My Love of Collies

As many kids growing up during my generation, Lassie became one of my favorite shows to watch.  I was always struck by not only how beautiful Lassie was, but how smart and loyal she was as well.  I knew some day when I got my first dog, it would be a collie.  I was thrilled in 2011, to be able to meet Jon Provost (Timmy) in person at a nearby dog show.

 

Jennifer

Jennifer came into my life in the fall of 1976.  I remember when I was scheduled to pick up my new puppy, it was to be a male.  I was so excited, like a new mom bringing the new baby home.  I had everything prepared – the dishes, the food, the bedding and the toys.  However, when I arrived at the breeder’s, everything changed.  The male puppy that I was promised, had been sold earlier in the day.  Apparently, the woman had someone stop by, and being afraid that I would not come as plan, and the other was willing to hand over the cash at that moment, she sold the pup.  So when I arrived, the only puppy of the litter remaining, was a female.  In addition to my ‘he’ being a ‘she’, she had been accidentally kicked by a horse the day before and was lame.  Being torn at what to do, but at the same time all prepared to bring the new baby home, and the fact that these big, brown eyes were looking at me, well, there was only one answer….. Jennifer had found a new home.

Jennifer, born June 18, 1976, was the best dog anyone could ask for.  She was smart, loyal, so gentle my pet parakeet could walk all over her and even adjusted to a new style of living when my life changed and I married in 1984.  For 13.5 years, she brought joy to my (our) lives and anyone else’s she touched.  She taught me about patience (when it came to housetraining) and about growing old (in her senior years).  But most importantly, she taught me about the gift of dignity and grace when it comes time to let go.  She gave us so much joy and that was our final gift to her, to be present and love her until her last breath, when we lost her December 10, 1989.

 

Madison

We vowed after the loss of Jennifer, that we could not go through the sadness of loss again.  Somehow, that thought didn’t last very long and Madison joined our home on February 4, 1990.  She was born on December 21, 1989 and although only 6 weeks old, the breeder said she was ‘ready to go’.  We later learned that the breeder was divorcing and selling her adult collies and puppies as fast as she could.  But we were ready to welcome some noise to a home that had become way too quiet.

Madison got her name after the mermaid in the movie Splash.  True to her name, we also referred to her as Water Dog because she loved the water.  She could entertain herself splashing in the puppy pool, walking in the ocean at Stone Harbor or even chasing the hose.

She loved to go for car rides and accompanied us on many journeys to the east coast as well as camping trips.  When we would return to our camper after activities that she couldn’t participate in, others were often surprised that we had a dog along with us as she was so quiet.  She loved to lay inside the camper, and watch the world go by through the screen windows.  And she adapted well to her other name, Lassie, as the kids would call her when they would see her at our weekend retreat.

Our home became extremely quiet again when we lost her September 29, 2001.

 

Haley

While still missing Madison’s beauty and gentle spirit, we decided to attend the local dog show in December, 2001.  We just wanted to ‘look’ and maybe meet some collie breeders in case we decided to undertake four new paws.  We met a person who was showing a collie for someone and the collie’s name was Madison.  The dog was wonderful, already housetrained but unfortunately, not up for adoption.  We looked into a collie rescue organization up north.  Two days before we were scheduled to drive up north to see the possibilities, we received a called from the woman who was showing at the dog show.  She had a six month old female collie named Haley, that she was considering placing in a good home.  And if we were interested, we could come meet her, but were under no obligation.  We laughed in the car that obviously we were seriously considering a new collie because we had purchased a crate for housetraining.

We were greeted at Lynn’s front door by Tori (Haley’s mom) and Haley.  Somehow I knew we were not leaving that house without four new paws.  How can anyone look at a collie and think, no, I don’t think so.  Haley was beautiful, inquisitive, well behaved for six months and yet, had a personality that indicated she planned to be making the decision on if we were good enough for her.  Out we went with Queen Haley.

Haley was born on June 25, 2001 and totally ruled her Queendom until we decided two collies were even better than one.  We thought, that perhaps at age six, Haley might like one of her own kind to keep her company.  After all, she was only six and that seemed a great age to introduce a new pup.  We debated over whether a new pup or one that was maybe 2-3 years old would be a better choice.  The decision was made to opt for a pup as I had just retired and had the time to devote to housebreaking.  In an effort to not insult the Queen, Haley accompanied us when we saw the litter of puppies when they were 2 weeks old and also when we picked up Lacey, now 8 weeks.

Haley continued to be the Queen and Lacey, her Jester. Haley’s gentle nature often let Lacey attempt to control a situation but at the same time, she would give us the look of “you’ve got to be kidding….. you’re going to put up with this?”  And just like children, each collie has their unique personality.  Haley continued to be our Queen until December 10, 2012, when once again, we had to make that dreaded decision.  We felt blessed to have her as long as we did, with some of the medical issues she had.  She had the grace that only a Queen could have.

 

Lacey

Never having had 2 collies at the same time, we were not sure what to expect when Lacey became Top Dog.  Born March 3, 2007 and full of energy and spunk, she seems to be thriving well getting all the attention.  She seems genuinely excited about being able to select the prime spot at bedtime and being given the task of retrieving the mail (previously Haley’s job).  She was energetic, always wanting to keep her ‘herd’ together.  By far, of all the collies, she was the smartest and easiest to train.  She’s was so eager to please, especially if there is a remote chance of getting a treat.  Although healthy through most of her life, in the last 2 years, we noticed she was exhibiting increasing hind quarter weakness which our vet assessed as Degenerative Mylopathy.  Although it is not a painful condition to them, their quality of life as they know it, diminishes rapidly.  On June 30, 2019, we had to make that difficult decision that we all dread.  She was loved by all, but especially by our mailman Rick who frequently left her dog treats in the mailbox.  Her eyes lit up with glee when she found that ‘she got mail’.

 

 

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