On Friday, a six month long search came to an end. A bundle of fluff, mischief and energy came into my life in the form of a nine week, five day old, blue merle rough collie baby. Meet Hector! And no, I didn't get muddled up and accidently brought a snow leopard cub home. More of that later...
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| Hector |
Even before I lost Oscar, we had been looking for a puppy. The plan was to give Oscar the opportunity to bring up the pup and instill some of his calm, wise old dog manner, but his sudden death last August sadly put paid to that. Since then we had a series of raised expectations about potential litters and puppies that all led to nothing, other than frustration and upset.
Tricks of the Trade Finally at Christmas, Ste and I went to Lincolnshire and saw a litter of nine collie babies, including young
Tiganlea Tricks of the Trade, to give him his pedigree name. Here's the first photo we have of him, aged 4 weeks. We met him a couple of days after it was taken, and he was still a snuffly, quiet, little thing with his eyes mainly shut:
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| 4 weeks old: Xmas Eve |
Well what a difference five weeks makes in the life of a pup. He's now turned into the most self-confident, mischievous, plucky little toad imaginable. I think you can see a little of the devil he has in his eyes in the first photo above. I'll introduce you to him, with some videos, after I've spoken a bit about the breed and his wonderfully unusual colouring and fur.
Rough ColliesRough Collies, or Lassies, are my breed. I've spent almost half my life with one by my side. The incredibly intelligent, obedient breed is from the Highlands of Scotland. They became popular when Queen Victoria took a liking to them. Christmas trees, curry and collies: you've got to admit Mrs Saxe-Coburg-Gotha had taste and enriched all our lives. Rough collies were originally used to herd cows, whereas their even brighter lowland cousin from the English/Scottish border region, the Border Collie, was mainly used to herd sheep. Roughs therefore have a completely different instinct and don't tend to round up and run round in circles like Borders do. They can however gently nip if they get carried away, which is what they would do to a cow's back legs.
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| Erm... can just see him herding cows in a muddy field. Or not. |
Borzoi (the magnificent Russian Wolfhound) was bred in to Rough Collies to give the long distinctive snout and aristocratic bearing. It is their movie star looks that propelled them to Hollywood from the 1940s on with the series of Lassie films that made them a popular household pet in the 60s and 70s. Now they're much rarer, as our puppy search showed us, and harder to find.
When we were tracing our family history we came across this extraordinary photo of my great-grandfather, Henry Ede (1860-1940). He had emigrated from the New Forest in England to Tasmania in Australia, of all places, in 1923. Here he is sitting on his porch in Dorset County, Tasmania, in the late 1930s.. and look what is by his side. Rough collies and my family are clearly meant to go together! The coincidence was all the more remarkable as we got Davy before we discovered this.
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| Henry Ede and his Rough Collie |
Rough Collie Colours Rough collies come in three 'colours' in Europe, as shown in the following photo (incidentally, god, do those collies need a brushing. Oscar would *never* have been seen out looking like that!):
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| Sable/White, Tricolour, Blue Merle (L to R in that order) |
The most common type is sable/white. That's what my childhood dog Davy was. It's also what Lassie was, and what everyone tends to think of with the breed. The next, more unusual type, is the tricolour, which has a mainly black coat, with sable/white only on the face, mane and paws. My beautiful Oscar was a tricolour.
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| The one and only. Oscar. |
Finally, the rarest type is the blue merle. Technically they are not actually a "colour" as such, but a mutation of the tricolour because they carry the merle gene. Therefore they have the same white and sable on their faces, manes and paws, but the merle gene makes most of the black on their coat come out as blue/silver grey, with random unaffected mottled black patches or spots. That's what Hector is and explains why he looks
a bit like a snow leopard.
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| Escapee from Banham Zoo (Snow Leopard Dept) |
As I'd had the other two types of collie before, this time I set my heart on a blue. Every blue merle has a completely unique coat, with varying amounts of black on it, and entirely different patterns. That's what made finding Hector so hard for us: not only are they incredibly rare, but getting one with facial markings we actually liked was quite a job. It's not difficult for them to look like they're suffering from the Bubonic Plague, quite frankly! We didn't want one with enormous patches of black either, as you might as well as well go with a tricolour in that case.
As for the "blue" element, it's perhaps
a bit of a push, but yes - in certain light Hector looks somewhat like Mrs Slocombe on one of her blue rinse days. I absolutely love the patch of black on his face, his little white socks, and the fact his soft, velvety ears are all spotty. He is literally the dream blue merle puppy for me.
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| Hello Molly, how's your pussy? |
Pedigree DogsPeople love to knock pedigree breeders. Like as not this comes from a position of ignorance and bias. Pedigree breeders are not synonymous with puppy farmers, who keep their poor puppies in cages in horrible conditions and are just interested in the money. Almost everyone I've come across in the collie world literally has the breed and their dogs as the entire focus of their life. Yes, you get irresponsible kennels (particularly with more popular breeds), but in a world as small as the rough collie one, reputation and pride seems to be everything to the people involved. The right breeder will have one or two litters a year, maximum, and the puppies will be born and brought up in their home.
