Hello from the USA

Hello,

I just joined this forum...

I have rough and smooth Collies and I'm from the US. I got my first Collie (a rough) in 1994... and have had them ever since. I got my first smooth in 2001 and just love them!

I show in conformation.... have done some agility and herding. I am also currently doing flyball with one of my smooth champion girls!...

You can view my dogs on my website: Spiritwind Collies

Welcome spiritwind82, hope to hear from you as many as possible. So great! The community is growing constantly! I am so happy about this....

Hello! Will pleasantly get acquainted with you!
Show a photo of the dogs! In your country collies are famous for the good structure.

Thanks! I'll post a few pictures of my dogs here, roughs and smooths (since they are the same breed and interbred with eachother in north america)... I'll post more in the collie pictures sections of this forum...


This is Paris - CH Spiritwind Barely An Angel - she is actually one of my best moving dogs, she has excellent movement and structure!..


This is Kelsey VERY out of coat at 18 months (Paris' litter sister) - Spiritwind Ain't No Angel... she also currently has a beautiful 9 day old litter on the ground!..


This is Lindsay - Can. CH. Armitage Spiritwind Stolen Halo. A littermate to Paris and Kelsey. She now lives in Canada and just finished her canadian championship title, she also won best brood bitch at the canadian collie national here fairly recently


This is Andy - Spiritwind Visionary (a rough son of Kelsey's). Pictured at 14 months old!...He now lives in Finland!


This is CH Apple Valley Shades Of Blue, CGC - My first smooth, now 7 yrs old and the sire of my current litter.


This is Lucy - Ptd. Spiritwind Rumor Has It pictured at her first show, going WB/BOW/BOS over a bitch special her first time out in the ring, breeder/owner handled. This win was under breeder judge Mary Wells - blossom hill collies.

Lucy is another one that I just absolutely love her body and structure! and love her most beautiful face/expression... Can't wait to get a litter from her...hoping to get her finished before that though.

I currently have 5 dogs that live here with me... 2 smooths - Paris and Lucy. 3 roughs - Kelsey and her two kids from her first litter, Aiden and Amy.. I don't have any body pictures of thsoe two right now.... have some cute face shots of amy though I will post later. I also co-own a rough blue bitch I bred, but she lives with her co-owner and my smooth blue boy pictured above lives with my mom, 6 hrs away..

Very attractive yours blue-merle collies - Armitage Spiritwind Stolen Halo!
Beautiful all photos!!!! Dogs diligently pose!

Very nice fotos!

My favourite is the sable smooth. I envy the american body shape, they are so perfect. I didn'T know that it'S enabled to mix them. Maybe that's why they haven't too big hair. Andy is really nice as well, and the tricolours of course

Katamano wrote:My favourite is the sable smooth. I envy the american body shape, they are so perfect. I didn'T know that it'S enabled to mix them. Maybe that's why they haven't too big hair. Andy is really nice as well, and the tricolours of course

Thanks Katamano,

I personally prefer smooths.. but you gotta love the roughs, I'll always have my roughs!!!

You know.. some people seem to think its possible the reason the coats aren't as big is because roughs x smooths are bred together... but there are other lines of Collies in america who for generations and generations.. 30-40 yrs have bred nothing but Roughs and their coats, for the most part, are no different than the roughs that have smooth blood in them... so I'm not so sure about it. Check out Tartanside Collies especially... they have bred beautiful roughs for 40 or more years... Andy's sire is tightly bred on Tartanside lines actually... http://tartanside.com/

There are some other american lines that are for generations and generations only roughs.. Clarion Collies comes to mind... as well as Countryview Collies.

Wasn't it not all that long ago that roughs and smooths were able to be bred together in Europe?? or am I wrong on that? Even when they were allowed to breed them together, did breeders do those breedings often?? Just curious...

The picture of Kelsey, the rough tri-color... was taken when she was just 18 months old... my dogs are slow to mature... they typically don't have full mature adult coats till 2-3yrs of age.... Kelsey was 18 months in that picture and very out of coat... she carries much more coat than what she has in that picture.... and my rough males usually carry much more coat than the bitches.. Andy's brother, Aiden, who lives here... he is out of coat right now, but still a very hairy thing... pushing 2yrs of age.. he always had more coat than Andy did.