Well what can we say about ourselves...There is lots to fit in to this tiny little web space that we have. I decided to build this website a few years back for various reasons...one of them being that I found myself at home quite a lot of the time at a loose end because of my illnesses so I suddenly thought about a website. It would give me something to do on rainy days, let the world see our fabulous and beautiful pets and it gave me a second focus in life....For a few years I had been seriously studying genetics, health problems and resolution in the breed. I have folders upon folders of various pedigree lines and information that I have studied on the breed from the origin to the present day. I have even went so far as to trace my own dogs pedigrees back as far as possible with the resources available to me and I have to say I have managed to trace them all back a fair distance – one of them right back to the late 1800's....so needless to say this has also taken up numerous folders! You wouldn't believe the amount of pedigree's that you will find all related to your one dog!!! But it keeps me busy and keeps me focused and takes my mind off the struggle I face everyday. I will continue to research and study as much as I can about this breed! It keeps me out of trouble! Ha ha

First let me say that our dogs are “family” pets. They live as part of our family and are treated as part of our family. We very rarely have puppies available as we do not breed a lot so when we do have puppies it makes it that little bit extra special!

As I stated on my dedication to my parents..life has not been a bed of roses and I thank god everyday for the company of the dogs. They give me a reason to wake up in the morning and the love that they show is without a doubt unconditional and very loyal. Anyone looking for a dog and reading this will realise by the time they get to the end of this particular page that even in the darkest and most horrible times in your life no matter what your illness or disability (yes of course even people who are less able than others can own dogs) – a dog will give you reason to live and fight and carry on. In days of the most horrid and severe pain – our dogs make it all worth while.

As a child I was involved in an accident at home where I was severely burnt and for the first 10 years of my life most of it was spent in and out of hospital undergoing various operations and skin grafts. To this day some 30 years on I still bear the physical and mental scars of that accident and no doubt I always will. At 15 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Athritis which to be honest for the first few years it didn't really cause me much hassle. It was only after my first child was born that my symptoms seemed to get progressively worse. Since then life has always been a battle of wills! At a very young age I married my first husband whom turned out to be a very nasty and evil man. I was subject to domestic abuse during my time with him which at one point I nearly died because of his actions. I was hit so hard on the head with a marble ash tray that it caused serious head injuries....the impact of this was so severe that it actually went through a plaster board wall after it hit me, so you can imagine the speed and weight that it hit me at...so it was quite a horrifying and scary experience. Not known to me at the time It had actually left me with life long problems in the temporal lobes. Following this incident came years of scans and neurological appointments. The force had caused “wiring” in the brain to become unsteady so to speak and it left me going through serious bouts of depression, unable to concentrate and unable to focus on any one thing for any length of time. I was also left having sudden black outs with no warning at all. There was no surgery that could fix it and because of it I have to take medication for the rest of my life. Not long after my third child was born, again luck was not on my side. During a routine 6 week check up abnormal cells where found and I was told that I would need to have a hysterectomy. There was no choice or other course of treatment so I resigned myself to the fact of - have it done or possibly die. The operation is a big operation but I seemed to recover from it well until I was told the devastating news that I would need to be re-operated on to under go an Oophorectomy. Have you ever had one of those years when you wish you had a gun! Ha ha!

After all this I decided it was time to start kicking and screaming and fight for my health. Just to be able to get up in the morning without having to worry about not taking pills or having to receive any sort of treatment would be great! It was never to be and a short time after this operation I suffered a stroke. This was when I threw the towel in. I really couldn't go on any more and I resigned myself to a life of mental and physical torture. I knew the road back from this was going to be hard and I didn't feel as though I was mentally able to deal with the pressure it would put us all under. I sat around feeling sorry for myself, in a world of my own for a good long while, then suddenly I remembered what I was taught as a child. Believe in myself and I could do anything! It took a good while to get back from it but I am Scottish (ha ha) and with that comes the fact that I am stubborn and very determined and I do not at any point give in! It was round about this time that my husband was nagging me and nagging me for a Collie... i honestly didn't see how we would be able to have a dog what with all the problems that we went through everyday but I also felt very guilty that he gave a lot of his life up to help me so I thought that it was a very small thing to give in return. So I agreed and our life long love for the breed just gets bigger and bigger!

I had struggled with my health for years and I will struggle to the day I die but I was to become unlucky In health again. I had been telling my husband that I didn't feel too good but I didn't know what it was. Thinking it was just a bug my husband helped me to get into bed and I thought the rest would do me good, but, then I took a severe, horrible and deathly pain in my chest! I was breathless, sweating, feeling sick and light headed. I was rushed into hospital and various testing done...my electrocardiographs were coming back with what I remember they called abnormal peaking so from here on in I knew I was facing even more testing!!! I just kept thinking to myself that it was just another setback and it wouldn't be long before I could get on with life. Thankfully at the moment I am receiving treatment by form of tablets for my angina and I also carry a GTN spray with me...i am so glad that I didnt have to face another operation at that time although it will more than likely be necessary at some point in the future. Just recently I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia but I put it to the back of my head and just try and take each day as it comes. When you look into the eyes of a collie and you see the love they have in their soul for you...everything else seems unimportant.

We also have a daughter who suffers from additional support needs. Not the most pleasant of experiences for her or for us but when you see the joy that those dogs bring to her, then giving into my husband and deciding to full fill our family with canine friends was one of the best decisions we ever made. There is no such thing as “cant do” when you have the joy of a furry friend like we have and lots of faith and belief then you can do anything you want!!!

We are just an ordinary family with everyday issues like everyone else. We do not claim to be anything special, we just have a passion for this majestic breed and have a duty to do our bit to preserve the past, present and future of “The Collie”!

I feel I owe a lot to our dogs, without them I would not see day light, everything would always be dark, the pain would be unbearable to live with and life would be just a waste of time. When I am in pain and no pain killers or any amount of medication can take that away, I can always rely on one of our Collies to wipe the tears and make everything ok for however short a time it may be. I am so glad that both myself and my husband had a love for this breed, and had he not persisted in asking to bring one into our family I may never have been able to go forward.