2020’s

What a way to start a new decade!!!!!!

A pandemic because nobody knows how to control Covid. We had to wait for more than a year before we could show our dogs again.

2020 Because of Covid restriction there were very few shows, all were at the start of the year and there were no more shows until April the next year. However our new blue merle dog puppy Corydon Pol Roger won Reserve Best in Show and Best Puppy at the Yorkshire CC Open show.

2021 Donald lead the way by winning CCs at Northumberland & Durham CC under Mr K Younng and his qualifying CC at the Collie Association under Mr A White. So he is now CH CORYDON TRUMP THE LOT. I handled him to this win and it was probably the most satisfying of all my dogs wins as this poor dog had been vilified at some of the shows. Was it his blaze? I have to wonder as he is the first sable and white dog with a full blaze to become a Champion since the mid 1950’s. That is a long time ago especially when I started in the breed in the 1950’s most dogs came into the ring with a blaze. Personally I find it very attractive and we must remember that the “Lassie” in the films has a very prominent blaze.

2022 Not much doing on the show front. Miranda is very fussy on which judge to show under. I cannot blame her as all too often the chosen judge has not bothered to read the Breed Standard and if they have they did not understand it. I have to wonder why so many very unsound exhibits are being awarded the top prize. The main problem that I see today is straight shoulders. They completely spoil the outline of the exhibit as they appear to be too low at the front. So why put up straight shoulders? However Corydon Pol Roger won the dog CC under Mrs Peach at Darlington Ch Show. At this same show Rayawnas Ring of Roses for Corydon won the Reserve Bitch CC. I think that this was a first major award won by her breeders. We went to Finland in August to see and judge the stock and their offspring that we have sent to that country. The dogs were lovely and we each judged a sex. Miranda looked over the bitches and thought that at least four of them were better than any she judged at Crufts earlier in the year. What are our breeders doing? Not a lot.

2023 A good year for the kennel with 3 Challenge Certificates and a Reserve. 35 first prizes won a Club Championship Best in Show win and other major awards. But five in our kennel died during the year. We went to Australia and New Zealand for a 3 week holiday. Had a wonderful time and I judged the bred in Sydney. I think that most of the English judges should go there because the difference in soundness compered with what we se here was mind blowing. Why do judges here give major awards to exhibits that are grossly unsound?

2024 Friday 13th December was the LKA Championship Show. We had entered Clair but she had her own view on this and promptly dropped all her coat. So she stayed at home. But we took Smudge and Kasper and they really did us proud. Smudge (Corydon Christopher) won the yearling dog class then he was awarded the Dog CC and then the Best of Breed. Just two days before his second birthday. Kasper (Corydon The Grandmaster) won the Open Dog Class. The breed had easily the largest entry on the day so we were more than happy.

We have now been told that Corydon The Schoolmistress is now an International Champion. This was followed by the information that Corydon Cliquot is now a Swiss Champion. He is the 102 Corydon Champion. He is litter brother of SW CH Corydon La Grande Dame

5th November and we had to say good bye to Louis (Demelewis Catch the Blues For Corydon). He was very feeling his age and his legs had finally given up from letting him stand on his own. He had quite a successful show career and won five Reserve CC awards. He was very unlucky not to win a big one. He was a lovely dog to own as his temperament was lovely.

27th October was the Midland Counties Ch Show. Corydon Christopher won the Yearling dog Class. Ch Corydon Clarissa won the Open Bitch Class, the Bitch CC and then Best of Breed. It was her fourth CC.

6th October was a sad day as we had to say goodbye to Victor (Corydon Victor Ludouram). He had a stroke and could not get up. Miranda took him to the vet to have him put down. He will be cremated as I am no longer able to dig a four foot deep hole and anyway I am running out of room. He did go out with a blaze of Glory as the Red Arrows flew directly over him just minutes before the vet ended his life. The Red Arrows are based quite near to us at Waddington. They were on their way home but had to salute Victor. He was not shown very often but he did win a Reserve CC. He sired the dual CC winner Corydon Pol Roger.

8th September was the Yorkshire Collie Clubs Championship Show. Miranda took Corydon Clarissa, She won the Open bitch Class and then went on to win the bitch CC. So she is now Ch Corydon Clarissa. She is our 28th Champion and the first in just my name. Many thanks to Miranda for showing her so well and to Mrs D Jones the judge for liking her so much to award her the top prize.

