I can’t recall a time when dogs weren’t part of my life. As a child our family dog was an Alsatian called Rex. I remember running home at lunch break to walk him, this would get me into loads of trouble when getting back to school late, but that didn’t bother me it was worth it just to be with him. Rex saw me through infant school and into my teenage years but all good things have to come to an end, my best friend had to be put to sleep. I thought I would never get over this loss but one thing I did know I would always have a dog in my life.

A move from Glasgow to Watford in 1973, getting married to John in 1974, and buying our first home, meant that I could now put my plan into gear. John and I felt the house wasn’t a home without a dog. I phoned the Kennel Club to ask for breeders near me. I called the first one on the list which was a Mrs West from Tring, Hertfordshire. She had a tri puppy bitch left from a litter. I told her we would be there in a couple of hours. My next move was to wake John from his sleep after his night shift, to tell him he had to get up as I had found us a Rough Collie. It took us two hours and we were met by the breeder followed by this ball of fluff. Formalities over, we headed back to Watford with the new member of our family. Her kennel club name was Five Firs Cadet, we called her Veasha. She had one pricked ear but that didn’t matter to us, she settled into our way of life. I went part time in my job so she wouldn’t be on her own too long. Veasha had a lovely nature and when both our son’s came along she would lie by the pram, she loved my boys and the boys loved her. As they got older they would spend most of their spare time playing football with her. Veasha lived to the ripe old age of fifteen when her back end went; it was time to say our goodbyes.

"Veasha" Five Firs Cadet

We both decided we wouldn’t have another dog for a while but a neighbour of ours came to see us and asked if we would take her dog as she could no longer look after her. She was a retriever cross named Sundae. What a loving dog she was, her temperament was just brilliant, she was always with the boys playing football and just being the loyal family pet.

"Sundae"

A house move had me walking Sundae to find somewhere she could go for her exercise. We found this lovely park and it was on one of our trips to the park that I spotted some rough collies. I made a dash to see them. There before my eyes were five sable/white rough collies. I was totally speechless. I had never seen that many collies being walked together, I asked the owner about the dogs and she told me she showed them and was a breeder. This lady was Mrs June Doman (Ladywood) and we became very good friends. June mated one of her bitches and told me that if the bitch was in whelp she would like me to have one - I was so excited about this. Sadly her bitch missed but now I wanted a rough collie. June suggested I contact collie rescue who told me that they didn’t have anything at the moment but they took my details and said they would get back to me. I got the call and we made our way to Derby. Out came this sable/white collie who had been brought in due to her owners separating. Her name was Lucy and became part of our family, and a play mate for Sundae.

"Lucy" [1992 - 2008]

Sadly Sundae was diagnosed with cancer of the nose. Again we had to make that awful decision to have her put to sleep because there was nothing the vets could do for her. She was only seven, far too young, but we had to do the kindest thing and let her go.

I was on holiday in Scotland with Lucy and found an advert for a blue merle rough collie. John had always wanted a blue merle so I went with Lucy to see this dog at Jackie Morrison's kennel (Queline). Out came this beautiful dog, she had this huge white rough and I was blown away with her beauty. Her kennel club name was Ileyda Urmine Snow At Queline (Angel) she came back to Watford with Lucy and quickly settled in with the family and a play mate for Lucy. I decided I wanted an affix (Mathanach). It was accepted by the Kennel Club; the meaning of the affix is my maiden name (Matheson) in Gaelic.

"Angel" Ileyda Urmine Snow at Queline

It was our silver wedding anniversary - John wanted to buy me a diamond ring - but I asked him if I could have a tri rough collie bitch instead. Whilst I was in Scotland I bought this lovely tri bitch from Rob and Naomi McDowall (Birkmyre). She was called Birkmyre Portia At Mathanach (Portia). This young girl was a pleasure to own with a lovely nature. She just felt so special to me because she was the first rough I had actually picked. This feeling of love and being special is still with me now.

