Story Of Gael Collies

I have always loved dogs, and I have always had them.  There were eleven kids in our family so the dogs belonged to everyone.  We lived in the suburbs during the year and spent the summer on our dairy farm in upstate New York. When I had my own family, we got dogs as soon as we lived in a house.  We had a number of rescue dogs:  mutts, English setter, German Shorthaired Pointer, rough Collie;  and then I started raising and training Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.  I put obedience, conformation and hunting titles on my dogs for over 20 years. 

Personally, I had gone through some hard times and decided to change breeds. After a lot of research, I came to the smooth Collie.  While I loved the rough Collie we had while my children were growing up, the grooming was a chore.  A wash and wear Collie sounded great!  Also, I became interested through my work with Chessies to have dogs that not only could win in the show ring but could still perform as they were bred to.  Herding, agility, and obedience were all possibilities with Collies.  So I started looking for some smooth Collie breeders to discuss the breed.   Going through the Collie Club of America and their local District Director, I got a list of possible breeders who might talk to me. I had no idea who any of these breeders were.  As luck had it, the first call I made was to Tess Esch, then in Granby, Connecticut. I couldn’t have found better people to mentor me than Tess and Mike, as well as Joe and Michelle, their two children.  I came back several times to see their dogs and finally to get my first Signet puppy,  CH. Signet’s Dream Weaver CGC  HIC.

I currently have a home in Wilton, New Hampshire with 12.5 acres.  My dogs stay in the house at night and are really house dogs.  I also have a number of inside/outside kennel runs off of the barn.  My dogs are trained on the invisible fence which encompasses about 4 acres of my property.   The dogs have plenty of room to run in the woods and the fields.

My philosophy in raising dogs is to have dogs that have both Form and Function. Form means meeting the standard for the breed and coming as close to it as possible.  It also means that the dog is capable of performing as a functional dog.  While herding may not be always available, it is possible to do obedience, tracking, agility or rally to keep the dogs busy.  Collies are very smart and can tend to get bored.   Most of all Collies are gentle dogs who unconditionally love you and your family.