A Slightly Different Angle *
- About the beginnings
- About the Steadlyns
- About influences
- About the breeding programme
- About the importance of the breed standard
- About the Highlands - rough collie’s home
- About my favourite collies from the past
- About today’s collies
- To tolerate or not
- About picking up a puppy
- About where we live
- What do our dogs eat?
- Judging
- Dogs have to be taken seriously...
Triad means three of something being one. In the beginning of our life with collies we had three all of them great ladies, Sjuki, Fina and Phoebe, which we always consider to be our first. A group of other three collies is responsible for our sudden interest in the breed; there are three main collie colours, etc. etc. There are many more “three” inner meanings behind our kennel name.
The first collie, which came to us, was a dominant sable bitch Želja od Hrvatske, Sjuki by nickname. Before her I had an English Pointer bitch Asta, who was my first pet. When my Asta died, there were no litters of pointers in sight and I desperately needed a new pet. So it happened that one day, on our way to cinema, my future husband and I came across a group of three collies resting in a nearby park. It was a breathtaking sight, they were so beautiful together, graceful quiet and calm. I did not think much about collies in those days, I thought they were too artificial (the coat and all) and I heard a lot of stories about them being nervous, stupid and weird. It was 1981, I was a student with a lot of other ideas, not having breeding in mind and all I wanted was another pet, a bitch,. I just thought; if it could not be a pointer let it, at least, be a bitch. I preferred bitches, anyway. At that point, the breed was not important any more. The chemistry was there, collies were available, and so we took golden Sjuki, the only girl in a litter of five.
Želja od Hrvatske, "Sjuki"
As I found out later, she had a very interesting pedigree Her father Zoli Coklarski was born out of a pregnant bitch imported to kennel Coklarska in Slovenia, CH Glenorka Sweet Candy, who was Rokeby all behind, her father being a well known sire Knight Porter of Rokeby, and her mother Glenorka Ren of Rokeby, a daughter of Ramsey of Rokeby and Witchcraft of Rokeby. Zoli’s father was also very well known sire Tameila Midnight Cowboy, the son of Crufts winners; GB CH Thistleblue Bluelands Boy and GB CH Tameila Vanity Blue.
Zoli Coklarski
Sjuki’s mother was sired by CH Odo vom Langauenfeld, a beautiful sable dog imported from well known Austrian kennel, who was Dunisnane all behind: His sire was Domingo of Dunsinane, by Dorgano Demander and Rushmead Hazle and his mother was Gaudi Simbastar v. Langauenfeld (by CH Kinreen Dashing Gold of Dunsinane and CH Deborah of Dunsinane).
Odo v. Langauenfeld
The dam was Kenda, a sable bitch, whose pedigree was a summary of Croatian breeding since the first rough collie had been brought to our country in 1955, when CH Lissa of Ladypark (CH Rifflesee Resplendence x Little Mary of Ladypark), her great great grandmother, came from England to Zagreb and became the foundation bitch of the first collie kennel in Croatia, the “Panonska” kennel. In 1957 she also became the first of all international champions in our country. The sires of her three litters were mostly UK bred dogs from Germany and Austria (Lowell of Ladypark, Claus v.d. Kartnerbergen and Setforth from Shiel.). The first sire imported to Croatia was Straight Shot from Shiel, Kenda’s grandfather, who came from Shiel kennel to Zagreb in 1960.
Lissa of Ladypark, the foundation bitch of the first collie kennel in Croatia
In this way Sjuki is responsible not only for the development of my interest in the breed and my involvement in breeding. Her pedigree has been the challenge to investigate the past, the history of the breed as well as the history of collie breeding in my country, Croatia. This job is still not finished and I shall use this opportunity to ask anyone who has any information about Kartnerbergen kennel or knows perhaps the pedigree of Setforth and Straight Shot from Shiel (both sable dogs) to share with me this lost information. Today, I am proud to be able to say that Triad is the kennel in whose pedigrees the history of collie breeding in Croatia is preserved. We continue where a number of old time enthusiasts had left us long time ago and we try to do our best.
