"Going "For" the Dogs" by birchy99

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A lot of our travel centers around our dogs. For instance we travel to fetch new puppies, we travel to take them to meets and events, and we travel to see "doggie" friends all over the world.
Besides trips to local events we have traveled to the UK twice to visit the Crufts Dog Show, and I have traveled to Australia and Ireland to visit people who raise dogs like ours.
Our dogs are Bearded Collies, which are often mistaken for Old English Sheep Dogs, especially here in the states where they are not so common. Beardies have long flowing coats, beautiful tails, and quizzical expressions which melt hearts. They are also extrememly playful, and have wonderful temperments and personalities.
We call our home BirchBark after the fashion in the UK. We have eight dogs who now live here: Adam, Rosie, CeeCee, Aria, Colm, Miles, Keeley and Dizzy.

Rosie is our 9 year old female Bearded Collie. She came to us from a litter in Washington State. I remember driving though a raging rain storm to fetch her at the Portland airport.
And thusly, she has lived up to her background. Always storming around, always needing to be in charge, always with the big bark. But also a cuddlebug. She flunked out of three obedience classes, but eventually earned her Canine Good Citizen certificate. Only took six years. We love her dearly and appreciate how she keeps everyone else in line.

We are active members in the Bearded Collie Rescue Group, having helped place several abandoned or found Beardies in new homes. Adam is our rescued boy. He is only part Beardie, therefore he is officially a "Neardy."However a breeder judge has commented that he may be a Polish Lowland Sheepdog. He came to us almost 11 years ago from Arizona. He was found in a "no-kill shelter" along with about 170 other dogs who were in need of homes after the shelter owner passed away. He and female Beardie were named Adam and Eve by the rescue people. We heard about him from the Rescue Line and made arrangements to bring him home.
Adam had a lot of baggage that he has been slowly dropping along the way. He still can't get enough love, and can't give enough love but at the same time often prefers to be left alone.
He has a special place in our hearts as I'm sure we do in his.
Adam has undergone having all his molars extracted as he had an horrific infection in them that resulted in many years of pain and bad breath. He has recovered nicely and is enjoying his new found health. We expect him to have added another 10 years to his lifetime.

Cameron's Celtic Cameo aka CeeCee is a living miracle. At age two she became afflicted with an auto immune disease which brought her to her knees and almost killed her. One year later the disease attacked her again with similar results. Thanks to the care and expertise of her vets she survived and is living the good life today.
She earned her American Kennel Club Championship quickly. She is a beautiful dog with excellent conformation and wonderful movement. Unfortunately, because of her affliction she cannot be bred and will spend the rest of days under our loving care, however long that may be.
So, every once in while we tip a glass to CeeCee and shout "Long Live the Queen!!" She is a wonder!

Colm came to us from Scotland, the ancestral home of Bearded Collies. I brought him over on a flight with British Air to Seattle in January of 2003 when he was 13 weeks old.
He is named after the Welsh actor/singer Colm Wilkerson who has played the lead in "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserable" both in London and Toronto. His official name is Walkerbrae Dark Phantom.
He is a love!! If one is not careful he will lick your ears off. Such a wonderful personality you would only hope to find in a dog. He also has a talent for herding sheep which he is currently pursuing by taking herding lessons every week. He has his own flock of sheep here at Birchbark to practiace on.
We are so glad to have him in our little family. However, he has one reservation: he likes Scottish food better than American. Tripe and haggis are his dishes.

Aria came to us from CeeCee's breeder outside Toronto, Canada. Her official name is Cameron's Celtic Serenade. If barking is a serenade she is well named!! She and Colm presented us with a beautiful litter of 6 puppies in the spring of 2007.
I told my better half that we only have five acres of land and we can only have one dog per acre. Aria is the fifth. And since we kept three of the puppies we now have 8 dogs on five acres. With all that grooming I'm sure you can understand why we agree that 8 is enough!!

At four in the morning on June 18th, 2007 the Beardie Stork delivered 6 precious bundles of energy to Aria. Mum and pups did well. Keely, Mingus, Monk, Bruebeck, Miles and Dizzy...welcome to the world.
Mingus, Monk and Bruebeck were sold to wonderful homes and Miles, Keeley and Dizzy are staying here at Birchbark.

Our first two dogs, Barnaby and Tut have passed on the Rainbow Bridge. Tut, a Cocker Spaniel mix came to us early in our marriage. We mistakingly chose an "active" puppy "so he wouldn't be lonely while we were at work." Not a good idea....We had it backwards. But he was with us for 15 years and never gave us a dull moment.
Barnaby was our first Beardie and such a loveable boy. As we were working daytimes, he had the backyard and Tut to himself. He occupied his time by herding Tut and chewing up anything made of wood. He passed on way too early succumbing to cancer at age eight. We loved him so...