I was an avid reader of Albert Payson Terhune as a child (as well as every other dog book I could find), and when I was about 10 years old we got a family collie. Flicka was the best friend this girl could have had. She passed away when I was a senior in college, and my first purchase, when I graduated from college in 1965, was a collie! I named him Trace (Sierra Trace, UD), and he was the beginning of it all. I started some Obedience training with him and got talked into going to a match. When he placed fourth in what was then called Novice Y (all on leash), I was hooked! Obedience and Conformation were all that was available at that time, and Trace finished his CD, CDX, and UD by the time he was 3 years old. Windy (Sequoia's Night Wind, UD) and her puppies, Howdy (Valley Wind's Rustic Image, UD) and Snip (Valley Wind's Midnight Shadow, CD), rounded out the '60s. Both Windy and Howdy were great Obedience dogs; Snip, not so much. Howdy was also one of my very special dogs, one that I had an incredible rapport with. Nearly 50 years later, I miss him still.

In the '70s I met Jan Shields, and, from her, got Breeze (Ch Northshield's Windfall, CD), my first Conformation dog. Breeze had trouble staying sound with the high jumps of the '70s, so she stopped with her Ch CD. Her greatest contribution was giving me Scout (BISS Ch Windhaven's Trailblazer, UD), who not only earned his UD but also won specialty BOB's and a Working Group 1. And he, in turn, gave me Wink (BIS Ch Trailwind's Bright 'N Breezy, UDT), who was a specialty, multiple group and an all-breed BIS winner as well as being my first tracking dog and CH UDT title holder. Chime (Ch Northshield's Wind Chimes, CDX) also came from Jan and I think her biggest contribution was as a therapy dog, something we did for many years.

The '80s brought Wink, Timber (Trailwind's Rough 'N Ready) and Tag (Trailwind's Sunshower, CDX, TD). Timber was Wink's son and needed just a major to finish when he died of illness at 3 years of age. Like Wink, Tag was also Scout's daughter, and she was beautiful but not a great show dog so she retired also just needing a major to finish.

The '90s brought a whole new family when John Buddie sent me two beautiful Tartanside collies. Tally (Ch Tartanside Trailwind TallyHo, UDTX, AX, HT) will always be one of my most favorite dogs as well as a beautiful collie. Cloudy (Ch Tartanside Silver Lining, CD, TDX, NA, PT) was his niece and together they gave me Donner (Trailwind's High Country, CDX, TDX, HS, MX, MXJ), one of the best performance dogs I ever had the pleasure to train. The '90s also gave me Splash (Trailwind Charidan Cascade, TD) , a wonderful little dog who, sadly, died of an auto-immune disease at 9 months. Also in the '90s were Freebie (Trailwind's Best Things R Free, CDX, TD) and Quick (Trailwind's Quick Pick, TD, MX, MXJ), my two wonderful border collies.