Sjuki was a collie of the true collie temperament and character, very well constructed, with long, arched neck. Her coat was of very good quality, dense but short, she had a perfect length and carriage of the tail. Yet, she was not a show dog, being pricked eared and too short coated, for a rough in show rings. We got her in the time when collies, viewed from show rings, were changing. At the beginning of eighties, the trend inclined towards smaller, shorter collies, with enormously abundant, silky coats. This fashion swept over show rings. The very characteristic of the true collie, this “impassive dignity” that standard insists upon, was fading away, the true nature of a collie that is a working, herding breed in its very essence, was out of sight. We missed this so very much and felt it had not been right to deprive our breed of its own true nature. We had been looking for almost ten years to find a dog with qualities we admired, bred to the standard, and we were lucky enough to find the whole family, the Steadlyn collies. The moment we saw these collies we knew we would not be able to resist such a challenge!
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a group of Steadlyn blue-merles
We met Mia Ejerstad, Bernardo Conti and Steadlyn collies in 1990 at the World Show in Brno where Markko (CH Steadlyn Show Stopper) was winning the World CH title. Very soon they came to us for a show and were staying for a few days. That was how our friendship began. We spent endless hours involved in collie talks and thousands of kilometres on the road going to shows and collie. events together. These were five great years of intensive collie life. The distance of 600 km between Florence and Zagreb was not an obstacle. Whatever I had learned from books I could discuss with Mia, and she was never reluctant to share her own knowledge and experiences. She was a great teacher, very explicit and authoritative and with reason. Her dogs were there to prove the reliability of her words. Nevertheless, she was always honest and critical about her own work, which is the quality essential for anyone whose aim is to be really good in whatever one is doing.
Steadlyn Zong of Zweden
Steadlyn Show Stopper
Sjuki had had three litters before we decided to get seriously involved in breeding, with the aim of creating our own recognizable line. We love puppies; it is always a very special and irresistible experience to have puppies. Breeding, on the other hand, is something more; it is creative process that involves, among other things, a lot of learning, courage, vision, endurance, determination, a lot of coincidence and a little luck. In my mind and in case of our breed, it is not only creative process but, in a way, artistic as well. Having puppies is just one aspect of breeding. We had to learn a lot and make up our minds about a lot of things before our decision was made. Our breeding started in 1990, with a litter out of Tama Talita, Sjuki’s daughter, sired by CH Steadlyn Show Stopper. Also in 1990 we got our kennel name registered at FCI.
Tama Talita
Although Sjuki was a dominant sable, because of my fascination with blue collies, very soon the sable colour almost vanished from our breeding. This I regret and miss very much today. At the moment everything is black and blue at our home. Hopefully we would get some more gold to join our only Ginger’n’Gold. I like all colours but if I must choose then blue would be my favourite.
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For us, the most influential homebred so far is Triad Whirlwind through her sons and daughters (Triad Outlined in Blue, Triad One step Beyond, Triad Outstanding Blue and Triad Out of the Blue) and now her grandchildren (Triad Indian Nightbreeze, Triad Icing on the Cake and Triad Irresisitbly Spellbound) the girls who will hopefully continue producing quality puppies for us.
Triad Whirlwind
The most successful of our homebred are: CH Triad Stormy Weather, CH Triad Rhythm of Tide, CH Triad Outlined in Blue, CH Triad One Step Beyond, also the two sisters Triad Outstanding Blue and Triad Out of the Blue, both being group winners at international shows.
Ch. Triad Stormy Weather
Ch. Triad Rhythm of Tide
Ch. Triad Outlined in Blue
Ch. Triad One Step Beyond
Other collies of influence for us are obviously Steadlyn collies since our breeding is founded on this line. The most important here is CH Steadlyn Silent Wish whom we consider to be the one of our two foundation bitches (the other being Triad Tulsa Time, daughter of CH Steadlyn. Show Stopper). On the male side it is, without doubt, CH Steadlyn Skywriter. He proved his potentials passing his qualities to excellent offspring in each of litters he sired to bitches of various bloodlines. His daughters, especially in combination with CH Steadlyn Dinner Jacket, also owned by us, produced the finest collies in our kennel.
Triad Tulsa Time
Ch. Steadlyn Silent Wish
Ch. Steadlyn Skywriter
Ch. Steadlyn Dinner Jacket
The other dogs I always wanted to see in our pedigrees, repeated as often as it could be, were CH Steadlyn Show Stopper, CH Steadlyn Ravishing Saga, CH Steadlyn Signature and CH Steadlyn Snow Goddess. I consider myself enormously lucky being given the opportunity to know all of them for what they really were.
