Today is a very special day…today is our Ryder’s 14th birthday! Ryder has been the sweetest, best boy his entire life. He’s brought so much love and joy into our lives, and has made so many friends online, that he deserves to be celebrated. Not only has he been devoted to us, he spent 8 years performing therapy dog visits, bringing countless smiles and endless comfort to everyone he visited. Here are just a few pictures from the last 14 years.
Every year, during the 3rd weekend in August, collie lovers from near and far make the journey to Sunnybank. They come to attend “The Gathering of Collies.” Sunnybank was the home of famous author, Albert Payson Terhune, his wife, and their beloved collies. Many collie lovers have spent countless hours enjoying the books written by Terhune about the adventures of his collies. Of course some of the stories are fictional and some are true, but they were all based on the real collies of Sunnybank. Lad, Bruce, Wolf, Grey Dawn, Jean and Treve, and many others, all romped and played on the banks of Sunnybank. They swam in the waters of the “fire blue lake,” walked the grounds and snoozed on the veranda while the sun warmed their beautiful collie fur.
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| Photo courtesy of TSM |
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The Master and the Mistress are long gone, as are those legendary collies, but the grounds of Sunnybank remain. The property has been turned into a park, and collie lovers can walk the pathways, visit the graves of the famous Sunnybank collies, and get lost in the beauty of the past. And during “The Gathering,” Sunnybank is once again filled with a multitude of beautiful collies, and a chorus of their joyful voices fills the air. While the original Sunnybank collies are no longer with us, they are not completely lost to us.
The Sunnybank collies not only graced the pages of Terhune’s books, they became an important part of the history of the American collie. All American bred collies are related to the Sunnybank collies if you look back far enough in their pedigrees. I have traced my own collies pedigrees back to the Sunnybank Collies, but this year Krissy Marshall, of the Terhune Sunnybank Memorial, was offering to create a keepsake. She traced our collies’ pedigrees back to the Sunnybank collies as a fundraiser for TSM. I decided it would be a wonderful way to not only support TSM, but a great way to honor the collies I loved so much.
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| Peyton (and her puppies) & Addison |
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| Rosie |
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| Nolan |
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| ZuZu |
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| Morgan on the left, Rory is on the right |
The puppies ventured outside for the first time on Monday, and they were not fans! They liked their new toys, and enjoyed the soft bed. But outside was too big, the grass too prickly and there were way too many new smells! It’s the same with every litter, the puppies are always overwhelmed at first.
They definitely like the new toys, but prefer to play inside in the air conditioning! They also like being downstairs now, so they can see everyone.
Nolan, who is not quite 8 months old and is still very much a puppy, was so happy they were moved into the living room. He got to meet the girls for the first time, and fell in love with them. (he is shedding like crazy right now!). Morgan really seemed to like him too. Rory was a little more hesitant about the big guy.
It was a very big day for them, with lots of new experiences. But they recovered quickly, and seemed very happy.
We have so many more adventures planned for them, but we are taking it slow, this was enough for a few days.
They are becoming such beautiful collies, I love their sweet little faces!
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| Morgan |
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| Rory |
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| Rory |
Please check back, as we will posting more of these two cuties in the upcoming weeks!
This past weekend we took Addi, ZuZu and Rosie to a FastCAT trial. They all earned their BCAT titles last year, so now we are trying to earn their DCAT titles. I’ve written a few posts about FastCAT, I’ll link them below for anyone wanting to learn more. But to simplify, the dogs earn different titles the more points they earn.
Last year the collies earned a total of 30 new titles, but I don’t think we will ever be able to replicate that, especially since we are so busy with puppies. This year they’ve earned two new championships, and we hope to add a few more titles to the list, including Addi’s next therapy dog title. Nolan will be going to his first official shows next month, and we can’t wait to see how he does. The collie specialty shows won’t start up until the Fall, so for now we are focusing on FastCAT and the puppies.
This weekend we are busy at a FastCAT trial, but of course I made time for puppy gazing. They are now 4 weeks old and I’m having so much fun with them!
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| Morgan |
I love that she has her Mama Peyton’s markings. And she is so playful!
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| Rory |
Rory is equally playful, and just as pretty as her sister. I don’t know which little one will be staying with us, as we seem to change our minds daily. We love them both so much, but we are determined to keep only one, as Addi will hopefully be having puppies in a few months and we want to keep a smooth puppy. It’s times like these that I miss my Uncle Fran, I would love to show him the puppies and ask his opinion. I think he would love that we are continuing in his footsteps. I wish he could read my stories printed in The Cassette magazine and here on the collie blog. I know he would have enjoyed seeing me writing about his beloved collie breed. And if he were still with us, maybe he would have wanted to take one of these two sisters, and we could keep them both in the family. But that’s just wishful thinking, as he mainly had smooth collies in the end. I’ve been thinking about all the past collies in our family, and how his decision to get his first collie impacted all our lives. If he hadn’t decided on a collie so long ago, would I be looking at the sweet, little faces of our two puppies? I’ll never be 100% certain, but I think I would have still fallen in love with the collie, just look at those faces!