"Portia" Birkmyre Portia at Mathanach

I now had three rough collies. I mated Angel to Jasand Jolson of Birkmyre which produced just two pup’s, a tri dog and a blue Merle dog. We kept the merle dog, Mathanach True Blue of Skye, (Skye). He was a lovely clear blue with a huge white rough and a great temperament. Skye had some good wins at Ayrshire and Scottish Collie Club shows, and at open shows he was regularly placed. Sadly we had to have Skye neutered for health reasons so thus ending a very promising show career. He lives very happily at home with the other collies.

Mathanach True Blue of Skye [Skye]

The other breed we liked was the Bernese Mountain dog, we decided to buy one as a pet. After a long wait we eventually got our Bernese, she was a bitch named Isla and what a joy she is. She loves everybody and is so laid back and loving you can’t help but love her. Sadly Isla had a problem with walking, x-rays showed she had displacia in both hips and both elbows. She has had both her elbows operated on and she will have to have at least one hip replaced. What a blow this was - our lovely natured girl didn’t deserve this but Isla is happy with her lot and lives happily with the collies.

I mated Portia to CH Penpriory Playboy Of Karava. She produced a lovely litter of four blue merle bitches, three tri bitches and one tri boy. I kept a tri bitch, Mathanach Dream Of Ailsa ( Ornsay ). She is the most laid back collie I have ever seen. She is just so placid and would be quite happy sitting on our lap all day. She is just so lazy but has a funny, naughty side to her too. She often gets the others into trouble, but she is a pure pleasure to own.

Portia with her daughter Ornsay

A move back to my home land Scotland, I bought in another Bernese for me to show, I called this lovely girl Georgia!! after George Clooney !!, Georgia is nothing like Isla she is very boisterous always on the go she never gives Isla a moments peace and follows Isla everywhere, wherever Isla goes Georgia follows. I entered Georgia at SKC, her first show but just before she turned six months I noticed she was limping x-rays showed she has elbow displacia, she had it operated on but she was never right after that, this put an end to her showing career before it even took off, like Isla she now lives happy at home with all the others.

READ ALL ABOUT ISLA AND HER PROBLEMS FOLLOWING THE SWALLOWING OF A BONE
WRITTEN TO MAKE ALL DOG OWNERS AWARE OF THE POSSIBLE DANGERS.

Isla [2002 - 2008]   & Georgia

I was planning on mating Portia and I looked on collienet for a stud dog. I saw this lovely sable dog just looking out at me. The owners were David & Margaret Ruston dog(Rusforth kennels). His name was Rusforth First Knight (Kevin) so I contacted them to ask if I could use Kevin but to my disappointment he wasn’t used at stud.
Since that first contact Margaret and David have become very good friends of mine and are always there if and when I need advice or just someone to talk to.
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I mated Portia to Rob and Naomi McDowall's dog, Jasand Jolson of Birkmyre (Josh ), this mating produced four tri bitches and four tri dogs. I kept one of the dogs, Mathanach Thoughts of Gus (Gus). This leads me onto how I got into showing. Margaret kept on at me to start showing but I just wasn’t interested. If any of you out there know Margaret Ruston she can be very persuasive and won’t stop untill she hears you saying ok. I decided to have a go with Gus - he was consistently placed at Ayrshire and Scottish collie shows. He has had very good wins at open shows, also at SKC and Scottish Breeds champ shows, plus a couple of group placing in AV minor puppy and puppy. When Gus was about two years old he just wouldn’t perform in the ring, a few judges felt sorry for him because he looked so fed up. Needless to say I kept him away from the shows in the hope it was just a phase he was going through.

