What about your collie??!?

I was born into a family with two Rough Collies. They were probably about 9 or 10 when my brother and I were born, and they died at 16 & 17 years old. They were brothers.

They were amazing dogs. Loving, and very sweet. We used to hike in the pasture with them all the time. My best memory is probably playing "house" with them outside - Bandit was the "father", Rambo was the "mother" (though as I said both were boys) and my Aussie Maggy was my "sister". It was actually a lot of fun...I had a very rampant imagination.

Currently, we have a 12 year old Shetland Sheepdog named Sam. This dog has been with us since I was 8 years old and we've just seen it all. I have some really great memories of playing with him as well - he was the most willing dog. I'd dress him up; I'd push him around in the stroller; and I'd even push him in our two-seat baby swing. He loved all of it.

He has consistently gone sledding with us over the years as well - he hops right on and goes down the hill. He also will sit and stay on the sled as we pull him along. He is very well behaved and obedience is just natural to him.

My collie is a clever girl. She climbed the gate when she was a puppy, and chased a car. She lost her tail and de-gloved her back leg, but still she was a happy, friendly dog. Just when she got better, she had problems with her patella. This took months to heal. As you may imagine, we missed a lot of training time for her.

2 years on, she is a great dog, friendly to everyone. She does flyball to engage her body and mind, and she proves every day that collies are clever and brilliant in every way. The end :p