Ch. Steadlyn Ravishing Saga & Ch. Steadlyn Signature
Ch. Steadlyn Snow Goddess
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Our breeding programme and our primary and major aim is to breed collies as close to the standard as it could be achieved. So far our breeding was based on Steadlyn line and we feel we still have not exhausted this precious source. In my opinion, Steadlyn/Steadwyn collies are still the best representatives of the collie standard. At the same time, there are always things to be worked upon. However, I wish I could have had more litters. It would have given me more opportunities to experiment with other lines as well. It has been so very difficult to find good, loving homes for puppies lately, since collies are not very popular any more and therefore we have to be very restrictive in our breeding.
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Why am I so dedicated to the standard? I believe that the rough collie standard truly indicate the essence of our breed. Even without those important words: “…to enable the Collie to fulfil a natural bent for Sheepdog work, its physical structure should be on the lines of strength and activity, free from cloddiness and without any trace of coarseness”, (which must be returned to where those words belong); even without those words the standard description of a collie is so vivid and transparent and clear that it simply must not be ignored. The only thing that this standard lacks to present a perfect, full picture is the frame, the natural environment in which a rough collie performed its work. It is very important to be aware of the country from which the rough collie originate, in order to be able to understand what kind of work a rough was once doing, and then, to understand why it has to look like standard explains. Finally, to be able to conclude, in spite of the fact that collies nowadays do not perform their original tasks, that the nature of its work is something that can be neither lost, outbred, forgotten nor erased from its gene pool, no matter how keen we are in trying to believe the opposite. A collie is what it is because it performed a sheepdog work in a specific and unique way, characteristic for rough collies only. It had to be so because of the very particular environment where this work was performed, Scottish Highlands. It should never be forgotten that a rough is a collie from the Highlands because all the rest comes out of it.
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In my opinion, this is where we have to look for the clue regarding the main purpose of the rough. We have to turn very much back to the past times before shows had begun and the standard was written on paper. We have to get back to days when sheep were the most important and numerous animals on the British Isles, and when life without sheep could not have been possible for many, many people. For them the work with sheep could not have been possible without dogs. It is not wonder that there are so many various British sheepdog breeds since these dogs were used for many different purposes, meeting very different demands, depending on the environment and needs of their owners.
As for the Highlands, the greatest danger for sheep there was not coming from wolves or bears (as it is very often thought)- they had been long gone from the Highlands and the British Isles, already. The shape of a collie’s head evidently shows that. Collie cannot fight a wolf; it is not supposed to do so. Not just that it is a light dog compared to its size but, also, its jaws are simply not strong enough. It cannot hold (compared to German sheepdog, for instance, not to mention Pyrenean or shepherd dogs from Shar-planina, Sarplaninac, whose sheep herding task is basically wolf or even bear fighting for the protection of the flock). It would need a pack of collies to fight only one wolf; with a pack of wolves not the whole pack of collies would be able to succeed. Quick bites, lithe turns and brisk movements would not be sufficient to win over organized wolf pack determined to get their dinner.
The main threat for shepherds and their flocks in the Highlands must have been the weather. In the spring, even during the summer occasionally, the weather in the Highlands can change extremely fast from nice sunny day to the snow stormy blizzard with very low temperatures. It is so because of the exposure to the North Sea and cold, strong winds coming form the north. Flocks in their pastures are very vulnerable regarding these weather changes, especially in the time of delivering lambs. Besides, flock of animals can easily panic and run in any direction, thus perhaps ending in an abyss or some other undesirable place. Collies have been there, in the first place, to prevent this to happen. The shape of their ears is there to catch the sounds in the most efficient manner: the sound of wind coming from high hills and mountain slopes long before it actually came to the spot, noise of a lost sheep in a storm or blizzard, voice or whistles of its owner giving directions in the storm. Collies are extremely sensitive about sounds, their hearing is better then most of the dogs, they hate noise, loud singing. Even today a lot of collies can feel very uncomfortable with the noise of strong wind blowing and this is not without reason, as we can see. The wind is danger and their senses are warned. It was meant to be, bred to be that way for the purpose. Good hearing makes it possible to act on time, collect the herd and keep it together, or even get it home, to the shelter or a safe place.
