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Recent Battles
Queen Victoria
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Juicing The Sheep
09 April 2009 11:11 AM | No CommentsThe Journal of Queen Victoria Thursday, October 21, 1868 “Juicing the Sheep“ At a quarter to twelve I drove off with Louise and Leopold in the waggonette up to near the “Bush” (the residence of William Brown, the farmer) to see them “juice the sheep.”...
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Queen Victoria’s Border Collies
26 January 2009 4:40 AM | 18 CommentsFor well over a century the “Collie” name has been co-opted by show breeders who have created a monster whose face looks like a door stop with beady eyes set in triangular slits. These same people have co-opted the notion that Queen Victoria was deeply...
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Show Me the Collie
22 January 2009 3:38 AM | 1 CommentHaving established that Queen Victoria’s direct influence on the proliferation of the show Collie is insubstantial at best, let’s explore what impact the Monarchy may have, in fact, had on the culture of dogs during her reign. Five. If the show Collie owes more to...
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The Queen and the Collie
20 January 2009 2:57 AM | 2 CommentsThe old wisdom on the rise of the show Collie is that Queen Victoria met them on a trip to Scotland in the 1860s, became infatuated, acquired them, sponsored them in shows, bred them, and her abundant trend-setting prowess lead to their bountiful rise to...
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The Victorian Collie Myth
19 January 2009 8:03 PM | 3 CommentsThe prevailing creation myth among show Collie enthusiasts is that Queen Victoria’s infatuation with the breed set the ball in motion, elevating the humble farm dog to aristocratic splendor. Queen Victoria saw her first Collies in the 1860′s, and she enthusiastically began to sponsor them,...
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Juicing The Sheep
Archive for November, 2008
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AKC’s Top Ten is Bull
Posted on November 22, 2008 | 6 CommentsEvery year the AKC releases its list of the top ten most popular dog breeds. Changes in this list are quickly picked up and discussed for filler on slow news days and puppy mills probably use the ranking to judge trends in demand. Here is... -
Show Off Sheep
Posted on November 22, 2008 | No CommentsGreat talent rarely develops in a vacuum, and the greatest achievements of mankind are often the result of solving the greatest challenges. While you might wonder why such an impressive dog as the Border Collie resulted from herding a rather dumb animal like the sheep,... -
Schwarzenegger Wants to Pump You Dry
Posted on November 22, 2008 | 2 CommentsBeing a Republican Governor in a Democrat state is a tough job. So much so that any “reaching across the isle” (read: capitulating to the Dems in Congress) will be thrown back in your face by the party and disqualify you from running (successfully) for... -
Dear Mr. Obama
Posted on November 19, 2008 | 5 CommentsDear Mr. Obama, Don’t get a Border Collie, you are not qualified to own one. Although they are the ultimate dog and you are very ambitious, you can’t talk your way into being a good Border Collie steward, and learning on the fly is a... -
A for Effort, C- for Technique
Posted on November 11, 2008 | 2 CommentsWe all know how famed and talented the Border Collie is with moving sheep around the pasture. That much is undisputed. But are we underestimating how much more these dogs can contribute? Perhaps not...Genius does have its limits. -
Genetic Engineering 101
Posted on November 8, 2008 | 2 CommentsThe always relevant and topical Dolittler blog recently posted about “Franken-animals poised to enter the Franken-food supply,” which started a great discussion in the comments. But sadly Dolittler’s comments hate me and randomly reject my replies 9 out of 10 times. I think it’s a... -
The Puppy Contract
Posted on November 2, 2008 | 1 CommentA sine qua non of a serious breeder is the puppy contract. It’s the instrument that breeders use to get their puppy buyers to obey their whims after the puppy is long gone. Popular provisions include registration and naming demands (often putting the kennel name...
Queen Victoria's Border Collies