29th August was Birmingham City Ch Show. We took Corydon Christopher. He won the Yearling dog class and then went on to win the Yearling Dog Stakes with prize money of £25. We also took Corydon Pol Roger. He won the Open Dog Class. We also took Corydon Clarissa and she was placed second in the big Open Bitch Class. The dog CC winner was by Corydon The Ringmaster. The Best Veteran was by Corydon Riffson. So we had a good day.

We went to Finland on the 9th August. It was the bianual event for our fan club over there. On the 10th August was the dog show. Miranda judged the dogs while I judged the bitches. I have to say that their Collies are rather better than those in this country. For a starter most of them are sound in construction. I only found 2 with straight shoulders. In this country it is more like 90% with this fault. Also all the heads were clean through. No big stops and no prominant cheeks. So different from what I see here. But the most prominant feature was the number of young people interested in the breed. Over here we rarely see anybody under the age of forty. In Finland there were so many teenagers and other young people showing their dogs. I have to say that if I was thirty years younger I would be emigrating to Finland. The future of Collies is in that country. Over here it will be dead in five years. Just one problem with the judging. It rained all day and it is not easy to judge wet dogs. Below are our main winners.

August 2nd was Paignton Ch Show. Miranda took Corydon Pol Roger, he was placed 3rd in open dog and she took Corydon Christopher. He won the Post Grad Dog class and then he won the Reserve Dog CC. This was his first show for 8 months. He is by Ch Corydon The Ringleader who was also the sire of the Bitch Challenge Certificate. So he had a good day.

The puppies have all got new homes and are steadily leaving us. But we have not been to a dog show for a long time. But Miranda is actually going to one on Friday the 2nd August. However the bitch she had entered has of course come into season. If you have seen the front page what are your thoughts on Collie Data.

Even more good news as we now have another litter of puppies. six of them, 3 boys and 3 girls. They were born on the 25/5/2024. The dam is Corydon Agatha Cristal and the sire is Corydon the Baron. We have Tri Bitch and 2 s&w Bitches. A tri dog and 2 s&w Dogs.

Some good news. We have a litter, the first for almost 18 months. The dam is our Mejola Famous Attraction For Corydon and the dad is a first for our homebred Corydon Christopher. This is the dams fourth and last litter. She is looking after 4 boys and just one girl, They were born on the 2nd May and they are very big and very strong. They do look rather nice. All are sable and white so it looks as if Smudge (as we call him) is dominant for this colour as Ada (the dams pet name) is very black.

Not much in the showing of our dogs as they are short of coat. But the World Show was held last weekend in Croatia. Excellent judging from the Irish man who judged the bitches as he found two litter sisters for his top two award winners. I am pleased because they are maternal grandaughters of our Champion Corydon The Ringleader. Rather shows up the breeders in the UK because they seem to refuse to use a Champion in their own bitches. It is little wonder that Rough Collies in other countries are better than thosein the UK. I am writing a book on bitch lines and I am amazed that these lines have so few Champion dogs in teir lines during the last thirty years. When I first started (and it was a long time ago now) everybody was encouraged to use the best dogs as the cost was only a stud fee and we could hope for really good puppies. Now all they want to do is use a rubbish dog in the hope that that dogs owner will be judging soon and will put up their own rubbish.

March 9th was our breed at Crufts dog show. Miranda took two dogs. The first one was placed third in the Junior class while the other Corydon The Baron won the Special Yearling class which was the biggest dog class of the day. So we did a lot better than we expected. I was very impressed with the quality of the Group winners at this show this year. so different from the previous year when I thought they were all very poor.

2025

No shows for some time now but there is one at the end of the month. However, Ninja (Corydon The Baronet) had his hips Ex rayed last week, the result came through with a score of 2 2. They were near perfect, and the best score we have ever had. Then last week we had to say good bye to Mike (Corydon Winning Factor) He kept falling over and Miranda had to carry him out of his kennel. He sired just 2 litters but they produced a UK Champion and a big winning Finnish Champion. So we are now down to just 13 Collies and some of them are now getting to the veteran stage.

