My love of the collie breed started in the early 90's when I met my husband. He had a sable and
white rough collie named Max that I adored which I never thought that would happen as I'd grown up
with spaniels and just assumed that's what I'd always have.
In 1993, I was still in college and looking for a cocker spaniel to show when Max died. We decided at
that point to combine what both my husband and I were looking for a find a tri rough collie. Me
wanting a show dog and his wanting a collie led us to Cree who was a grandson of Ch. Tel Star's
Cosmic Capers and out of a littermate of Ch. Sho Me The Way. Cree was bred by Sheri Ensor of
Osage Collies. Sheri was the person who really got me interested in seriously looking at the show
ring. Cree was sold with show potential but he never did develop into a show dog but he was always
perfect to us. Sadly, Cree died in 1995 of gastric torsion which was a first for his breeder and a sad
lesson for me to learn about. I learned how a true breeder should act when Cree died. Sheri was
going through some personal family issues at the time and she dropped everything and listened to
my hurt and frustration of losing a dog so young and she truly did feel the way that I did. She
handled the situation with a lot of character and I will always have deep respect for her for that.
Years later, I was given a wonderful opportunity to own Osage L'gacy Sweet Memories who is by all
accounts the most beautiful girl I've ever had but she has a terrible hate of the show ring and never
finished her title. All in all, I'm very proud to co-own her with Sheri and with Helen Cornio of Milen
Collies. Zelda has produced two champions to date with two other rough daughters pointed and still
being shown.
After the loss of Cree, I was on the search again for another male. Sadly, the male I found, Victory
Hill's Dancing Dylan, had DM which is a skin and muscle condition in some collies and it is hereditary.
I learned another hard lesson. If the dog doesn't look right or the situation doesn't sound right, walk
away. After various treatments, Dylan was returned to his breeder. On my third try, I bought my first
champion, Ch. Victory Hill's Anniversary Waltz who finished with three majors and two group
placements. I had very high expectations for Annie in the whelping box but unfortunately, it wasn't
meant to be. Annie produced seizures in both of her litters. I was unaware of the seizures in her first
litter until she was bred a second time. Both males she was bred too had not previously produced
seizures and to my knowledge, have not produced seizures. I made the decision that Annie would
not be bred again. She was placed with my parents and is living out her retirement years in style. I
simply could not put dogs in homes with the knowledge of knowing their mother had produced
seizures in both of her litters.
Try four brought me to the wonderful world of smoothies and my wonderful Silver whom we lost to
parentinitis from a ruptured uterus in March 2005. A very sad loss of an otherwise wonderful,
healthy, normal eyed girl who brought me so much. Although only the dam of three champions, she
has multiple grandchildren and great grandchildren that have finished and have been successful in
both conformation and performance events. Through Silver, I also met Cheryl Kobularcik of Cherann
Collies that has been a tremendous mentor to me and has taught me so much.
Once I finally got going in the right direction, I encountered PRA. I found out at the Wichita National
that the dog that I had just had a litter out of had produced PRA. Then I started the painful journey
of test breeding. My Milo was my first known PRA carrier. He had produced three champions prior to
knowing this. Again another heartbreak. Me, being a novice, truly felt that PRA did not exist in
collies anymore but it does. The last known carrier in our pedigrees was eight generations back
which just shows it can be carried as a recessive for years. The last known carrier behind my stuff
was dead long before I ever imagined buying my first collie. I could have walked away at that point
from collies but I liked my dogs and I like the temperments of my dogs. I chose to test breed.
Unfortunately, in collies, there is no DNA marker for PRA so breeding to a PRA blind and bringing
animals into this world is the only way.
The time line of my PRA test breeding:
March 2000 - Ch. Cherann's Milestone (Ch. Cherann's Long Kiss Goodnite x L'gacy Leather 'N Lace)
whelped. He was born the week of the Wichita National.
March 2000 - At the Wichita National I found out that Ch. Cherann's Long Kiss Goodnite was a
possible PRA carrier. I had just had the litter out of him and I had a previous litter out of his
daughter, Cherann's A Penny ForUr Thoughts bred to L'gacy Great Expectations.
Fall 2000 - no actual PRA blinds available; just possible carriers. Ch. Cherann's Somethin' So Right
was bred to Ch. Cherann's French Kiss full littermates sired by Ch. Cherann's Long Kiss Goodnite.
This litter produced the first blinds that Cheryl had.
In an attempt to get a blind for myself I bred Cherann's Penny For Ur Thoughts to her littermate Ch.
Cherann's Somethin' So Right in an attempt to get a blind. This litter produced 12 puppies but only 6
survived. All had excellent eye checks with no PRA. This litter was repeated and the second time
two were produced with no PRA. I had electroretinagrams done on the one litter that was whelped at
my place and Cheryl had the litter of two at her place. The litter of two produced Ch. Cherann's
Somethin' So L'gacy who was later tested as a carrier.
March 2003 - I leased a PRA blind bitch, Cherann's Sugar Kisses and bred her to Ch. Cherann's
Milestone who had already produced multiple champions at this point and he was my DREAM dog;
body, movement and a head and expression I loved. I had six surviving pups in this litter. Three
were PRA blind including Wally who is my boy that is at stud at this point. This was probably my most
devastating blow of this all was losing this dog as a sire due to PRA.
