This is BISS, group winning GChP Bandor's the Wyching Hour--known to his friends and fans as "Vander." Vander truly did change everything for me. I saw him for the first time in a picture his co-breeder posted on her Facebook page when he was three days old. I told her I wanted the puppy that was the third from the left in the lineup. I never changed my opinion of him. He came home with me when he was about eight weeks old and we've never looked back. He finished his championship before he was seven months old with HUGE wins under some of the most respected judges in collies and all-breed judges. He finished his Grand Championship before he was ten months old. He continued to win under both specialty and all-breed judges (to name just a few: Matt and Anita Stelter, Carol Chapman, Barbara Dempsey Alderman, Jon Cole, Fred Bassett, and John Buddie). He finished his first year of very selective showing at #16 in the nation. The next year, he finished at #6 and topped that year of campaigning off with a nod for Select Dog at the Collie Club of America under noted and respected judge Naomi Stoner Coen. He won Awards of Merit at major all-breed shows and at our National Specialty Show. He was given the nod for Best of Opposite Sex at the National in California under Mary Benedict.
That is how I will remember him...as that glorious, mature, gorgeous male collie.
In May of 2020, I surrendered him to the Rainbow Bridge.
That is how I will remember him...as that glorious, mature, gorgeous male collie.
In May of 2020, I surrendered him to the Rainbow Bridge.
GCh. Wych's Prince of Summer--Snape--one of my heart dogs. I just adored this dog. I wanted him to earn his championship so much that I was blowing win after win for him. I finally took a deep breath and handed his lead to a collie handler. The day he finished under Denny Elliot at the Saint Louis Collie Club show I stood at ringside and cried what were probably the happiest tears I've shed in a long time. Snape has been called "classic", "timeless", but the most amusing thing I ever heard him called was said of him the day he finished--when he was called a "pet." Yes, he was my pet. And I was damn proud of him.
After a very short battle in the spring of 2017 with what Darling Husband and the amazing veterinarians here at the little homestead in the south diagnosed as cancer, Snape woke me up one night and told me it was time. I held him for the rest of that night, his head cradled on my lap, and first thing in the morning, I honored his wishes. Sleep in peace, my love. We will meet again one day.
To see a lot more of my collies and the most current news (show wins--HA! Like that's happening in the world of the Great Inconvenience, puppies in their new, forever homes, and hoped for upcoming babies), head on over to my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ColliesOfWych/