Our introduction to the joys of Border Collie ownership began over 26 years ago, when my parents, Teresa and Adrian, fell in love with their neighbour's Border Collie, Meg. Sure enough, it wasn't long before they had their own little bundle of black and white joy; a beautiful boy whom they christened Rex. Sadly Rex was taken from us after a long and arduous battle with Cancer when he was just eight years old, but to this day he is still talked about on an almost daily basis. Rex taught us so much about the companionship and love that a Border Collie has to offer, as well as the incredible (often literally so) intelligence that they can possess. Rex was a purebred (though unregistered) Border Collie sired by Anglia Lad, and in his younger days he sired a beautiful litter from which my parents had pick of the puppies in place of a stud fee. The young man they chose was to live with my aunt, uncle and cousins. They called him Pepper and as he lived in the same village as us, we were able to see him grow into a very handsome Border Collie and a much loved member of the entire extended family.
Our next Border Collie was Max, another unregisterd boy bought from a litter out of working parents on a sheepfarm. As I was still very young when we lost Rex, Max was the dog with whom I spent the largest part of my childhood and was, therefore, the Border Collie who truly started my own personal love of the breed. A year before losing Max, this time to a tumour on the brain at just under nine years of age, Jake came into our lives as a bouncy, loveable 11 week old puppy. Jake is, genetically, about 75% Border Collie. However, as he grew he gradually went from being a typical tri-colour collie pup, to an extremely shaggy-coated, grey/white/tan bafoon! He certainly is not a Border Collie in looks, behaviour, temperament or brains! He is a devoted, loyal and much-loved companion to us all, but after losing Max we were left with a very large Border Collie shaped hole in our lives. As I was then heading off to University, we decided to wait a few years before getting our next dog, and it wasn't, therefore, until 2007 that the hole was filled.
And so, at last, I can introduce my own little black and white girl, Hermione. After carrying out a great deal of research into the breed, its health and breeding issues, and the vast array of different 'types' of Border Collie that one sees in the UK, I decided that I would like our next dog to come from health-tested, registered parents. After looking at a large number of breeders' websites, we visited Jenny Wysocki of Kamarda Border Collies. Here we met Evie, Hermione's mum, and seven months later we brought our first little girl home. Thanks to Jenny and the beautiful little girl that she allowed us to call our own, we caught the show-bug and so, seventeen months on, we brought home our second little girl, Blythe, this time from Steve, Sandra and Adam Beaumont of Borderbeau Border Collies (see Blythe's own page for more information and lots of photos!). Our girls have brought so much joy to our lives, and, once again, our home feels complete with not one, but two Border Collies to fill our days with mischeif, mud, fun and frolics. We cannot thank Jenny, Steve, Sandra and Adam enough for enabling this to happen, and for all of their help over the last year as we have made our first steps in the show world. Please see the links page for links to the Kamarda and Borderbeau websites.