Collie coat, waterproof and warm, protects from rain and bad weather being hard on the top, woolly and thick underneath. Collie colours and markings serve the same purpose, to be more easily seen in bad weather conditions or in the dark, by their owners as well as by the sheep. Collie eye - we all know the stories about collies that could turn away a stubborn ram towards the safe route! So powerful must be the eye of a collie! Collie tail, designed to preserve the balance in quick turns, while moving sheep in the right directions, with the white spot on its tip which shines in the darkest night like a lighthouse..
Imagine the ground collies had to cover looking after the sheep - rocks and steep meadows. A dog should be very skilled, nimble mover, therefore not too heavy to be able to cover such grounds, safely and without loosing too much strength, etc. etc…(‘Moderate amount of bones’, says the standard, and this is to be considered very seriously. The change in bone structure changes the dog. The example of this is American collie, which does not look different just because it is tall. Not so long ago, English collies were normally 60 cm or more and it was no wonder to see bitches over 55cm as well. Still, the impression was different because of their lighter bones. The change of American collies comes out from the change of their working tasks. In America, during times collies were working dogs, they did not work with sheep only, but also with cattle and in flat grounds as well. This change of duties, naturally, resulted in the change of constitution, for flat grounds and cattle work it is desirable to be strong and big, it is preferable because it is the different sort of work. Therefore and rightfully, the American collie has got its own standard today.) On the other hand, this illustrates what serious consequences the ignoring of genuine purpose for which certain breed was created, can have. Ignoring a collie, as a working sheepdog dog and trying to squeeze its purpose into the role of just a companion dog, a toy great for children, cannot do much good for the breed.
The collie from the Highlands had to do a lot of its work independently, on its own. Its performance had to include thinking, anticipation and decision-making and dedication to their work: “Lassie come home” is no fiction, as I learned from Hazel Hunt’s article “The History of the Rough Collie”. There she describes how collies would not waist too much time waiting for their owners, who could have got stuck in pubs after successful trade at sheep markets. Collies would wait a while and then go home, not minding the distance. She mentions that it took a collie about a fortnight to cover the distance between London area where some of great cattle markets were, and Scotland. There was work to be done; collie did not have time to waste and there it was going home alone. For all these qualities collie rough got the privilege to its own place in church. On Sundays, while other dogs had to stay outside they had separate marked places behind church seats. Provoked by the interest Queen Victoria had shown for these amazing dogs and with the start of dog shows in UK, breeders were refining the looks of collies thus even more enhancing their beauty and dignity, making the breed worth of royal attention. Even though Victorian world is so far away from us today, we should make all efforts to preserve all these qualities for the sake of our exceptional breed.
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Regarding my favourite collies from the past, if you wake me up in the middle of the night I would probably in one breath utter the name of Mywicks Satine of Simbastar. I saw her photo and I saw her on the video. The way she looked, moved, how she was standing, it was a dream! She makes you take your hat off and bow! She is an all time collie to me. She could never be old-fashioned. Beulah’s Nightvictorious, I saw his portrait in Mrs. Osborne’s book, his dreamy, contemplating expression I cannot forget.
Mywicks Satine of Simbastar Beulah’s Nightvictorious
Steadlyn Zong of Zweden and Steadlyn Show Stopper, I saw them for the first time in World Show in Brno. When I first saw CH Zong of Zweden or Dimman as her nickname was. I remember thinking; because she was so outstanding you could not miss her that I have never seen such a beautiful bitch and so beautifully coloured, too! I fell in love with blues for all times then, all because of her. Then in the other ring I saw Show Stopper, I did not know he was her son until I looked in the catalogue, and to my surprise I saw he was eight and she was ten years old! I thought it must have been a mistake. They did not look that age whatsoever. And Markko was standing in the ring so collie like, so dignified, yet playful, interested and intelligent. Goose skin and butterflies in my stomach! Cannot forget it!
