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Welcome to our Border Collie
Web Site |
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Welcome and meet our newest additions,
Somolli's Mc Tommie D' Tekoneva
and
Sykeron Nip D' Tekoneva. |
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Both Tommie and Nip are
training for agility as their main sport. |
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Prior to getting a new dog, I invest the time for
weeks, sometimes months, searching for temperament and medical
results on entire litters, parents, grandparents, and
great-grandparents. I also talk with different breeders,
trainers, and competitors before I make a decision on where I
get my next dog. I have imported most of my dogs from several
European countries. |
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The breed clubs in most European countries have
an extensive database with health results. The breeding parents
have to pass certain health tests, have a working title, and
pass a character test prior to a breeding set by the breed club.
The entire litters are examined by the "breed warden" designated
by the club. Problems, such as undescended testicles, birth
defects, and color faults are reported on the pedigree. Here in
the USA all of this is voluntary, not mandatory like in Europe. |
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Ultimately, my search came to fruition with two
wonderful border collies, Tommie and Nip. The litters they came
from have eyes CEA CERF as puppies and Nip, being blue a merle,
also had a BAER test done, with normal results bilaterally.
Results are pending for hip and elbow testing. |
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Their parents have passed all health testing,
which can be traced on the health database, even as far back as
six generations.
Click Here for the database link. |
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After being involved with working breeds all my
life and competing in obedience, tracking, protection (SchH),
agility, and the breed ring, it is essential for me to have the
best working temperament in a dog I am training and planning to
breed. Ultimately they will be my lifetime companion until a
ripe old age, along with robust health, and sound structure. I
want my dogs to be motivated to work under any circumstances. A
border collie is expected to herd sheep in any type of weather
or environmental condition. Far away, there may be a
construction site with explosive sounds, or hunting with gunfire
on a nearby island. You would not want your border collie to
leave the sheep and run for shelter, because of these scary and
unfamiliar noises. My dogs would be motivated to work under
these circumstances because of their genetic makeup. |
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Naturally, I want my dogs to have strong fight
and prey drive. This is a great asset for training and tells us
about the dog's persistence, both physically and mentally in
demanding situations. The dog's nervous system determines how he
is handling stress under strange situations. The nervous system
can be tested under more sophisticated character testing. I have
attached the German working character test, which is ideal for a
boxer: |
| Willingness to work: Very eager
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(+3) |
| Sharpness: Moderate |
(+3) |
| Desire of defense: Moderate
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(+3) |
| Desire of fighting: High or very high
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(+3 - +1) |
| Nerve structure: Very calm and self
assured or calm and self assured, |
(+3 - +2) |
| Temperament: Lively |
(+3) |
| Hardness: Moderate hardness or hard
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(+3 - +2) |
| Accessible: Kindness and openness
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(+3) |
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These tests can tell us far more about the dog
than our local obedience or agility trials. I believe it is
difficult for a dog with weak nerves to succeed in the top level
of our sports, but it is not impossible with a very experienced
handler, especially with a high driven prey dog. |
Here are more links about character testing for
working and breeding purposes:
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bigmama/10/mbasic.htm
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bigmama/10/mexec.htm
http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bigmama/10/profiles.htm |
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Tommie comes from a famous Somollis herding
kennel in Sweden. Both of Tommie's parents are prized
competition sheep dogs. Numerous members of Tommie's family have
won national working titles, and sport competitions such as:
tracking dog, search dog, message dog, obedience and agility. |
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Nip comes from a Sykeron working performance
kennel in Finland. Nip's dam is an active herding dog on a
reindeer farm. She also helps the neighbors with the sheep.
Nip's sire is imported from Latvia, (Nat's Galaxy Kennel) and
whose owner is the coach of Latvia's world agility team. His
littermates have participated at the FCI Agility World
competitions and the Russian obedience team in European
competition. Nip's grandmother is from Czechoslovakia (Bohemia
Alke Kennel) whose owner Alex Grygarow, was the judge for the
FCI Agility World competition in Italy 2005. The grandfather,
Int. Ch. Rajahiilen Jymy is a very famous dog from Finland who
also was a herding champion in addition to achieving obedience
and agility titles. |
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With a background like this, and being the pick
puppies from the litter, both of my dogs are mentally strong and
physically sound to do any task required in a dog sport. Their
health and physical structure is ideal for speed, the ability to
jump high, and perseverance to work long hours; all essential
characteristics of a working border collie. |
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Tommie and Nip are very biddable and humble to
train and are forgiving, recovering quickly if frightened.
Neither one reacts to gunshots or other loud noises. They know
when the fun is over and are able to relax as if they had an off
and on switch. They love people and kids! They have very good
skills when it comes to communicating with other dogs without
aggression. |
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For me, it is very important that a border collie
can do the job he was meant to do; which is to herd sheep. The
beauty of a border collie is not in the coat length, coat color,
or the way the ears stand, but in their endurance and stamina.
The way they stalk, trot, gallop, and make sudden turns, makes
them the world's best herders to work the sheep! Border collies
also shine as being the most brilliant dogs for agility,
obedience, and performance work all over the world! |
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About breeding: Tommie is tightly line bred
result, and so is Nip. However, they are unrelated to each
other. If breeding takes place, the earliest being summer 2008,
it will be a result of an outcross, bringing two linebred lines
together. |
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Special thanks goes to Lottie Hansson in Sweden
and Reija Suominen in Finland for letting me have your best!
Thank you so much for all the wonderful family pictures you were
willing to share with me! |
