if you want to know about the fiasco of athena's dogs do a google search
for "montana collies" and you'll learn more than you wished you knew.  the
awca web site also has archived newspaper articles and jean's articles.

i have one of those dogs.  he was fortunate in that he was younger and did
not suffer from the health problems that many of the older dogs did, he's
also a smooth and i think they have a more enduring temperament than the
roughs.  for what he went through i am always amazed at how sound his
temperament is.  structurally he is quite nice, easily as nice as if not
better than the male i purchased several years ago from one of the other
breeders working for normal eyes (and hundreds less dogs than athena
had).  the difference between the two is that the dog from athena has
someone at home up there, the other dog i regret to say was just plain
beautiful but dumb.  i'm not defending athena, i did not condone how she
raised/cared for her dogs, just making observations.

being a performance/working oriented person i couldn't go for "dumb" so he
was given to a pet home where he was neutered, was most likely a non
carrier and very nice.

purchased 2 bitches, one from a strong performance breeder, she's sweet,
was very well socialized but i can not stop her barking at things when away
from home, she's also cow hocked, has a genetic kink in the tail, couple of
missing teeth. eyes clear but would be a carrier. she's spayed.

the other bitch, a smooth isn't the sharpest pencil in the holder either,
quite a nice over bite, eyes clear but a carrier and not the show or
breeding quality i purchased.  she's spayed.

oh, and all 4 of the collies are prick eared.  i don't mind prick ears but
do feel if the ears are supposed to be tipped then breeders should be
breeding for the characteristic instead of relying on tape and glue.

karen
www.clanins.com