Steadlyn Zong of Zweden & Steadlyn Show Stopper
Jasand True Blue and Corydon Kittycat I saw at Crufts in 1996. Outstanding, beautiful, the picture stays so vivid in my head I do not have to close my eyes to see them now! Karion Blue Tiara, Brentland Blue Cascade, those two I saw only on photos, still both have got that something only a true collie posses and you can feel it, even if it was only a photo. You would want them at home, just to look at. And there are so many, many more beautiful collies…
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I am afraid the majority of today’s collies are still weak in size and conformation. Most of them are too small and too short. A lot of other problems come out of these faults. Also, I do not prefer the expression we see in majority of, particularly sable dogs today. Too much stop, with the consequence of the desired wedge type head lost and, in most cases, a strange setting for the eyes acquired. Due to the break of head in the stop point the shape of the whole skull changes, eyes are not set obliquely, the position of the eyes is straight, which produces totally different expression. This is something completely out of standard but still widely recognized and admired in today’s collie rings. To me, this is not tolerable. I heard many people say this is sweet. Maybe it would be, if there were chow-chows in question, but not for a collie. I think that the concept of sweet collie expression is somewhat misunderstood. Collie is not a teddy bear and it is not a Barbie doll, either. Teddy bears and Barbie dolls have nothing to do with dignity.
Dignity is an old fashioned concept, obviously forgotten by many people. Dignity goes hand in hand with beauty and beauty is not sweet, it is simply beautiful. What is sweet about it is the melting feeling we have in the presence of beauty. It is the excitement and overwhelming sensation one experiences in the presence of beauty. It is not easy to explain. What is beauty? The concept of beauty does not include only appearances. Beauty comes from within. Personality and soul reflect in it. In the old times the most important feature, which prevailed when choosing a dog for work, was the face of a collie, its eye (“the mirror of a soul”). Most often it was described as pleasant, with ‘sweet eye’. And it was a must. Nobody wanted a dog with ‘mean eye’, or ‘stupid eye’, no matter what it looked like in its appearances. Therefore, collies are being referred to as the head breed.
Why is that? It is not that the conformation was not important to old shepherds. Of course it was, and we had seen why from what had been said before, but to be able to really accomplish all what was expected of a collie, it had to be a complete dog on which you could rely upon with trust. Dedication, intelligence, honesty, serenity, all this and more can be seen in collie’s eyes. So, it is in the eyes where old shepherds were looking for the justification of their expectations related to a certain dog. If it was not the first, it was certainly the final thing that was looked upon when choosing a dog. It was the final test, where a dog fails or wins, such dog could not disappoint you. And the face, which is honest and open and intelligent and sincere, is a sweet, dear face. Of course it is very difficult to describe all this in a standard. It is difficult concept to describe anyway. Perhaps that is why so many interpretations and differences in understanding come out from those few words “a sweet collie expression”, which is a distinctive feature of our breed. In the end when you put together good conformation, well balanced head, providing the space and position to the eye, which looks at you with interest and attentiveness, then you have the balance and harmony of “the perfect Collie, the most beautiful of the canine race”. (Quotation from the breed standard 1950-1969, please, let us have this in our standard back again!)
As for the evolution over the last decades, I am really concerned about our breed. I see incredible diversity and I wonder are we heading towards developing several new breeds out of rough collie or we have already got this situation and need only to acknowledge it. There have always been discussions and arguments about the topics in standard among breeders and judges. Obviously an agreement, unanimous enough, has not been reached. I myself was present at several occasions where the need to change the standard was expressed and justified by the conclusion that modern collies have changed, therefore standard must be changed as well. This, to me, unreasonable attitude is quite widespread and it must be an enormous confusion for the novice in the breed to watch dogs and judging in the rings today.
The greatest improvement I see in relation to the bone structure and shorter hocks, which improved hindquarters of today’s collies. This is an improvement for the better, related to the function of our breed. This, in many cases, also resulted in better fronts with well laid-back shoulders, which consequently provided space and position for the almost forgotten arched neck of a collie to appear again. It should only be kept in mind to preserve the balance, remembering the word ‘moderate’ when it comes to the amount of bone. Again, we do not need too much.
There are a lot of breeders all over the world, who do a really great job, producing great collies. Of course, outstanding specimens are always in considerable minority compared to the others. What worries me is the average collie which, and this is my impression regarding show rings, has left me with a lot to desire.