Looks are important and it's a large part of what wins competitions. However, the dogs also aren't simply bred for looking beautiful: for example after the genetic basis of the collie eye anomaly condition was discovered, the percentage of rough collies in the UK affected has plummeted through careful breeding. Responsible breeders get their stud dogs hip tested, and the quantity of dogs who go on to suffer the crippling pain and lameness of hip dysplasia has been vastly reduced as a result. Collies are now
in position 162 of 173 breeds with only just over 2.2% of dogs affected. The Kennel Club actually refuses to register puppies from a mum who has had more than 4 litters during her lifetime, meaning that Kennel Club registered puppies cannot not be by definition from over-bred bitches in puppy farms. That is a huge safeguard for the health of the mums and the pups.
You hear a lot about "inbred pedigree dogs" yet if you look at Oscar or Hector's pedigrees there is not a single dog name who appears twice, and that's going back six generations. No quality breeder mates a daughter to its father or grandfather, because a broad genetic background is healthy and it would scream out from the certificate. Precisely because you will find out their ancestry is the reason this is avoided by anyone who isn't a complete idiot.
Similarly with temperaments, rough collies can be very highly strung and nervous. When I was asking a collie expert friend who judges the breed at shows about which kennels to look at, she was just as concerned about recommendations based on reputation for producing happy, confident dogs as those who are known for their dogs' looks. She specifically warned me off one champion breeder because her dogs are known to be jumpy and frightened. That jumpiness has actually lost her competitions too: a dog that is terrified of everything around it doesn't win.
It's eugenics, pure and simple, but it is producing beautiful, healthy dogs with well-rounded, lovely personalities. It's certainly a side of the story you just don't hear when you read the various scare stories that the press likes to churn out regularly about dogs whose skulls are too small for their brains, for example, that everyone just takes as gospel.
HectorTime to talk about Hector. He was born on 23 November 2014. He is a cheeky little monkey. Whereas Oscar (also born on the 23rd, but of September) was some kind of Zen Buddhist monk in a former life, this one has mischief printed all over his cute little face. He came charging up to me at the breeder on Friday when I collected him, tail a wagging. Everyone new he meets, he does so with confidence and affection. Oscar's affection was so hard-earned: he was utterly and splendidly indifferent to almost every person he met: Hector is a total tart by comparison.
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| Cuddles with Dominic |
His first 9 weeks have obviously been happy because he is the pluckiest little boy imaginable. The only things to have fazed him so far have been my friend Dominic's honking peacock (who can blame the poor collie) and a chair that slid when he launched himself into his basket. Even that was interesting, because although he jumped, he instantly went back for a sniff and an investigation of where the noise had come from.
You
can watch by clicking here (or below on the embedded video) how quickly he settled in. This was taken one hour after his arrival at my home. Remember it was the first time away from his siblings, his mum (a blue merle called Taboo) and everything that was familiar to him. It also followed a two hour drive in the car. The poor squeaky coke bottle didn't stand a chance with a natural born killer collie baby hunter after it. He is such a bundle of fun and naughtiness and runs around chasing imaginary monsters, his tail, his squeaky toys or my trouser legs.
He chews everything. It's the way a puppy gets to know their world, and it's fine when it's one of the many toys I've supplied him with. It's less great when it's my Danish cherry wood table legs, but hey. I'm working from home all for the next six weeks, so I can watch him and correct him when he mistakes his squeaky chicken for my ficus plant. That's always a bonus. I've also ordered rabbit proof cable protectors to keep my lamp cables etc safe from his little needle teeth. As I type this he's demolishing a dried Icelandic catfish skin: a great healthy treat that he seems to love.
The first few days have been exhausting (he woke me at midnight, 2am, 4am and 6am the first two nights) but we are getting into a routine. He sleeps in a cage, which is the best way of house training them as they don't want to mess the immediate area they sleep in. He cried to be let out, which is the correct thing for him to do, but it totally wrecked me and has led to my being run down through lack of sleep, and a stinking cold. We are now down to just having to let him out at midnight and 5am, and I'm hoping he'll soon be sleeping through the night. It's fine for him of course, most of the day is spent asleep, mainly in his favourite place wrapped around the warmth of one of my lamps.
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| LOOK at his little face! |
Talking about toilets, I was all stressed after about five "accidents" on my rug on the first day. I knew you had to watch a puppy closely and pop them outside to get them in the habit of using the garden, but Ste came up with the brilliant suggestion of not just doing that, but giving him the command to go, and then a treat when he came back indoors. If he slipped up, by contrast, he'd get plonked outside, not told off, but there would be no treat.
