A place on the web dedicated to my dogs and their pals.
Why the House of Sunbeams? Two reasons. My youngest dogs kennel name is Jarysmystic Magic Sunbeam, and along with my other two dogs, they bring a lot of sun into my life. Simple.
I've given each dog their own web page. All you have to do is click on their kennel names in the left hand column to read more about them. But first - a little bit about me.
My name is Jackie Muir and I hail from a town called Peterlee on the north east coast of Durham. I work a permanent night shift for Walkers crisps, where I help make up six packs. The shift suits me very well. I never was a morning person, so lying in bed as long as I want to is ideal. The dogs don't miss me, as they would have been in bed had I been in the house anyway. The one downside is that not finishing til 6 am can interfere with my weekend hobby. And that hobby is training and competing in obedience shows up and down the country.
I first attended Peterlee dog training club when I was roughly ten years old. At the time the club was run by a man called Bob Davison, who competed in shows himself with his collies. I admired Bob's collies, Blue, Tan and Jess very much, and they were probably the reason I have the breed today.
When I didn't drift away like the rest of the kids, Bob started to take me to obedience shows. There I would watch him work his dogs, or when he was judging, I'd ring steward for him. After a while I started to compete with my own dog - a little crossbreed called Koppa. Sadly, I lost Koppa at a very young age. Enter my first collie, Gil. The rest, as they say, is history.
At the age of 14 I began to instruct at the club. Something I'm sure didn't go down too well with the adults passing through for training. 
A couple of years later I was given my first judging appointment, a beginners class, at Wilton DTC's open show. I still judge, and now do any class except championship C.
Since then time has marched on and I'm now in my 32nd year as a member of Peterlee DTC. The club no longer runs classes, but we still hold it's annual 2 day obedience show. August 2005 sees the show venue change to Redcar Rugby Club. Maybe I'll see you there?
Jackie