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Of course, there is no perfect dog, so when it comes to breeding plans, one must be aware of the weak points of both, the dog and the bitch in question. To me, the whole picture is what really counts. Balance is the key word. I prefer to see if the dog in question excels in any of the features that are important to me. I could not tolerate any extremes. For example angulations can be excellent, it can also be good, but if a dog were totally straight in front or too open behind I would not tolerate it because it would obviously have to have an effect on other features concerning conformation, and the dog would be out of balance.
What I would not tolerate is bad character, again anything that is too much. Too easy to excite, too easy to frighten, jumpy at any sound, dogs that do not forgive you, extremely body sensitive, etc. You can deal with most of these faults, but it is difficult, it is a problem and not every pet owner is capable of solving it. Therefore such dogs are not acceptable as pets. Also they are difficult to keep in a kennel because other dogs do not tolerate extreme behaviour either. We try to breed for easy dogs that can easily live with their owners for the benefit of all. Just few selected puppies stay at home, most of them have to go. It is of greatest importance for me that my puppies are placed in a really good home, it is my greatest satisfaction If there would be such choice to make, for my dogs I would have always preferred a good home to the world title.
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How to pick up a puppy from a litter? This is a hard one. First of all it is the question of personal preference. Different persons would prefer different types of dogs. It depends so much on what you are looking for. Personally, I hate to choose for others, when I have to I try to see which puppy would certainly not be suitable for someone, and then I would leave free choice from the rest. That means that “over” something puppy will be kept until I find really right person for it, or it will stay at home as a pet. It is less harm done to the dog in my experience, but it is not easy and not beneficial for a kennel since sometimes such dog stays and a better one leaves home.
Similarly, those who are “over” excelling in a good way usually stay until the last moment or for good. To me it is easier to pick out from my own litters, than to choose from others, which is understandable and does not need too many explanations. I prefer if I could see puppies from the moment they are born, it is true you can pick right then, and most often I really do. I did not take this seriously when I first heard about it, but this statement proved to be true. It is also very important to me to observe the ability of a newborn puppy to survive, its willingness to live. I always value such puppies more then the ones that need too much help. It simply shows the inner ability of puppies to survive, which I consider very important for the breed stamina. We control the weight of our puppies until three kilos and we keep records about this. I find it very useful to compare different litters and the advance of puppies. So it is the part I miss very much when I have to pick from some other litters and it can make me very uncertain about my own choice. But in the end, to be honest, it is more or less pure luck mixed with coincidence. In a way it is good, exciting, especially when it turns out you picked up a world champion.
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We live in Croatia, isolated, far from traffic and roads, without neighbours, in vineyards on the foothills of mountain Medvednica, backing our hometown Zagreb. We decided to withdraw from civilisation because we found out that neighbours and dogs are more or less incompatible and, even more important, we needed a lot of free space for our dogs. They have always lived in house with us. Whether we had one, three or ten they have always been members of our family. Since the number had grown over ten we had to organize in a different way, at first to simplify the feeding procedure. So every dog has its own crate now to sleep and eat in peace. We have two rooms in the house allotted exclusively to them, but that does not mean our other rooms are free of dogs. Whelping box is in our bedroom and puppies are moved to living room when about four weeks old. It also happened that this considerable number of dogs brought up the conflict situations between siblings, mostly bitches, and we had to separate them to several packs when going out to free runs in order to avoid fights for domination with siblings. We have two large, sloping, fenced, shady orchards around the house, which are used as exercise areas where dogs spend time during the day, living their dog life, free and without control. Just now we are finishing the construction of open, covered kennel type dwellings for dogs. These will be used for various purposes, when we are not at home, when there are some major works to be done in their rooms or in the house, when girls are in season, etc. This habit of having dogs all around the house is rather tricky because there is a lot of cleaning to be done every day and nothing is ever clean, but on the other hand it is so valuable because every day each one of our dogs experience direct interaction with us. This is very important, since our dogs are our friends and we want to keep this relationship.
