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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
AKC Archive
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Siding with the AKC
Posted on October 8, 2007 | 3 CommentsFaced with the undeniable history of ruining numerous other purebred dog breeds by facilitating and encouraging countless breeders to breed stupidly, why would any circumspect Border Collie owner or breeder side with the AKC over a registry that is 100% Border Collie focused, that owns... -
Versatility "Dangerous" to the ABCA?
Posted on October 8, 2007 | 2 CommentsI’d like to bring your attention to the report presented to ABCA members in 2002 when a committee was formed to assess the AKC/ABCA Dual Registration “problem” and advise options for the membership to vote on. In the report, the authors (Denise Wall, Candy Kennedy,... -
The Spoils of the Dog War
Posted on October 7, 2007 | No CommentsThe small elite group of conformation breeders are Platonists; they believe that the substantive reality of Border Collies is only a reflection of a higher truth, and their activity is the key to divining that perfect essence. The small elite group of trial breeders also... -
McCaig’s Dog Wars: The Bad
Posted on October 5, 2007 | 7 CommentsDonald McCaig’s The Dog Wars is an important book to me, and it should be to anyone who reads this blog as well. I mean, come on, the Dog Wars and the Border Wars…. both about Border Collies… McCaig and I are soooo clever. The... -
McCaig’s Dog Wars: The Good
Posted on October 2, 2007 | No CommentsWith a name like “The Dog Wars” and content that documents the battle between the First Estate and the AKC, how could I not immediately order, devour, excrete and then roll in it over and over and over again like my Border Collies do with... -
The AKC is Listening
Posted on September 17, 2007 | No CommentsBorder Wars has been graced by a visit from the AKC. And you won’t believe me when I tell you that what brought them here is not my critique on them and the ABCA, not my atheism toward conformation standards, and not even my discussion... -
The Third Estate of the Border Collie
Posted on September 16, 2007 | No CommentsThe First Estate of the Border Collie is as a working stock dog. The Second Estate of the Border Collie is as a conformation show dog. The Third Estate of the Border Collie is as a dog sport athlete. The Fourth Estate of the Border... -
Barbie Collies Can Herd?
Posted on September 14, 2007 | No Comments** The original post has been re-published slightly anonymized. ** Dear Readers, The heroes of this story have been placed in the Witness Protection Program and wish to remain anonymous until such time as they feel comfortable in testifying about their experience. I feel that... -
Border Collie War: AKC vs. ABCA
Posted on September 10, 2007 | 3 CommentsThe most personal border war for me, and the reason this blog is so cleverly named border wars is the battle over the future of the pure bred Border Collie. Although Border Collies have been in my family for decades and there have been Border...
Queen Victoria's Border Collies