Corydon Winning Factor

I have altered my article on bitch lines. I originally had it as a book. But then I realised that nobody would read it. So I have put it on this site in it’s original form. I have enjoyed the research as it is very interesting and challenging.

We only had one show in November and that was just a Club Open Show. But we did quite well or at least Ch Corydon Christopher did well as he had three of his puppies from different litters entered and they all won their classes. Unusual for a dog to have three of his offspring winning first prizes at a show. Maybe someone might come and use him on their bitches.

The end of October 2025 and now we have confirmation of Ninja’s Junior Warrant. He is the first of ours to win this since Fizzy in 2014.

Thursday 23rd October was Midland Counties Ch Show. We did well with Ninja winning his class and then in the final 3 for the Dog CC. The Dog CC winner was all Corydon Bred and Best Puppy dog was by Ch Corydon Christopher.

We had 2 shows on the weekend of 6/7 September. First was Richmond Ch Show with Marion Benton of Smooth Collie fame judging the Rough Collies. Miranda took just Ninja and he came home with his first Challenge Certificate. Next day was Yorkshire Collie Club Ch Show. Ninja did well again by winning the Reserve CC. Smudge could only get third in Open Dog.

Ninja winning at Richmond Ch Show.

The weekend of 21/22/August had 4 shows for two clubs. 21st we had Driffield Ch show. 2 Shows because they had to cancel last year when the wind blew down the tents. Miranda took Ninja and Kasper. The first show was a washout for us. But the second show we fared better as Kasper won the Open Dog Class and then the Reserve CC. Ninja won both of his classes. The next day London & Provincial held two open Show. Our same two dogs went plus Christiana. They had baby puppy classes and Jo Williams asked me to handle one of her puppies. It was the first class of the day and the puppy dog I handled won first prize. He really is one to look out for. He was very much admired. His sire is our Ch Christopher, Ninja won 2 classes and got enough points for him to win the Junior Warrant. Best in show at the first was from Switzerland but had a Corydon dam. The Best in show at the second was by a Corydon and Chrissy won the award for reserve best bitch. A big surprise as she is still getting he coat back but she is a spectacular mover. She won all her classes at the 2 shows.

16th August there were 2 shows held on the same ground. They were the Welsh Kennel club show and the Collie Club of Wales Championship Show. Miranda took Ninja and Smudge. Ninja won all his classes at both shows. He earnt 3 Junior Warrant points and at the Collie show he won the Reserve Dog CC. Smudge won 2nd in the Open Dog class at the same show. So a good day.

10th August was Bournemouth Ch Show. Maxine took her new boy that she has just had from us. He won the Dog CC and Best of breed. This was the first time that Maxine had won Best of Breed with one of her own. Miranda had gone to the World Show in Finland. We had brought up and looked after Silver for nearly 4 years. But he needed to be in a town environment to improve his previous rather shy temperament. Now after 3 months with Maxine he is perfect. We do live in a rather isolated place.

27th July was the Midland Collie Clubs Open Show. We took Ninja and Kasper. Ninja (Corydon The Baronet) won both his Classes. Kasper (Corydon The Grandmaster) won the Open Dog Class. Won Best Dog and then won Best in Show. It was his first show for a while. He was unlucky in that he was a Covid baby so did not get to any puppy classes. He is looking very good so we will try and win some more with him. Oh I nearly forgot. Miranda won 2 bottles of wine in the raffle.

Tuesday the 22nd of July we had to say farewell to Taz (Ch Corydon The Ringleader). He had lost the will to live as he could mot get up on his own. He was the top dog in the UK as he was the only Group Winner. His son Ch Corydon Christopher won his title just a few days ago. So Taz went out with a bang.

Saturday 12 July Smudge (Corydon Christopher) became a Champion by winning the Dog Challenge Certificate at the National Working & Pastoral Breeds Ch Show. Corydon The Baron was placed second in the Limit Dog Class which entitles him to a Kennel club Stud Book number. So a good day.

Sunday 15th June we said good bye to Cristal. She has gone to live near Southampton. She really has die and gone to heaven. She is the first of 7 seven Rough Collies that has climbed the stairs in their house. She knows where it is best.