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The basic diet we give is a mixture of raw meat (mostly chicken and beef – Croatian cows are not mad, yet), bread, (corn, oats, rice, etc) and cooked vegetables. Regular additions are yoghurt, fresh cow cheese, eggs, yeast, wheat germs, dried parsley leaves, garlic, vegetable oil and apple vinegar. Every now and then we give raw bones to keep them busy (during rainy days). Nevertheless, we occasionally give our dogs to eat dry food as well, since our experience was teaching us that in some situations dry food can be very useful and handy (for example when you have to survive the war without electricity, read: “no freezer”, or when you want to make it easier for your mother to feed your dogs while you are 3000 km away at a dog show). Anyway, we think dogs have to get used to various kinds of food and to accept it, just as we do. When we give dry food we prefer to mix it with meat and their regular food. We always soak until granules are soft and never give it dry.
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I became a judge in 1997, and I can judge all British sheepdog breeds at CAC (national) shows. So far I have had two judging appointments so far, the first at one of our CAC shows and the other at our club’s special show where I judged puppies, youngsters and veterans. The fact is that the number of dogs entered at our shows has been so small that it is absolute nonsense to invite a specialist judge unless he can judge more breeds from various groups. That is why it is rather difficult for an exclusive breed specialist to get the invitation to judge in Croatia.
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I have been living with dogs, (recently cats, too) most of my life. There are so many important things I have learned from them. As I see it, teaching or training dogs, if you like, is really mostly about training yourself to proper behaviour and proper reactions, it is about anticipating your own reactions in situations, it is in fact about knowing yourself. Dogs just follow. What I want to say is that dogs scan you all the time, they know you before you can even imagine, also they know you better then you can imagine. They are clever animals; they take advantage of their knowledge and use it. We are the ones who should be learning.
It is irrelevant what we aim to do with our dogs, the prerequisites for any involvement with animals are patience, consistency in our behaviour and the ability to observe, meaning not just look but see. If we look and see we shall be able to understand. If we understand we shall be able to take time and to give time to connect with our animals. Then we shall have the right start point for everything else we want to do with them. In return, they will do whatever it is we ask for and do it with willingness and joy. Also then we shall know what we need to do, as well. Building up the mutual trust is a must for a successful owner–dog relation. It is our responsibility to understand it and do it.
The other thing is learning. Today there is simply no excuse for ignorance on our, human part. There are so many sources of information everywhere so there can be no excuse whatsoever for ignorance. We must learn permanently to be able to take right steps towards our goals, no matter whether we are pet owners or professional dog trainers, handlers, judges or breeders. Dogs have to be taken seriously, and their dog nature should not be neglected and ignored. We should not use the advantage of their ability to adjust to our ways without trying to give something in return. The least we can do is try to understand them and their dog needs.
I would like to conclude with a quotation from a book, which I think is a must for all people involved with dogs in any way, written by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’ “The Hidden Life of Dogs”
Like most people who hunger to know more about the lives of animals, I have always wanted to enter into the consciousness of a nonhuman creature. I would like to know what the world looks like to a dog, for instance, or sounds like, or smells like. I would like to visit a dog’s mind, to know what he’s thinking and feeling, to have another dog look at me and see not something different but something the same. And to my great surprise, during those afternoons by the den, I felt I came close to achieving that.
What was it like? Partly it was like entering a quiet little village in some faraway country, and partly it was like entering another world, a new dimension. There we were, within fifty feet of my house, yet in a world that had nothing to do with my house, nothing to do with my species, and nothing to do with my life.
To sit idly, not doing, merely experiencing, comes hard to a primate, yet for one I wasn’t among primates. At last, as dogs learn to live among our kind it came to me to live among theirs. In the late afternoon sun we sat in the dust, or lay on our chests resting on our elbows, evenly paced on the hilltop, all looking calmly down among the trees to see what moved there. No birds sang, just insects. Off in the silent, drying woods a tree would now and then drop something – a pod, perhaps, on a leaf – and we would listen to it scratching down. While the shadows grew long we lay calmly feeling the moment, the calmness, the warm light of the red sun – each of us quiet and serene. I’ve been to many places on the earth, to the Arctic, to the African savannah, yet wherever I went, I always travelled in my own bubble of primate energy, primate experience, and so never before or since have I felt as far removed from what seemed familiar as I felt with these dogs, by their den. Primates feel pure, flat immobility as boredom, but dogs feel it as peace...
* Originally written for The breeders interview, for Wizard’s Castle collie site in 2004, updated and revised in 2006.
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