Mathanach Thoughts of Gus [Gus]

Now I had six rough collies and two Bernese Mountain dogs at home but I had nothing to show. I made a call to my good friend Margaret Ruston to ask if she knew of anyone who might have a litter. She put me in touch with John and Caroline Tipper of the very successful Tiganlea kennel. I spoke to Caroline, told her what I wanted but she didn’t have anything at that time. I was more than happy to wait because I liked what they bred. I had a call a few months later saying a pup was there if I still wanted one. With a pounding heart I said yes please. This saw me driving from Scotland to Lincolnshire to collect my baby. [Pictured below]

Baby Cherish

Caroline took me to where the two pup’s were and said I could pick the one I wanted. They would be keeping the other one. Formalities done, I set off back to Scotland with my Tiganlea puppy, Tiganlea Sweetest Thing At Mathanach (Cherish ). Cherish settled in well with the others in her new surroundings but it became quite clear that Cherish was not going to take anything the others might throw at her. She soon let them know she could more than stick up for herself. Cherish has had very good wins as a puppy and junior at Ayrshire and Scottish Collie Club open and champ show’s.

Tiganlea Sweetest Thing at Mathanach [Cherish] At Blackpool 2004 under judge Mr Hugh Simpson she qualified for Crufts '05 with a 2nd in PB. Her other wins were at the West Of England Collie champ show under Jan Lanning who gave her a VHC in a lovely big puppy class, also a 1st in Maiden bitch. I went home that day a very happy proud owner. Her other wins at open shows - 1st in open bitch and BOB at Land Of Burns show, also getting the BOB at Kilmarnock show. At SKC champ show, judge Mrs M Farnes gave her a 2nd in minor puppy bitch.

Cherish took time out to be mated to Michele McCann’s lovely sable dog Roanburn Flash Of Gold at Zolkhan. On 13th July 2005 Cherish gave birth to three healthy pup’s.

Cherish's Babies

Cherish went on maternity leave and to grow a new coat. Back in the ring again saw her getting some nice wins at Ayrshire and Scottish collie open and Champ shows. At the Irish collie champ show getting a 4th place in PGB under judge Mrs J Morgan (Tafton). Her recent wins have been at SKC under judge Mr J Chorley getting a 2nd in PGB qualifying her for crufts 2007.

At Scottish Breeds champ show, judge Mr B Ritchie gave Tigann and Kyle a reserve in junior. At Scottish collie open show, judge Mrs E forrest gave Tigann 2nd in minor puppy bitch and Kyle 1st minor puppy dog. At Ayrshire collie open show judge Mr P Farrell gave Tigann a 3rd minor puppy bitch, 4th puppy bitch, 2nd maiden bitch,. Kyle got a 1st in minor puppy dog, 2nd in puppy dog, 1st in maiden dog.
At Scottish collie champ show, judge Mrs I Cummings gave Tigann a reserve in maiden bitch, Judge Mrs C Waterhouse gave Kyle 3rd in maiden dog.

It became clear to me that Tigann and Kyle were just not happy being shown. I had to do some soul searching about whether they stayed or not and in the end I felt if they didn’t want to be in the show ring then it would be nice for them to be with a family as pets. I am so very pleased to say I have found a family home for them together, with a lovely couple and their teenage daughter. Tigann and Kyle are so happy with there new family - they are so loved and cared for and have settled in really well.

UPDATE JANUARY 2008 -Cherish “Tiganlea Sweetest Thing At Mathanach” has had major surgery to her back leg the procedure is called TPLO (Tibial plateau levelling osteotomy) which is an operation on the stifle (knee) it involves stabilising the joint by making a curved cut in the tibia (shin bone) and altering the shape of the bone using a steel plate and screws.
The first sign something was not right came when Cherish having had her run around the beach came back and rested a while she couldn’t put any weight on the right leg, I was puzzled by this because when off the lead she could run for ever and no sign there was anything wrong it was only after rest on getting up she couldn’t use that leg for a good few hours. This made me take her to my own vet who took x-rays of her back legs and found the problem, but as it was a specialist procedure meant she had to be referred to an orthopaedic surgeon in Stirling. Cherish had the operation on the 17th December and is doing quite well, with it being major surgery we have had to restrict Cherish to no running, playing around or off lead walks this will continue until six weeks post op which is very hard because now she is over the actual operation she wants to be out with our other dogs, a couple of times she has managed to get out with them in the garden and limped on the way back and couldn’t put any weight on that leg again.
Cherish goes back to see the surgeon at the beginning of February where she will have more x-rays to make sure everything thing is fine. Then if he says OK we will need to spend the next six months gradually getting her back to normal and ready for the ring again.
We have been told by the surgeon that this problem is common in dogs and he has treated quite a few rough collies, fortunately we have Cherish insured but the operation and follow-ups will end up costing £2,500, she is only covered for that amount so we just scraped in there and no more. So if any rough collie people out there have no pet insurance I would seriously think about taking one out.
Unfortunately because of this injury Cherish has been out of the show ring for the past few months and if lucky it will be another six months before she will be back out showing again.