I am rather appalled by the very low quality of most of the exhibits I see in the ring today. Most of the winners would not have been considered or even shown 40 or 50 years ago. I have talked to many and I find that almost all of them have no idea as to what makes a good expression in the breed. So I think that it would be a good idea for people interested in the breed to be shown the difference between a wonderful expression and a poor expression. I want to do this as I am told that once someone has seen and apreciated a wonderful expression they will never forget it. When I first started in the breed, nearly 70 years ago, expression was considered the most important part of the breed. No other breed could have that sweet, alert expression. I suppose that nowadays judges do not know what they are looking for so they ignore this most basic and important feature of the breed.

I have been blessed with the gift that I can always find the animal with the best expression. For me if the animal has a good expression, whether it is a cow, pig or dog that animal will be good in all departments.

I have been reading a book on the breed written by Dr Bennett the very famous American Breeder written in 1924. He is quite scathing about the quality of some judges. So things do not improve with time. But he does come up with some ideas and for me, his best is about the Breed Standard which is a lot more informative than the UK Breed Standard. He is saying that so few judges understand expression, which is the most important part of a Rough Collie. He refers to an old English Standard that was published by the Northern Collie Club in about 1910. This Standard has the head of a Collie accounting to 50% of the total marks that they used at that time. He thought that as the head on a Rough Collie is so different from any other breed that this emphasis on the head was about right.

I am doing a lot of research into bitch lines and during this research I can find very little of anything to do with the breed in Scotland. The breed was not named until about 1876. Before that they were classes as sheepdogs. And NO Queen Victoria did not have any until about 1882 when the Rev Hans Hamilton gave her one or two that she kept at Sandringham. The Collies she had at Balmoral in Scotland were short coated and were nothing like the Rough Collie. So why is it classed as a Scottish breed? The breed was set up in the Birmingham area during the 1870- 1890 period. It is not a Scottish breed.

Miranda went with Corydon Christopher to 3 shows in Scotland and won nothing.

Much more success as Corydon Christopher won the Dog Challenge Certificate and Best of Breed at the Birmingham National Ch Show on the 10th May. He won the Reserve CC at the Manchester show and also at the WELKS Ch Shows. At the latter show our two puppies won the Dog and Bitch Puppy Classes.

Corydon Christopher Best of Breed at Birmingham National

Now we have a show and what a success. This was Edwinstowe all Breeds Open Show held at Newark Showground on the 18th April (Good Friday). Miranda took the two tricolour puppies and Kasper. Corydon Crystal Vision won the breed puppy class and then Best of Breed. She did not stop there because she want into the Best Puppy ring and won that. A very rare win for our breed. Her brother won his class and Kasper won the Open Class and was Reserve Best of Breed. So it was a good day for us.

No shows for a time but we have mated two bitches. Ch Corydon Clarissa has met Corydon The Baron. He is the sire of Corydon The Baronet that was best puppy in show at the British Collie Club Championship Show earlier this year. The Baron’s granddam has been visited by Ch Corydon Christopher. We have kept it all in the family as Christopher is out of Clarissa. They are due to whelp at the end of May. Clarissa being the first due.

The 1st March was the British Collie Club Ch Show. We took Ninja (Corydon The Baronet). He won 3 first prizes and Best Puppy in Show. Smudge (Corydon Christopher) won the Open Dog Class but got no further. The judge probably did not want us to win everything. A Ringleader son won the Reserve Dog CC. So we had a really good day when we expected nothing.

Below is Ninja after winning Best Puppy in Show at the British Collie Club Ch Show.

The less said about the Midland collie Club show held on the 13th February the better. The judging was the worst I have ever seen in the nearly 70 years that I have been showing Rough Collies. Actually we did quite well as Bruiser won the Post Grad dog Class and Crissy was placed second in the Puppy Bitch Class. But the judge did not touch the heads on either of them.

The second show of the year was Isle of Ely Open Show held on the 1st February.. Miranda worked very hard on 3 dogs she had entered They were covered in mud. Dotty (Corydon Cristal Vision) was in the first class of the day which was The Puppy Stakes with an entry of 40. She won first prize and £30. This was only her second show. She was entered in the Rough Collie Puppy Class which she won. Her brother Ninja (Corydon The Baronet) also at his second show won the Junior Class and then was placed as Best Puppy and Reserve Best of Breed. Their sire Bruiser (Corydon The Baron) won the Open Class and then Best of Breed. This has to be the most dominant we have ever been at a show. Miranda’s hard work the previous day was well rewarded.

