Outside is so Big!

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!

Morgan

Rory

Rory

Please check back, as we will posting more of these two cuties in the upcoming weeks!

FastCAT Weekend

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.

FastCAT Explained

Other FastCAT posts

4 weeks old already!

 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!

Morgan

I love that she has her Mama Peyton’s markings.  And she is so playful!

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!

More puppy stuff…

I know lately all our posts have been about the puppies, but these first few weeks go by so quickly and they change so rapidly, I want to capture it all.  This past weekend the girls turned 3 weeks old, and tomorrow they will be 4 weeks old already.  I’m so thankful that they are doing well, and they both have definite personalities already!

Rory

Rory

Morgan

Morgan

Morgan

They’ve also begun playing, and have started doing play growls, which are adorable!

I bought them enrichment toys, and we will be trying them out this weekend.  So there will be lots of pictures and videos as they are introduced to new toys and go outside for the first time.  Please come back to enjoy the fun!  And thank you to everyone who took time to comment about Melanie, it was very appreciated.

Bittersweet…

This post is going to be both happy and sad.  Saturday night we lost our tiny girl, the one with the purple collar.  She was smaller than her sisters, and we tried everything to save her, but we still lost her.  It’s called fading puppy syndrome, and it’s one of the most heartbreaking parts of being a dog breeder.  She was doing so well, until suddenly she wasn’t.  We tried antibiotics, sub-q fluids, tube feedings, a supplement for fading puppies, everything we could think of and more.  With each thing we tried, she would perk up a bit, but it was always temporary.  We are so heartbroken over her loss, my daughter had named her Melanie.

The happy news, which we are focusing on, the other two girls are strong and healthy.  Yesterday I took a bunch of pictures, and today they are 17 days old.  They are steadily gaining weight, and are just beautiful.  Not sure how we are going to choose which one is staying, as they both have qualities we want in our family of collies.  

Morgan

Morgan

This girl had the aqua colored collar.  She was the 3rd puppy born, and the biggest.  We are calling her Morgan, and even though she is a rough collie, she has her Mama’s markings. 

Rory

Rory

This was the puppy with the pink collar, she was the 1st puppy born.  We are calling her Rory, and she started barking yesterday!  

Rory

Morgan

The owner of their Sire came to see the girls last night.  She said they are both beautiful, and she’s not sure who the pick is right now.  So we will just have to watch as they grow up over the next 6 - 7 weeks.  

Rory

Morgan

This was the most recent, and last picture, I have of Melanie. Taken on 7/11/25

We are feeling grateful that these two girls are doing well and turning out to be so beautiful.  But it’s bittersweet, because we miss our tiny Melanie.  Life is so unfair sometimes, and these newborn puppies are so fragile.  So this doesn’t end on a sad note, enjoy this short video of our two adorable girls…

10 days old!

The puppies are doing well.  They are healthy and strong, and gaining weight.  Peyton is such an amazing Mom.  She’s very careful and gentle with her puppies, and watching her with them, you can see how much she loves them.  

I was on vacation for the last 10 days, and didn't get much done.  All I wanted to do each day was sit and watch Peyton and her girls.  There is something so peaceful about watching the puppies nurse and sleep. 

Now that they are 10 days old, their eyes will soon be open.  And once that happens, they soon begin exploring and playing.  We are already beginning to see glimmers of their developing personalities.

They grow so quickly, and seem to change overnight. So we are trying to enjoy every moment with them, and have been using the ENS exercises detailed in previous posts.

These girls are so tiny and so perfect, I can’t wait to see how they develop over the upcoming weeks!

They’re Here!

 Last night our Peyton gave birth to three beautiful girls.  They are all roughs, and they are healthy and feisty.  They are letting us know what they want already.

We love them so much, and Peyton is an amazing Mom.  Once the first girl was born, the one in the pink collar, she instinctively knew just what to do.  Sadly, there was a fourth puppy, a little tri boy, but he didn’t make it.  That’s one of the heartbreaking things about breeding puppies, sometimes you lose one, no matter what you do.  But we are focusing on our three beautiful girls, and their sweet Mom.

We are so excited to welcome these tiny girls into the world and can’t wait to watch how their personalities develop.

It’s almost time!

Tomorrow is the day!  (Or possibly Friday) Yesterday we took Peyton to the vet and he said he thinks she is having four puppies.   We are very excited and can’t wait to see them!

FastCAT pics

 Rosie and Peyton just received their FastCAT pictures from last month. 

It’s funny, the photographer captured something interesting.  Rosie is actually chasing the lure in her picture.  And Addison is just running straight to me.  Addi enjoys FastCAT, but her priority isn’t the lure, it’s getting to me as fast as she can!  It’s just reason #768 why Addi is the sweetest ever! 

Peyton updates!

I’m sure everyone is waiting for an update about Peyton and her puppies.  This past weekend we started to feel the puppies moving!  I’m spending a lot of my free time feeling them bump and stretch, their movements are getting stronger each day.  

Peyton doing FastCAT last year, as there won’t be any FastCAT for her this Summer!

On Monday Peyton has an appointment with her vet, so we can get an accurate puppy count.  Which is good, as we suddenly have a lot of people interested in the puppies.  I’ve been spending time communicating with the families, getting to know what they are looking for, and they all seem so nice.

And Wednesday is (most likely) the day the puppies will arrive!  It’s been hard waiting, but it also feels like the weeks have passed by in the blink of an eye.  Fingers crossed that Peyton has a quick and easy delivery of her puppies.

I thought it might be fun to share some “Peyton Facts.”

