And Now for Some More Good News!

A couple weeks ago our ZuZu earned her next FastCAT title, DCAT!  She looks so proud of that ribbon!

And this past weekend we were entered at another dog show.  On Saturday, Nolan won Winners Dog, which gave him another point towards his championship.  And on Sunday, he won Best of Winners, for a 3rd point.  He is such a handsome, happy boy.  We can’t wait to see how he does at future shows.

But he wasn’t our only winner.  Saturday ZuZu won Best of Opposite Sex and Best Owner Handled collie.  So she got to go to the Owner Handled Herding Group and won a Group 1!  On Sunday she won Best of Breed, and Best Owner Handled.  We were sure she would have placed in the herding group as well, but sadly a last minute judge change messed that up for her.  We can’t complain though, these were nice wins, and gave her points towards her Grand Championship.

Thank you

Thank you Ann for this image

I just wanted to start this post by thanking everyone who reached out and left condolences about the loss of our perfect boy.  I needed to take a little break, as this blog was started in celebration of our collies, when Ryder was still a puppy.  He was a huge part of our lives and I miss him so much.  And he was always the star of our Fall collie pictures, it won’t be the same without his beautiful face in the pictures.  Ryder was my only boy, and my only rough collie.  We do have Rosie our rough girl, but right now she lives with my daughter.  She will eventually come to live with me, but not until my daughter is finished showing her and she earns her championship title.  We also have our new puppy boy, Nolan.  But Nolan also lives with my daughter, so for the first time in over 20 years, I don’t have a collie boy.  I love my girls, they are each special in their own way, but there is nothing sweeter than a collie boy.  So from time to time, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite Ryder stories and memories.

But we do have some good news to share, and the first is that my Addison has become an AKC Canine Ambassador for the collie breed.  So she and I will be promoting collies, purebred dogs and educating about responsible dog ownership.  We haven’t decided where we will start, but there are many possibilities.  And she will be going to the big Meet the Breeds event in NYC again this Winter.

And speaking of Meet the Breeds events, last week we attended the Big E fair with the collies.  The Big E, or Eastern States Exposition, is a 2 week long fair here in New England.  And each day members of a different purebred dog breed are in attendance, to introduce them to the public and educate everyone about the breed.  We brought Addison, Nolan and Rosie; and 3 members of our collie club brought their collies as well.  Of course, with handsome Nolan being a friendly 9 month old puppy, he was the star.  It was a fun day, and we were able to hang out with the other animals in the agricultural building.

Saying Goodbye

Today is one of the hardest days.  Today we had to say goodbye to the best boy, to my best friend, Ryder.  I’m feeling lost and heartbroken, and I just don’t have the words to adequately describe the loss of my beautiful boy.  He was perfect inside and out, and will leave a huge hole in my life and in my heart. I knew this day was coming, but I still wasn’t ready.  While we were blessed with 14 years together, it still wasn’t long enough.