Caitlin came to us from Alice Bixler's Bedlam kennels in the summer of 1988 at the age of 12 weeks. She had initially been sold to another family who had returned her after only a week because she was too wild and ate all the flowers in their flower garden! The first week we had her she definitely pulled out all the stops, as if she was testing us to see if we were going to return her too! Once she realized she was here for good she became the sweetest dog, so easy to deal with and never the least bit of trouble.

As a young dog she would get horribly carsick, so showing her was a chore. She'd arrive at the show a soaking wet mess, and not in the best of moods either! Between that and a very slow growing coat, it took a while for her to finish her championship, though she was always in the ribbons (always the bridesmaid, never the bride!). She finally finished at the age of 4, and a few years later as a veteran (who had finally outgrown the carsickness!) she was truly looking her best and came out of retirement to win reserve best in the first veteran's sweepstakes at the BCCC national specialty, a win she would repeat two years later.

Caitlin produced 3 litters for us and is now a great grandmother, and still going strong at 15!  

Addendum: With her body weak and failing, we made the decision to say goodbye to Caitlin on March 11, 2004, just weeks shy of her 16th birthday.  

Caitlin pictured on the left at 12 weeks old, and on the right on her 13th birthday

Above: Finishing her championship, at the age of 4 years...

and winning Reserve Best Veteran in Sweeps at the Bearded Collie Club of Canada 1997 National Specialty at the age of 9, under breeder judge Barb Blake. 

To see the full photo click here. 

This is the second time she won this honour, the first being two years before under breeder judge Carol Gold.

Forget what the books say about puppy raising - Caitlin has always had her own ideas about how things should be done. Pictures of a contented pile of puppies all nicely together in a secure whelping box meant nothing to her. She steadfastly refused to keep her newborn puppies in the whelping box and would pick them up and move them around the room every few hours! After butting heads with her on this issue we finally reached an agreement. The 4' x 8' puppy pen was put up, and she agreed to keep them in there. Yes they were strewn about all over the place, but she was happy, and she always seemed to know where they all were! If you look close you can see 3 of the 6 pups in this picture - one on the blue blankie at the left, one on her tummy nursing, and one being used by Caitlin as a pillow! 

And here she is with some of those puppies growing up. Really Caitlin was a wonderful mother!

Caitlin at 14 years old

Nov 2003, Caitlin at 15 1/2 years old, modeling her new coat!

Since she's too unsteady these days to tolerate much grooming, and she tends to fall down a lot so her coat was always getting tangled and dirty, I finally made the decision to clip her coat down. Without that coat though the reality of just how skinny she is and how little muscle tone she has these days became even more noticeable, and with the chilly weather here this old girl got cold easily! So she needed a winter coat! This wonderful coat is made by Chilly Dogs and keeps her nice and warm when she has to go outside. And she looks quite stylish too!