And the result: is it actually possible to house train a nine week old puppy in one day? That's what I seem to have done with this method: he now pottles off to the back door and hasn't had a single accident since the first day. Amazing, and perhaps a sign of quite how clever he's going to be. He's even using the very far corner of the garden, of his own accord, in a typically OCD clean collie way.
On the theme of how bright Hector is, he has already learned his name. That was by day two. If you don't believe me, watch the video above
or click here. Twice I call his name, and twice he comes. The maniac racing by is my best friend's border terrier Bertie, who he's allowed to play with because Bertie's all up to date on his jabs. They are currently having a play date every morning at Yaxley Hall where Bertie lives. Bertie lost his companion Brunswick in June, and friend Oscar in August, so he's lapping up the puppy company. In two weeks' time Hector will have had his second set of injections, and will be off venturing further, on all sorts of other walks with me, meeting other doggies.
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| Nice to have room to stretch your paws on a play date |
I've also started teaching Hector the specific commands "come" and "sit" with the aid of treats. The essential words "biskwits", "Yaxley", "Home" and "dinner" are also being taught. Cello lessons and beginners' French poetry are pencilled in for March. We'll leave Chinese until April.
Rollercoaster RideIt's been a bit of a roller coaster having him, I won't deny it. It brought back all sorts of emotions at losing Oscar, which were heightened by the lack of sleep. I like to think of Oscar looking down watching the naughty young pup, shaking his head at how silly he is, but delighted that there is a collie in our home again.
Hector is incidentally actually related to Oscar, which is a wonderful thing. Oscar's dad was Champion Lynmead Lust in the Dust (aka Yogi). Hector is also descended from Yogi, in a direct line, on his paternal side. Hector's dad, Boris, is actually the spitting image of Oscar, and is his great nephew. I've genuinely never seen a collie anywhere who reminds me as much of Oscar. I love the family connection and it's one big reason I chose Hector.
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| Boris: Oscar's great nephew and Hector's father |
As wonderful as it is having a new life in the house, it is also incredibly stressful in terms of the responsibility, wanting to be a good dog daddy, and getting everything right. The first 16 weeks of a dog's life are when its brain increases over 10 times in size. Everything they experience in this time will set patterns for their entire life, and it is a narrow window which closes at almost exactly 4 months old. If you're interested in how why that is,
read about it here (in particular page 3).  |
| A big wide world for a tiny puppy to discover |
Oscar spent his first 10 months in a kennel and missed out on the most basic things like how to play with toys. Because of that, I specifically wanted a young puppy this time round, and I want to get it right with Hector: with that responsibility comes a certain amount of feeling really quite daunted. If he makes mistakes it's because of me: he's come to me a bundle of joy and confidence, and I want to nurture that and produce a dog that is happy for life.
He's also SO little and I'm scared about anything hurting him. Just look at him in the photo above and also in the car in the picture below. I could literally fit 12 Hectors in that boot, which Oscar and his friend Brunswick used to fill up on their own. Big furry lard arses.
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| Spot the dog |
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It is however definitely getting easier as we get used to each other, and I'm getting in the swing of having a dog around again. I'm feeling more relaxed, less like I'm going to do something awfully wrong, and he's starting to come for cuddles of his own accord. I guess we're starting to fall in love. It's a bond that will hopefully last all of his life and the next 12-14 years of mine. He's a lovely, loveable little dumpling and I just want the best for him.
Another arrival?Now if you've read this all and got a sense of the magic, excitement, but also the apprehension/ sense of responsibility I feel about having Hector, then you may consider me quite mad when I drop in the following. Oscar was never happier than when he was with his friend Brunswick. Two dogs play with each other in a way a human never can quite substitute. They are pack animals, they exercise together, and form doggy-bonds we can't quite understand. For that reason it's always been my eventual plan to have not one collie, but two.
Enter the possibility of Florian, a sable/white baby who is currently 5 weeks old. He's from Oscar's dad's kennel, so again a direct relative of Oscar. The breeder is probably the most love-filled, wonderful source of collies in the country. I've never come across anyone so utterly devoted to her boys and girls. It shines through in everything she says. Her dogs are incredibly sought after and have gone on to be champions across Europe, as well as the fathers of countless healthy collie lines. They are in high demand as stud dogs because of their success at shows, and the healthy lines are as a result of her decades long responsible attempts to breed out the avoidable genetic problems with rough collies. She herself breeds very rarely and there are no guarantees yet she will let me have one of the current pups, but Florian
just might be coming here to join Hector later this month.
Watch this space :o
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| Soon to have a little adopted brother? |
Right now I'd better get going. There's a certain fluffy monster on his back at my feet wanting his tummy rubbed.
Love and collie licks, Peter and Hector x
UPDATE - I've been asked to put more photos of him up, so here we go. All taken today on 5 February. He's 10.5 weeks old, eating like a horse, growing rapidly, and fortunately now sleeping through the night! He is going to be just the most stunning looking grown up collie ever. Well, with the exception of Oscar, obviously :-)
