. Perhaps that is why their expression is seldom really sad like his, but rather studious, often intense, at times fiercely determined, and quick to register delight as they master the complexity of the task before them. Still, to witness them in action is to know they have the wit, the stamina, and the nerve to meet any challenge they might be called upon to handle.

Now if only they could help me figure out the meaning of “no cannie ava”!

Breed referral and liaison with:

I would like to thank the following for their much appreciated contributions:

Ric and Lea Plaut of Alibi Acres, our show handlers
Terry Kenney, our herding trainer-handler
Joyce Collis and Felix Cosme of Beagold Kennels, England, who sent us Selkie
Paul and Nid Schevenels of Eyes of the World Kennels, Belgium, who sent us Johnny
Mary Fish Arango Photography, a number of whose photographs grace our website