In Memory of Sharon Baubles, Mistress of Caerleon Collies
(The picture at right is Sharon with Ch. Caspian when he won Best Side Gait at Sunnybank 2005 out of a class of 30+. Photo by Steve Mierz, used with permission)
And we're both watching over you
So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed where it would go.
If you're reading this I'm already home.
McGraw Tim
"If You're Reading This"
From: "Other Songs"
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I want to take some time to thank my mentor Sharon Baubles of Caerleon Collies for all the help and support you have given me over the years. Sharon, without your help and instruction, I would not be in the breed today. Always you have been there for me. Instructing and challenging my thoughts on diverse subjects. Encouraging me to learn and draw my own conclusions supported by proper research and referenced knowledge. Never failing to support me as I struggled with the various learning curves in this Sport. Defending me in public and private arguments. Thank you so much for leasing my Bellwether Golden Princess and breeding her to your Ch. Caerleon's Prince Of Pennylane. Caspian is a superb sire. I am so excited about the future breeding of his daughter, Punkin, to our Duke. Plus the breeding of Punkin's dam ,Pippin, to your Ch. Elsinore Caerleon Joint Venture. Oh what service dogs Morgan will sire! Thank you, Sharon. For believing in me. For all your help and encouragement. And most of all for being my very best friend. You are that jewel of Dogdom, a true mentor.
Sharon was very special. As a friend, she never failed to stand up for 
me either in public or private. As a mentor, she always taught with a view
to helping me define and use my own vision.When I started to tire of
strainbuilding and wanted to follow the crowd, she would tell me, "Don't do
that. You're better than that. Create your own vision.". In a time when many
novices get fed their mentor's party line and encouraged to copycat their
mentors, Sharon was a true mentor who understood the value of
dedicated original vision. Without her quiet, humble help and encouragement,
Bellwether would have ceased to exist from weariness long ago. She taught me
that the genetic adventure is the thing. not the shows, or the glory. That
creative endeavour is itself the prize. And the results of our efforts in
that regard, a greater reward than any ribbon or trophy. I now realize that
this is the secret behind successful strainbuilding for it is this
revelation which, like an artesian well, constantly replenishes the ability
to move forward with a vision. I will miss her quiet, confident counsel
and support more than words can say.
(The picture at right is Sharon with Stella after winning Best Front at Sunnybank 2005. Photo by Steve Mierz, used with permission.)
About Us
Bellwether Collies is closed to the public. Any collies
bred will be for service purposes. Thank you for visiting.
Read the new genetic history of Bellwether Collies on our "Breeding Plans" page.
YANKEE FINISHES!
March 2007 Ad: http://www.colliesonline.com/ad_archive_2007/swan_1_032407.html
Got a phone call this afternoon, May 13, from Suanne King at Swan Collies in TX. "Yankee" is now Ch. Swan's AU N Phoenix Rising! Yankee finished with back-to back four point majors at the Rio Grande Valley KC shows on Sat. and today. Yesterdays win was under Judge Randall Sheets and todays was under Judge Christina Hubble. Huge grateful thanks to Suanne who has done such a wonderful job of bringing Yankee along carefully over the years. Deep gratitude and thanks to Paula Lysinger who provided me with Gold Hill Mother Lode, Yankee's dam. Paula's careful breeding program produced a wonderful foundation bitch excelling in maternal instinct plus robust health and superb temperament which she has passed on to her get in great measure, evident even in her grandchildren. To Maureen Grosky, on whose McMaur collies Josie is closely line bred. To Gayle Kaye and Marilyn Mothersell thank you for all your years of teaching and letting me breed Josie to your superlative "Bailee" , Ch. Chelsea The Crown Prince HIC. A stud for all reasons and all seasons. Bailee will always have a very special place in my heart. I will always be grateful to all five of you who have supported my plans, corrected me
when I was wrong, advised me when the way was unclear, taught me when ignorance nagged at my heels, encouraged me when the way was dismal and celebrated with me when we triumphed.
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Welcome to our front page in the net. We are working to create a strain of show quality smooth collies fit for a 90% graduation rate from the guide/service/assistance schools. Our collies exhibit deeply intuitive, solid working temperaments in structurally sound, correctly moving bodies. Excellent health is a primary issue here at Bellwether and factors heavily in every breeding decision we make. We are working with a written 7 generation master breeding plan extrapolated out to 13 generations. Our pre-selected gene pool allows us to constantly improve the physical side of our strain while maintaining our working temperament at excellent levels. Bellwether Collies are versatile. Rough and smooth collies bred here, or their children, compete successfully in obedience, agility, rally, mushing , breed ring, weight pull, lure coursing, canine freestyle dance, and therapy work. The offspring of Swan's AU N Phoenix Rising are winning in the ring. Two daughters of Bellwether Golden Princess ( who was leased to Caerleon Collies in IL for a 2004 litter), between them, won awards for Best Front, Runner-Up Best Side Movement and Runner-Up Best Rear at the Sunnybank Gathering Virtues Match in 2005. Our new addition, Swan Holding Court At Bellwether aka "Duke" went to Sunnybank 2007 in August. He was runner-up Best Side Movement. Photos and pedigree to follow shortly.
Bellwether Queen Bee ( Golden Princess's daughter) will be bred to a pre-selected stud in the Winter of 2007 with puppies expected around the middle of February. Expecting sables, sable merles and maybe a tri. Smoothes and maybe a rough. Some white-factoring; normal-eyed or mildest CEA. Show, performance, service and pet. Excellent working lines. In the Spring of 2008, Bellwether Golden Princess will be bred to Ch. Elsinore Caerleon Joint Venture. Sables & tris; roughs & smoothes expected with same type, health and temperament expectations as noted above. We are located in the foothills on the western slope of the Allegheny Mountains in lovely western Pennsylvania. bellscolly@comcast.net is our email address to contact us to learn more about us and our collies ( including pedigrees). Thank you for taking time to visit our kennel website. ( The ads at the top of the page are put there by freewebs, not us.).
Best Regards,
Karen Tewart ( please note our new email address: bellscolly@comcast.net )
Introducing: Swan Holding Court At Bellwether
Thought For The Day
"It is upon the excellence of the general character of the individuals of the breed, rather than upon the length of the head or the breadth of the skull or similar details, that the breed will stand, and the successful support to the breed must be upon the basis of this greater vision, if the breeders of collies are to succeed in their purpose of bettering the breed." Edwin L. Pickhardt "The Collie In America" 1924
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"It is the varied opinion of breeders as to what constitutes the ideal representative of the breed, and their selection of breeding stock that maintains breed diversity."
Jerold S. Bell, DVM
Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, N. Grafton, MA
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"Dog showing is a fancy, not a contest of speed, endurance, coursing of game, pointing or retrieving of game, herding, guarding or function."
Edward M. Gilbert, Jr. & Thelma R. Brown
K9 Structure & Terminology (Page 140)
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"My own view is that you must try to secure the best and most suitable breeding through both sire and dam, bring it both inbreeding and outcrossing as near and perfect in the abstract as you can. Success will depend on whether any particular foal takes after his dam and the majority of his maternal ascendants or after his sire and the majority of his paternal ascendants."
The Aga Khan "Memoirs"
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