Kaylie
06/21/1993 – 04/27/2007
Thank you, Kaylie.

See Kaylie's registration info and stats.

An empty collar stays within my reach at home. It has become the “security blanket” of my adulthood. The collar belonged to my beloved Kaylie.

Kaylie ABCA 68853 was born on June 21, 1993. Her sire was Walt Jagger’s Imp. Celt ISDS 167036 and her dam was Imp. Jill (Jen) ISDS 177852, owned by Melanie & David Campbell. Kaylie was the first dog of my own as an adult, and also my first Border Collie. My research on different breeds resulted in plenty of warnings from friends and breeders of Border Collies about how difficult Border Collies could be to live with as a “pet,” but after months of looking at several options, it still seemed the Border Collie was the right breed for me.

Kaylie was a very challenging young dog--high drive even for a working-bred Border Collie--but returned my dedication to training her a hundredfold as an amazing friend and companion. With Kaylie, I was introduced for the first time to obedience training for competition, stockdog work (sheep herding lessons), agility, and flyball. In each venue, she was very talented and natural, although I lacked the resources to support the ongoing training (for both of us) necessary to achieve elite levels of competition.

In my adventures and partnership with Kaylie, I learned many things. Most importantly, it permanently solidified my dedication to the working Border Collie as my breed of choice, as well as insidiously getting me hooked on pursuing stockdog lessons, developing goals to trial with my dogs, and even entertaining the fantasy of someday owning a “gentlewoman’s” flock of my own. At the time I brought home my new puppy Kaylie, I enjoyed watching sheepdog trials and stockdogs at work, but getting involved with sheep with my dog was the last thing on my mind. What a clever girl to convince me she should at least be tested on sheep to “see if she’s got anything!” Soon after that first introduction to sheep, I found myself driving 90 minutes each way for our first lessons. Funny how that happens, isn’t it?

Kaylie was fighting a number of problems relating to age and compromised kidney function, but in her last two weeks she began to show symptoms of neurological trouble, presumed by our vet to be caused by a brain tumor. After a last-ditch effort with medication, I had to face the fact that she was not going to get better, and helping her go was the right thing to do for her sake. In her last few days, she was unable to manage anything without assistance, including walking, eating or drinking, or safely negotiating even the familiar layout inside our home. It was hard to equate this incapable, somewhat depressed animal with the lively “brainiac” dog I’d known for nearly 14 years. It was time to make things better for her. On April 27, 2007, I made one of those incredibly difficult “right” decisions, brought Kaylie to the vet for the last time, and helped ease her way out of this world.

Now I have an empty collar. Oddly, it brings me a little comfort, sometimes.

See more photos in Kaylie’s photo gallery!

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Kaylie's Bio

Kaylie was my first Border Collie, and also the first dog of my own. I purchased Kaylie in 1993 with competitive obedience in mind. At the time, I was not planning to do herding, and I only had a vague idea that a sport like agility existed.

I started basic obedience with Kaylie, and continued through the levels offered at the training school, but moved across the country within four months. I didn’t know any “dog people” out in southern California so was half-heartedly training on my own, but not really getting much pleasure out of it. Things turned around when I noticed Kaylie watching TV. This of itself isn’t too unusual, but she was watching a cutting horse competition. In the living room, she “worked” the cow on TV as well as the cutting horse! I didn’t know much about herding, but I knew about horses and I could see that this dog had some stock sense; that her interest went beyond the attraction to movement on the TV screen. Not knowing how to find a herding instructor, I called someone with Border Collie pups for sale in the newspaper to see if they had any idea where I could take my dog to test her on sheep. Lucky for me, they did know someone, who it turned out was a reasonably good trainer.

The trainer lived nearly two hours south of me, but I drove it regularly for many months, and left her with him on occasions when I went out of town. I actually didn’t learn very much at the time as herding doesn’t come naturally to me, but Kaylie showed him what she was made of, and he tried to buy her from me using every technique in the book. I felt proud that she had so much talent, even though I’d had nothing to do with it.

About a year and half later, I ended up back in New Jersey, where I took up obedience again. Kaylie had “good stuff” there as well; it was remarked by instructors who also owned Border Collies (directly out of herding dogs as well) that she was extremely high-drive “even for a Border Collie.” Intelligent, and quick to learn? Absolutely! But, neither us really LOVED the rigid discipline required to be successful in obedience competition.

I found a good herding instructor surprisingly close to us and had some lessons, although our progress was severely limited by lack of time and especially money. Agility was now offered at the obedience school at a price I could afford, and we took to that like fish to water. We had just started attending practice matches, when I found myself divorced, moving to a condo, and now unable to afford training often enough to see us prove our mettle in either herding or agility trials.

I didn’t know when I might be more active in dog sports again, plus I learned that a littermate of Kaylie’s had been born with a condition (abnormal sex characteristics) that I was concerned that Kaylie may carry recessively, with no way to test for certain. Armed with the knowledge that there was a possibility of unwanted recessive genes, and not knowing how much time or money I could dedicate to training a pup in the next year or two, I decided to spay her. Once I knew the genetics carried by her littermate, it was the only decision to make, really, but it wasn’t easy. Kaylie is SUCH a special dog to me, and has so much talent. I had even decided on an outstanding stud dog, but I HAD to make the right long-term decision about what pups I’d be responsible for bringing into this world, not the emotional decision.

Kaylie was diagnosed with Lyme disease several years ago, even though she’d been vaccinated. As a result, she has early stage kidney failure, which is currently controlled by a low-protein diet. She is doing great as she enters senior-citizenship, and still almost as fast as she was. The grey in her face is fading her tan points, but her attitude is awesome, and she gives me a snarling, bared-tooth “dog-smile” nearly every day. I chose her name as a phonetic spelling of the Gaelic word “ceileidgh” or “ceilidh,” a festival, gathering, or party. Party, indeed!

Thank you Kaylie, for being SO MUCH dog and giving me a crash course in living with a Border Collie! I am glad I passed your test, and you set my “standards” for future dogs incredibly high! A dog with less drive would simply be a lesser dog to me.

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See Kaylie's Pedigree

Kaylie
tri-color rough coat
ABCA 68853
(Imp. Celt ISDS 167036/AIBC 95005/ABC 17440 x Imp. Jill(Jen) ISDS 177852)
OFA Good: BCO-2058G42F
CERF clear: BCO-1041N/2003--115

Kaylie ~ BorderCollie! ~ Puppykins ~ Kaylie-girl ~ Littledog ~ My special girl

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