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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 | 5 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
art Archive
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An Honest Dog Show
Posted on February 4, 2009 | 1 CommentThe inane justification for dog shows is to choose the best breeding stock based upon conformation and movement. But it’s really a competition between groomers and schmoozers. That’s why the ranks of exhibitors are dominated by professional dog hair stylists and lawyers. These are two... -
Close But No Collie
Posted on January 27, 2009 | No CommentsIn digging around the internet looking for picture and painting evidence of Queen Victoria’s dogs, it was impossible not to come across Sir Edwin Landseer. He was in with the Royal Family from before Victoria became Queen and was a specialist in animal–especially canine–paintings. Queen... -
A Collie for Barbie
Posted on January 6, 2009 | No CommentsComing full circle from working border collies ⇒ sheep ⇒ wool ⇒ yarn ⇒ fiber art ⇒ needle felting ⇒ border collie, “Tip” the super mini border collie would make a fine companion for your favorite barbie doll since he’s only a few inches tall.... -
Golden Eyes & Uncle Sam
Posted on December 20, 2008 | No CommentsGolden Eyes and Uncle SamNell Brinkley, 1918 This illustration shows a young woman, “Golden Eyes,” dressed in a khaki-colored dress and cap standing with a collie dog named Uncle Sam who holds a “Liberty bond” in his mouth. A nude kewpie-like figure bangs a drum... -
Pride, Envy, and Greed
Posted on December 20, 2008 | 5 CommentsBorder Collies are consistently at the forefront of science when it comes to dogs. The recent study which identified envy, specifically “inequity aversion” in dogs was carried out using a Border Collie test subject. And really, what other breed could you use to maximize the... -
G.P.S. Dog Art
Posted on December 4, 2007 | 2 CommentsThe Earth itself has long been one of man’s favorite canvases for expressions of art. The most permanent and lasting works are almost universally painted on cave walls, carved into stone, or man-made mountains such as the Chinese and Egyptian and South American pyramids. The...
Queen Victoria's Border Collies