Now to the baby of the Mathanach Kennel - our Newfoundland Duke. He is John's dog but he just loves everybody. If he catches you when he wants a cuddle you just have to surrender untill he has had enough. It was my plan to show Duke but it wasn’t meant to be. We got Duke at 16weeks old. His breeder was recommended to us so it never crossed my mind to check him over. We took him to the vets to say hello and register him. The vet looked in his mouth, to my horror his jaw was badly undershot making his bite well out. It was that bad he was referred to Glasgow university vet school, who said it was very bad but they couldn’t do much to make it better. His main problem will be keeping his teeth clean. We took him home feeling very down and much out of pocket but Duke is staying with us although we have been told by many people we should return him to the breeder. She didn’t want to know, anyway that was never an option, Duke is our own big bear and we love him like all our other dogs.

"Duke"

My future plans are to concentrate on showing Cherish. She is very much the show girl and a real pleasure to show - we just seem to know what we want from each other. I’m enjoying taking this lovely girl out and feel so proud to be her owner, a very big thank you to John and Caroline for letting me have this little treasure of mine. I will be bringing my tri boy, Gus, back out. He will soon let it me known whether he wants to be shown or not. He is over three now so maybe he has grown up, I will just have to wait and see. I am planning to have a litter from Cherish in 2007, hopefully I will have a pup or two for showing along with their mum.

Introducing our newest member... at the Mathanach Kennel Tiganlea Truly Tempting at Mathanach known as ( Cuillin ) from John and Caroline Tipper and all being well he will be out in the show ring as of September. My thanks to John and Caroline. Cuillin now qualified for Crufts 2008 at Darlington Ch. Show

Well this is my story and my journey and how I finally got into rough collies, and what a journey it has been. If anyone had said to me I would end up having in my kennels seven Rough Collies, two Bernese Mountain Dogs and a Newfoundland and also being on the committee of the Scottish CollieClub, I would have said you're having a laugh! I don’t claim to be the best breeder or always winning in the ring - all I can say is I love my dogs and couldn’t be without them in my life - anything other than that is a bonus.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about me, my journey and my dogs. Thank you Margaret for your patience, I hate having to say this but you were right. I have enjoyed writing my story and seeing my journey unfold.

LUCY
1991-2008
On Monday the 14th January 2008, we had to say goodbye to our old girl Lucy, she had been a good and faithfully friend to us for all those years we had her from the collie rescue, her back legs finally gave way over the weekend so we had to call our vet out.

ISLA
With a very heavy heart sadly we had to have our beautiful girl Isla put to sleep. Isla was taken to our vet last Friday 8th January with pain in the back of her neck, sadly it turned out that a disc in her spine had moved and put stress on the spinal cord and this led to her being paralysed from the head down. Our vet did every to help her but sadly by today [Thursday the 14th February] it became all to clear she would not be able to walk or move her head so it was time to let her go and end her pain. Isla had turned 6 in January far too young to die, but we couldn't let her live on in this condition, she is now with our lovely girl Lucy who died on the 14th January...........

Ann Bedford
Stranraer
Telephone: 01776 830648
email: mathanach@aol.com