Eight days short of her eleventh birthday, we lost Taffy to bladder cancer. Taffy came to live with us very unexpectedly in October of 2000, a month shy of her fourth birthday. At that time she was approximately three weeks from giving birth to ten puppies. After the puppies were raised, Taffy began her transition to life in our home. It would be almost two years before she felt at home. After that she was the busiest dog in our three-ring circus. For the first four years of her life she had only known the breed ring. Learning to heel, to jump and weave with precision, and to cover her stock made this once “trophy dog” into a respectable dog worthy of the “Lassie” heritage.

Her eagerness to learn brought her many performance titles, including eleven American Kennel Club (AKC) titles, two American Herding Breed Association (AHBA) titles and the Collie Club of America Versatility and Versatility Excellent Awards (most of these titles were earned in 2003!). Going back to her conformation roots she also appeared as a Veteran at the 2003 Inland Empire Collie Club Specialty and was awarded Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Variety and Best of Opposite Sex to Best of Breed.

At ten years of age, she was retired from performance life. We tried to title in the tracking arena, however time was against us. Taffy was bred to be a conformation dog but she performed well beyond her origins. Above all, Taffy was a collie, always ready, willing and able, but you won’t find her fishing Timmy out of the well….she hated getting her feet wet! Thank you to Bob and Lorraine Gruner for the gift of Taffy. Rest well, run free until we meet again.