Somebody told me that Border Collies and all of the activities we do with them are addicting, sort of like potato chips. Truer words haven't been spoken, at least in my case.

Let me think a minute...so I can tell you how it all started.  I moved out to the country several years ago.  I brought Miniature Pinchers with me which are wonderful dogs. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for these little dogs. Unfortunately, they aren't the dog for country life as I was soon to learn. I was outside working one day and as usual the Min Pins were running around hunting for mice and just having a good time. I did worry about snakes a little, but hadn't seen any on my property so I didn't give it a lot of concern. I never thought about attacks coming from the air until that day. I was working away planting in the garden only occasionally looking up to see what the dogs were doing and where they were. As I looked up one time I saw a huge hawk swooping down to look at one of my Min Pins Nina. Now Nina is only 7 lbs so my heart was pounding as I watched in horror. I didn't even have time to yell as it all happened so quickly.  Fortunately, the bird decided that she wasn't good hawk food and went winging off to look for better game. Thank goodness, since I was way to far away to be of any help to her. I don't know what I would have done had the hawk decided that my Nina was food. Whew! After that little adventure, I decided that the Min Pins had to stay close to home and they are now confined to the back yard and only go out when they are with one of the bigger dogs. Interestingly, all of my dogs now look for hawks and buzzards in the sky and bark as soon as they see them so I don't see too many large birds flying overhead anymore.

This incident spurred me on to start my research on the different dog breeds so I could get a dog able to go outside with me when I worked. I had narrowed my choices down to one of the breeds within the herding group since I wanted a dog with a lot of energy and also biddability. Another requirement was a dog which wouldn't have a natural tendency to hunt in the woods which surrounded my home as hounds or some of the other breeds do. One night, I was watching Animal Planet on TV and happened across a program featuring an agility competition. I was hooked on agility right then and there and decided that it looked like the most fun thing to do ever. I saw the Border Collies competing and loved what I saw. I read lots of stories on the internet both good and bad about the breed but decided that I was going to get a Border Collie. I went to a couple of local agility competitions, spoke with some of the people there about the breed and became even more determined to get one. My sister was showing Tibetan Terriers in conformation at the time so I went to a couple dog shows too since I wanted to see the show type Collie. I had absolutely no intention of ever showing dogs in the conformation ring and in fact teased her about how silly I thought it was. She was spending all this time getting her dog ready only to trot around the ring for a couple minutes, get a 20 cent ribbon (maybe) for all her time and trouble, pack up and go home. Then, at one of the local Atlanta GA shows I saw Claire Hamiltons Rip. CH Hamilton's Tux N Tails whom Tom was specializing at the time. It was love at first sight for me, especially after talking with his handler, Tom Greer. I was going to get a show Border Collie although I still had no intention of showing conformation.

Soon after, I contacted Claire Hamilton and shortly after that got 6 month old Callie. I went to many dog shows to support my sister during the months Callie was growing up.  I also began my training in agility and started competing. After watching the Border Collies in the ring with Callie at my side, and having several people comment on how cute Callie was I decided  to show her so she is now a breed Champion and is CH Hamilton's Callista Starshine OA OJ AD. Unlike my experience in agility competition where I don't get nervous, my first experiences in the ring had my heart pounding and my hands shaking. The nervousness has now gone, thankfully and I never did have the heart attack or make an idiot of myself.  I have had the dogs act up and the most fun I ever had in the ring was the time Callie jumped up and down to my shoulder height as we went up and back for the judge. It did take 3 tries, but we finally got it right and I'm quite sure everybody present enjoyed the show, including the judge who told me I had better do agility with that dog. We came in reserve that day but Callie finished quite easily with a BOB win over a special. I never thought the day would come, but  I really enjoy showing the dogs so I'm out there at the same shows with my sister spending lots of time driving to shows, grooming dogs, only to trot the dog around the ring for 2 mins for a little, I hope, blue ribbon.

I'm very fortunate to have Wood's End Farm, Doyle Ivie's place close by so I have also started  training the dogs in herding as well which I've found is the most fun and the most addicting of any of the dog sports. It's absolutely beautiful to see the dogs work as they were meant to do. Nikki, CH Borderfame Mystique is the most talented up to now, but Bruce is showing some promise so we'll see how it goes. 

My kennel, Callista Border Collies is named after Callie, CH Hamilton's Callista Starshine OA OJ AD who is the beginning of my love affair with these wonderful dogs. Although, Callie will never be bred she will always be my very special girl and I look forward to many more years with her. Callista means most beautiful and is also the name of the Bear constellation in the night time sky. 

I want to give heartfelt thanks to all of the great dogs and their breeders who have bred the dogs I own or have bred dogs in their pasts. 

Thank you so much for your time spent reading my little story and I hope to see you at one of our many dog related sports.