This is Dotty winning first prize in Puppy Stakes class at Isle of Ely Show. Notice her back legs are well behind her tail. This extension is so rare in the breed today. Why?

The first show of the year was Manchester Championship Show. Corydon Christopher was placed 2nd in the Open Dog class and then won the Reserve Challenge Certificate. Corydon Christiana won 1st in the Junior Bitch Class. So a good day.

We have now been informed that Taz (Ch Corydon The Ringleader) was top sire for 2024 by siring two Champions and a CC winner. Runner up to him was Phineas (Corydon The Ringmaster who sired two CC winners. Taz has actually sired just 8 litters in the UK and now he is nearly eleven years old he is too old to use any more. Luckily we have his son Cristopher who is now siring exceptional puppies. It would seem that this dog is dominant for sable. In other words he is only going to produce sable and white puppies even if the dam is tricolour. Phineas is also dominant for sable and white.

It has always been said that the Rough Collie is Scottish Breed. Having done a considerable amount of research I have to disagree with this. The main reason that it is a supposed Scottish breed is that Queen Victoria had them at Balmoral from 1860 onwards. From my research she liked her Collies at Balmoral, but they were Working Collies. She did not have any Rough Collies until the Rev Hans Hamilton gave her one or two in the 1880’s including a dog by the name of Darnley 11.

Darnley was born on the 8^th January 1888 and lived at her English country Sandringham estate. His full brother Ch Christopher was born a year later on the 14 June 1889, and he went on to win the Best of Breed award at the first all breeds Crufts show in 1891. Darnley was entered at this show but did not get a high award.

Obviously Scottish dogs were used on English Collies, but from the names of them I have to assume that they were Working Collies. I have seen a head photograph of Marcus a dog that came from Scotland and was used on English bitches with some success. From his head photo he was a Border Collie.

But the first major sires in the breed were Trefoil from Ireland and Old Cockie born in England. The main two early bitches were Maude born in England owned by Mr Bissell. And Ruby 111 bred by Rev Hans Hamilton in England.

It was down to a group of breeders in the Birmingham area that worked on their breeding to establish the Rough Collie as a type. I suspect that until this group got together the Collies were of different types and it was not until about 1876 that a true Rough Collie was born.

From my research the first true Scottish Breeder was Mr J Agnew who had the Old Hall prefix. But he did not start in the breed until about 1892. Before that date there appears to be no other successful Scottish breeder.

Also, why is the breed called a sheepdog. From my expeince on a large farm wgere I looked after 500 cattle and 1,000 sheep my Rough Collies were much happier with the cattle. On reflection the breed is rather too big for sheep and they can be too agresive to the reluctant ones.

Maxine had a good time on the first weekend of 2024. She judged all breed stakes classes at a big Open Dog Show. What it did though was to make her realise just how unsound far too many of todays Rough Collies are. She now knows why the Group judges ignore the breed. I have to ask why so many breed judges ignore the breed standard and give major awards to exhibits that should not be getting them. Do they not realise that the precarious position the breed is now in is because of the soft wavy coats that the pet buying public cannot deal with. It might look good to some of the judges but they are not correct. The Standard is quite clear – The coat should be straight and harsh with a dense undercoat. I have looked at some of those with the soft wavy coat and all too often there is very little undercoat. Then we come to physical soundness. Why are so many Rough Collies with straight shoulders winning top awards? Why are so many in the breed with deep stops winning? I have to say that if judges want a deep stop they should change breeds and have Border Collies instead. Their standard requires a deep stop. Our Standard says the stop should slight but can be seen. I have seen far too many judges ignore the breed standard and give top awards to exhibits that have deep stops huge wavy soft coats and very straight shoulders. These people should not be judging dogs, and the Kennel Club should remove their names from the vast extended judging list. They will not because the last thing they are interested in is improving breeds. They have failed so many breeds. Wire Haired Fox Terriers are now on the endangered list. When I first started back in the 1950.s, They were right up amongst the most popular breeds. I could go on and on. The kennel Club registrations in Rough Collies is now less than 8% of what it was in the 1970’s. Finland with a population of 5 million has more Rough Collies registered than th