• Peyton’s pedigree includes some of the top collie kennels, and some of the top collies.  In her pedigree are collies from Marchello, Creekwood, Countryview, Kirkhaven, Pleasant Acre, Fantasy, Signet, Devinwood and Marnus.
• Peyton’s sire, Damit, GCHP Creekwood Lochlomun I’ll Be D’amned, ROM, FDC, was the 2025 CCA Best of Variety and Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed winner, and Best Veteran.  He was also the #1 collie in the country in 2020.  
• Peyton’s Great Granddam, Angel, CH Marchello’s On Angel’s Wings, was Winners Bitch/Best of Winners/Best Puppy at the 2000 CCA National.  And she was the #3 smooth in 2002, as well as winning Smooth Best of Variety and Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed at the 2002 CCA National.  And interestingly, Best of Breed at the 2002 CCA was CH Southland’s Bowen Island.  He is in Beckham’s pedigree, so Peyton’s puppies will have both the smooth and rough 2002 CCA winners in their pedigree. (Beckham is the sire of Peyton’s litter)
• Peyton, unlike most collies, enjoys the water.  Her littermates did as well, when they were puppies, not sure if this is still true.
• Peyton is very observant.  She recently noticed that her Aunt Sophie would ring the bells on the door to go outside.  Without any prompting from me, she started ringing the bells to go outside too!
• Peyton, like Scarlett, has a white spot on her nose.  This isn’t common in our line of collies, only two others had that white spot, and they were many generations back.  We love when the collies have that white spot, and can’t wait to see if any of her puppies will inherit it!
• When competing in FastCAT Peyton would chase the lure then stop part way and return to me or my daughter. We finally learned that she would only chase the lure if we asked a stranger to release her, and she knew we were waiting at the other end of the track.  She’s nothing, if not loyal to us!

We have 4 days until her due date, please check back for more updates!

Just wanted to share…

 We have shared our recent Ads for Colliesonline.  And I wanted to share them again, so they were all in one post…

And I wanted to include our newest Ad, also created by our friends at Colliesonline.  This advertisement is going to be in the Summer edition of the Collie Club of America Bulletin.  We have never done an Ad in the CCA Bulletin before, so we are very excited.  We wanted to share it here first, with our blog readers.  

I think they did a beautiful job creating this for us!  We just love it!

My Best Friend…

Summer is almost here, and the collies are shedding their Winter coats like crazy!  I’ve been brushing out their coats, trying to speed things along.  Ryder is my senior, rough collie.  As he will be turning 14 in August, he can’t stand for long grooming sessions.  Since it was a rare nice day, as it’s been a very rainy season, I took him out in the yard to brush out his coat.  He loves to stretch out in the grass while I brush through his fur.  

After we were done, I decided to take some pictures of the old man, he looked so handsome next to my collie garden.  

I feel so grateful to still have him with me, especially after losing Kori last year.  Puppies are adorable, and so much fun, but seniors are my favorite.  They bring so much comfort and are perfect companions.  

The prettiest flower in my garden is my collie flower!

Ryder is slowing down, he has a bit of trouble getting up, and walks with a limp even with his pain meds.  This boy has been my best friend for nearly 14 years, and I desperately hope I will get to celebrate his 14th birthday with him.  So I treasure every day with him, and each night I worry about what tomorrow might bring.  But for now, I still have my best boy by my side.

Socialization and Enrichment

There are three kinds of stimulation that influence how a puppy develops.  The first, as previously discussed here, is ENS or early neurological stimulation.  The second is called socialization.  To be the most effective, the ideal time for puppy socialization is between 4 and 16 weeks old.  Too much or too little socialization during this period can negatively impact the puppies development, creating fearful, anxious or shy adults.

I’ve written posts about puppy socialization in the past, and they can be found here:

Puppy Socialization

Socialization

Of course our new puppies aren’t here yet, but we have already reached out to friends in anticipation of their arrival.  We’ve asked friends to plan on visiting our puppies, to help socialize them.  And they’ve all said yes, because who doesn’t want to cuddle a collie puppy?  

The third kind of stimulation is called enrichment.  This stimulation has no time limit, as you can begin as soon as the puppies have opened their eyes and have begun to explore their environment. Enrichment  provides puppies with positive experiences.  This allows the puppies to explore and investigate the world around them while helping build their confidence.  Puppies supplied with many different forms of enrichment typically grow up to be more inquisitive and intelligent adults.

There are many forms of enrichment, and we have enjoyed creating new methods with our past litters.  I thought it would be fun to share some of the videos from when Peyton and Addi were puppies, as I don’t think I ever shared them here.  They show some of our efforts to provide socialization and enrichment.

In this video the puppy with the white on her nose and head is Peyton.

Hungry little puppies, can you spot Peyton?

Melody, now Lilac, was the only rough puppy in the litter.  This was her trying out the tunnel for the first time.

This is when we introduced some puppy play equipment.

The puppies can be seen here learning about new, loud noises as a large truck drives by the yard.

Here the puppies met a new friend!  They were definitely unsure, but curious, about the talking dragon!

This was the day we introduced the snuffle mat

And here is the first day we introduced their pool.  They quickly became fans of the pool, with the hot Summer weather we were experiencing!

I am researching new ideas to provide both socialization and enrichment for the new puppies.  I can’t wait to meet them!

Gestational Stages

Today is day 45 of Peyton’s pregnancy.  I thought I’d share where the puppies are in their development.

We are at 6 1/2 weeks, so they are starting to resemble puppies now.  The next 2 1/2 weeks will exciting as we prepare for their arrival.  We should be able to feel the puppies moving around Day 50, which would be Friday.

The images are from  Canine Scanning and they have some great info if you want to learn more.