April 2003 - Millie - a Milo daughter - whelped a litter of 6 pups out of Ch. Heatherri Let It Be. She
was bred prior to her father, Ch. Cherann's Milestone, being found as a PRA carrier. We knew at
this point I had a mess and Millie, due to being a Milo daughter, would have to be test bred.
March 2004 - I had two test breedings born. Ch. Cherann's Somethin' So L'gacy (Ch. Cherann's
Somethin' So Right x Cherann's Penny ForUr Thoughts) was bred to L'gacy Gemstone. We did not
think this was going to be a testbreeding but it ended up being one. We did not anticipate PRA in
this litter. Stupid me, I though Ch. Cherann's Somethin' So L'gacy was clear as his mother had been
bred twice to a carrier and I "thought" she was clear. Wrong. This litter produced 9 puppies of which
4 were PRA blind. These pups were born 3-10-04. Just an affirmation to ALL that you must have a
PRA BLIND to get accurate results in testing. Breeding carriers to possible carriers is just a waste of
time.
March 2004 - 3-17 to be exact. Ch. L'gacy Stark 'N Dark - Millie - whelped a litter out of Wally - my
PRA blind male. Four surviiving pups all clear. Not enough though so she would have to be test
bred again.
August 2004 - Ch.L'gacy Bare Naked Lady was bred to Ch. L'gacy Start The Fire so I'd have
something "fun" to show with no PRA. I wasn't going to do ERG's on this litter of two but Dr.
Brightman talked me into it if he did them for free due to having new students and wanting to show
them how it was done. Sable rough bitch was clear and the blue rough bitch was blind. Both were
put in pet homes. Stormee- the blind- is in Denver and has an AWESOME home that love her even
though she is going blind. I gave her away if the people would make a donation to Colorado Collie
Rescue - an organization I believe strongly in and support as much as I can. Ch. L'gacy Bare Naked
Lady is a PRA carrier meaning that her father, L'gacy Oliver Twist - a son of Cherann's Penny ForUr
Thoughts were all carriers. Bare Naked Lady was spayed and placed in a pet home at this point due
to her status as a carrier even though she'd produced a champion daughter previously when bred to
Ch. Cherann's Milestone. Hard to do but it was the right thing for the breed to remove her from
breeding.
January 2005 - two more test breedings born. Ch. L'gacy Stark 'N Dark - Millie - has a litter of 8
puppies out of Wally my PRA blind boy. Wilma has a test breeding out of Millie's son - Rebel -
producing 10 puppies.
March 2005 - pups were checked at Kansas State but Dr. Brightman and ALL WERE CLEAR!!!!!
Millie - Ch. L'gacy Stark 'N Dark has had a total of 12 clear puppies out of a PRA blind dog, my Wally.
The text books say you need 8 to clear them; having 4 extras are a bonus~
Millie also has two sons that have been test bred. Pepper, Ch. Cherann's Sgt. Pepper was bred to a
blind bitch and only had 5 pups I believe but all were clear. Everything that is decending from Millie
is clear. On Ch. Heatherri Let It Be's pedigree his father Ch. The Meadows Classique White was test
bred clear of PRA. The bitch that was used to do this was Cherann's Sugar Kisses.
As you can see, I had six failures before I had success with Millie's testing in March. I don't think
there was a dry eye in the room when the last of Millie's eight pups tested clear on the ERG's. Dr.
Brightman and his vet tech Pam were with me EVERY TEST and saw what I had gone through on the
emotional level. When the last pups tested clear Dr. Brightman yelled from the other room where he
was reading the results - HOMER'S CLEAR (the puppy) Millie's CLEAR!!!! Those I think were the
best words I'd ever heard in an eye check.
Although Millie has had three litters, two of them were test breedings to my Wally. In her one real
litter out of Ringo - Heatherri Let It Be - produced three champions out of the five surviving pups.
She's my new foundation between her and her daughters I finally have a future.
After so many false starts I do feel like I finally have a future. Breeding and showing is not for the
faint of heart. Yes, there have been other heartbreaks but there has also been a number of
successes and lots of wonderful people that I've had the opportunity to meet. My advice to any new
person to the breed is to ask questions, and if someone says they have no health problems in their
dogs run away as fast as you can.
I know so much of what I went through early on in collies, has affected my decisions as a breeder. I
know how painful it is to love dogs and lose them. I try very hard to produce the best dog that I can.
I'm expecting my first litter in almost two years and I'm very excited as I feel it will be a very healthy
litter with a lot of potential.
Even through all of the issues, we've finished 18 homebred champions and one that we purchased.
We feel that our dogs have been very competitive. We have two other dogs that need one point to
finish. We feel that what we've accomplished in our short time in the breed has been worthwhile.
We are looking forward to this spring when our puppies out of Ch. Alcor Clear Title x Ch. L'gacy
Stark 'N Dark are old enough as well as our puppy, Zane, L'gacy Twist Of Fate out of Ch. Oak Knolls
Beau Ideal x Ch. L'gacy Twist and Shout, Judie, who was leased by Oak Knoll Collies for this litter
and they generously let me stay on as a co-breeder.