About
Europe: and what makes Heirlair Collies so important to their breeding
programs…
These
four photos of Mikey (above) are
a good demonstration of how Heirlair Collies hold their grace and beauty
throughout the aging process. The first picture was taken when he was
about 3 years
old. The second picture was taken when he was about 6 years old. The third
picture was taken when Mikey was about 8 years old. And this last picture
was taken when he was nearing 11 years old. I visited Mikey before he
passed over the Bridge and, believe me, he was still a very lovely dog at
13 years old. Such grace in aging is a strong virtue of my dogs and comes
down primarily from their Tartanside
background.
So, What About Europe?
The
Collies of Europe are very different than those in the United States and
Canada. Although the standard is nearly the same, the British type has
changed radically. During the first and second World Wars, fanciers from
the US imported many of the best Collies from the United Kingdom, in order
to keep the breed safe. England and most of Europe was under attack and
breeders there feared for the lives of their dogs. At that time, the
Collie looked just about the same as those in the US today. We used them
to our best advantage in American breeding programs, with the idea that
one day Great Britain and Europe would want their foundation stock
back.
However, exporting those foundations
was a nightmare, as mandatory quarantines of six months and longer
hampered the willingness of both the Americans and the British breeders to
subject their dogs to such lengthy confinements in a government kennel.
So, the UK rebuilt upon the stock that remained in their country. They
also found eager fanciers in Europe, since exportation was much less
costly from Britain rather than the Americas. The “new” Collie of the
British and European communities was a far cry in quality, temperament,
type, and structure, and continues in this pattern even
today.
Here are some examples of the
current “top winners” in Europe and the UK
today.
   
There are
a few breeders who have worked long and hard at “Americanization” of the
Collie in Europe. Their particular complaints about what is available and
winning is fairly obvious to the American eye: short, square heads with
deep stops, faces that look like the Chow-Chow rather than the Collie; low
ears, slanted rather than almond shaped eyes, snipey muzzles, lack of
underjaw and finish, very clearly lacking in bone and size and, what you
can’t see, horrific temperaments. Remember, the
dogs pictured above are ALL current European
Champions.
Structure
has been damaged as well. Most of the European Collies are extremely short
backed, with straight fronts and rears, no neck, short, gay tails, and cow
hocks. Consequently, the movement suffers with so many problems. The
European Collie is ill-equipped to do the work for which it was originally
bred.
Therefore,
a rising movement has begun to import Collies to Europe from the US and Canada, with the
notion that a few generations of very careful breedings will result in a
return to the quality and functionality of the Collie that used to be.
(Imports to Great Britain are still sparse because of the continuing
quarantine). Breeders, like my friends Beate and Udo Alexander of OHMTALTEUFEL KENNELS in Hamburg,
Germany have been faithful to this plan, and with the help of Heirlair
Collies, have come closest to this goal. Let’s take a look at
how they have done:
 
Cassie – a
combination of the English and European Collies
 
Hazel and Lando – a
first generation combination by Heirlair All Fired Up out of the German
bitch Black Dayna vom Ohmtalteufel.
  
Cassie was also bred to Mikey and
produced Quirina vom Ohmtalteufel. Here is a photo of
“Ina”. Her head and structure are
clearly “Americanized”.
For the second generational pass,
Quirina was then bred to another American import, Kings Valley Covenant and produced “Mueke” - Warja vom Ohmtalteufel. Mueke is ¾ American bred, being
fully American on the sire side and one-half on the dam side. You can see
the sweetening of the eye, the rounded and well-filled muzzle, the slight,
clean stop, and good ear set. I have also had my hands on her and her
structure is very correct, with exceptionally good movement. This bitch
could finish easily here.
And now it’s
time to double-up on their foundation male, Mikey. Mueke is bred back to her
grandfather…..
  
…and here comes Bubi!!
(pictured above with Jeannie and Beany). They’ve
done very well in just 3 generations. But wait…let’s breed Mueke (Warja vom
Ohmtalteufel) to Am/Can/Ger. Ch. Heirlair Reap The Whirlwind…
The result is American/Canadian Champion Vayu vom Ohmtalteufel “Liesi”
 
The “Americanization” process is
complete after 3 generations of careful selection. Need to see the
difference again?? Scroll back up or right-click on your mouse to save the
photos to disk. It is also important to note that
HEALTH is critical to many European breeders seeking to Americanize. Normal eyes, freedom from hip dysplasia and
perfect dentition, as
well as no background problems of epilepsy, dermatomyositis,
demodectic
mange, cryptorchidism, and
other physical and mental diseases are part of the research criteria used
BEFORE importing from America. I am
honored that Europe considers the Heirlair Collies to have such good
reputations in these areas.
***********
Why did it only take 3 generations to
bring the German dogs back to the Collie standard? Well, all Collies are
descended from the same foundations of the late 1800’s. The importation
and careful use of the rescued British stock by Americans was hardly a
deviance from the breed, as many of the best of the early Collie breeders
had already imported good dogs before the wars. Therefore, the foundation
was preserved and remained easily blended at a genetic
level.
**********
So why then do the foreign dogs look
so foreign? I believe that it is due to the fact that, with the best stock
being here, the use of the inferior remaining dogs in the UK bred back
upon one another created something of a “hybrid” Collie. Unfortunately,
not only did the conformation of these Collies suffer but the temperaments
did as well. They are either extremely shy or extremely aggressive. In
“Americanizing,” the sweet temperaments also returned, with not a hint of
shyness or unprovoked aggression.
**********
I am not an “arm-chair” critic. I
frequently fly to Europe to visit and to show dogs, particularly my lovely
American boy, Griffin –
American/Canadian/German Champion Heirlair Reap The Whirlwind. I saw
first-hand the things I have described. There were nearly 70 Collies at
the Dortmund, Germany show, which draws dogs from all of Europe. Griffin
was also shown at the World
Show, in Germany and at Crufts in 2005 at
Birmingham, England, against nearly 300 all European,
non-American Collies, handled by Laurie Jeff Greer. Griffin
qualified for Crufts by multi-group placements and wins in Canada during
2 weeks of shows, finishing at the #5 spot in the breed for 2003. Crufts
is
an invitation-only show for more than 22,000 dogs of all breeds from all
over the world.
********
NEWS FLASH!! Griffin
is now a GERMAN-VDH CHAMPION !!!!! He has made history for
the breed.
But then the European shows are
another story…. on his page see Griffin at The
Worlds!
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