I would like to extend my thanks the people I have contacted on the list while looking for pups the past 5 months -- I have appreciated every response and am most sorry that I have not had time to respond to each one in a timely fashion. We have two new collie puppies. Normally I would never attempt to raise two puppies this close in age but simply couldn't pass them up! On October 10th we went to Stockton and picked up a normal-eyed smooth sable bitch pup of Cresthaven breeding (which goes back to Kings Valley and Colt). This litter, born 7/24, had been suggested to me by several people so figured it was worth going to see -- actually getting the bitch was a foregone conclusion since I had been looking since June! We named her "Brigh" which is pronounced "bree" and is Gaelic for "substance or essence" and while older than I wanted is just a doll and after having her at a weekend of goat shows on Oct 24/25 I am very impressed with her confidence and am looking forward to a good rain storm to knock down the foxtails and other bad type weeds so we can get out and start TRACKING! Then, on October 31st we went down to Anaheim to pick up a normal-eyed smooth sable male pup from Maureen Gronsky of McMaur Collies. My quest for a male had criteria attached to it and this pup comes as close as he could to meeting this criteria. I wanted a male of show/breeding quality, working lines if possible, OFA sire/dam and a non-carrier. Pretty high criteria. Sire has Ch and an HI, is OFA excellent and is normal eyed. Dam has Ch and HC, is OFA good and is normal eyed. Regarding the eyes, in a 4 generation pedigree (30 dogs) 25 are known to be normal eyed giving this litter a very good chance at being non-carriers. I'm not a baseball fan but as he was born on 9/7 during the game when Mark Mcguire set his record Maureen named him McMaur's Grand Slam with call name Mcguire. Watch for him in the future! Oh, if you all can stand a short non-collie brag! We went to goat show weekend with one aim -- to get the last 'leg' on the championship on my Nigerian buck. While it didn't happen until the very end of the 3 shows, we did get it! Earning his 3 'legs' in 5 shows, Storm is now the first Master Champion Nigerian buck in the state of California. YES! We took 4 goats, two junior does, 1 junior buck and Storm. None placed lower than 3rd all weekend and we came home with several 1sts, a Reserve Jr.Championship on the youngest doe kid, a Reserve and Championship on Storm. Another doe of my breeding took a Reserve Senior in one show and the Championship in another show. Other than the horrendous wind storm followed by several hours of heavy rain on Saturday afternoon it was a good weekend! Karen Clanin Karim's Collies, Nigerian Dwarf Goats and Bengal Cats http://www.fix.net/~kclanin