I never really liked dogs that much. I had a so-so relationship with my Australian Shepherd, Smokey, growing up. Always too stubborn for his own good, and untrained - left to just "do what a good dog should do", he was annoying. Then as a young couple, we tried the Alaskan Malamute. Surely a big working dog was exactly what we needed. Something that WANTED to do things, right? Yeah, except we didn't have the energy to keep up with her. Moving on to farm life 7 years later, we thought the Great Pyrenees would be the answer. A dog created to be happy doing things around the farm. Perfect! Except she wasn't happy around the farm. She was constantly harassing our neighbors. We took a dog break for about 3 years and I did a lot of research. I realized that a lot of my dog errors were human. I expected too much from them. I wanted them to just "be a good dog" not realizing I was setting them up for failure because I didn't show them what that meant for me. I didn't teach them what I expected from them. That, and I chose the wrong breed for my family's needs at that time. I always imagined myself with this dog that wanted to be by my side, come when I called, look at me with eyes that begged to please. It seemed like a ridiculous Lassie dream. And then I met an Old-Time Scotch Collie. I was skeptical at first. The wonderful things the owner was telling me sounded too good to be true. No dog was that incredible. And they weren't even recognized by the American Kennel Club? Not that I'm a purebred snob by any stretch of the means, but just what kind of dog was this? I'd looked into Border Collies and English Shepherds and Rough Collies and... never heard of a Scotch Collie. But the more I read and watched, I knew this was the dog I had been wanting all my life. In December 2020, we brought Lucy home and she has met my every expectation. Now, I've grown up a bit and this time, I wanted to do the dog-owner thing right. I worked with Lucy from day one using Puppy Culture techniques and a smattering of other resources I've used. She has been TRAINED. And the really cool things is, she wants to be trained. She listens, she watches me, she loves me, she wants to please me. And I love her right back. It has been a fabulous experience. I am convinced that these are the very best dogs on the planet and I am so excited to begin sharing these dogs with other families and farms. You won't be disappointed.
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