Heirloom Puppies

Some people inherit property.  Some inherit money.  My kids have inherited a line of border collies.

A.C. (circa early 1980s) with one of the ranch buildings built by his grandfather in 1909

My Father -in- Law, A.C, was a rancher.  He worked the same ranch his grandfather homesteaded in 1909.  It was the area Butch Cassidy liked to hide in, known as Robber's Roost.  It was desolate, lonely country and he was often by himself on the ranch.  He bred his own border collies to help him with the cows and for company.  Every now and then he'd have a particular favorite.  One such favorite dog was named Bubba, a red border collie who was so beloved my Father-In-Law once bought a ruby studded collar for him.  Bubba was his constant companion, a real source of pride on the ranch.

When my husband was in college, he was given one of Bubba's offspring, an especially large and fluffy (just like his papa) red border collie with golden eyes.  He was named Hooper.  Hooper was, quite possibly, the coolest dog who ever lived.  He became the fraternity mascot, supervised job sites when my husband started a construction company, and ultimately was the reason I went out with my husband.  (It sounds funny, but I judge people by their dogs.  I figured if Hooper was such a great dog his person must be pretty okay, too.)

My husband and Hooper were even featured in an Australian western wear catalog.

The first birthday present my husband ever gave me was also one of his dad's ranch puppies. He called his dad and said he wanted to give his girlfriend a puppy.  He had never asked for a puppy before, so A.C. knew it must be for a good cause.  He sent his best.  Sadie was the daughter of the favorite dog who followed Bubba, a blocky black and white border collie named Tuffy.  Dogs like Sadie are what all border collie breeders hope to get.  She was beautifully built, her markings stereotypically perfect.  Her focus was unparalleled, as was her quick mind.  Sadie was amazing.  I couldn't believe this rancher I'd never met had sent me a puppy like her.  She was probably worth hundreds of dollars.  I cherished her.

Hooper and Sadie, patiently waiting while we built our first house.

By the time Sadie came into the picture, Hooper was getting old.  We bred them and got five wonderful dogs.  We kept the only female, Dottie.  (The rest went to live with handpicked family and friends.)  Through two sad accidents, Sadie and Dottie were both killed.  A.C. was also killed in a ranch accident.  Keeping him in our lives, even in little ways, became very important.  I became a bit obsessed with maintaining Hooper's (and Bubba's) line.

I found another dog to mate with Hooper.  We brought home two puppies from that pairing.  Ginny and Rex, also red borders with golden eyes.  They were wonderful dogs, just right for our growing family.  (They were six months younger than our oldest child.)  Over the next 10 years, we enjoyed them in every way.  When they turned eleven, I started looking for a mate for Rex.  (We'd had Ginny "fixed" when they were puppies and determined Rex to be the better dog breed wise and that he'd be the one we'd maintain the line with.)  A.C.'s wife, Glori, adopted a lovely little red female whom we bred with Rex late this last fall, when Rex was twelve.  Shortly after she went home, Rex's liver failed and we had to say goodbye to him.  (Ginny died of cancer a few months earlier.)

Ginny, Hooper and Rex on our way to go hiking.

Cedar and Rex, early in December

We were very sad to say goodbye to Ginny and Rex, but last night our dog world got much, much brighter.  Glori's little dog Cedar gave birth to ten splendid puppies.  All night long we'd get excited as news of the heirloom puppies rolled in.  The kids giggled and asked to see the video and pictures again.  We started maybe picking out the ones we want to keep.

This is puppy number four!

Nine of the ten, the fourth generation of their family in ours.

 My kids may not get to know their grandpa, but they'll know his dogs, and that's something.