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Collien er verdens smukkeste hunderace! Lidt af en påstand, men ikke helt forkert.
Mange andre hundeejere vil sikkert påstå at netop deres race er den smukkeste, men collien har dog en vis ret til at kræve denne ære. Hvis man læser racestandarden for Collien fremgår det, at collien er en hund af stor skønhed. Det er den eneste standard, i hvertfald i FCI gruppe 1, der fremhæver netop dette.
De fleste kender vel collien fra filmene om Lassie, og det er da også rigtigt at collien er en klog hund, men den er heldigvis også meget andet end bare en filmstjerne.
Collien er faktisk født velopdragen. Den er ikke en race som for alvor prøver grænser af hele tiden, den er meget intelligent og lærevillig og ejer ikke jagtinstinkt, men har behov for en rolle i familien. Collien er let at opdrage da den hurtigt opfatter hvad det er ejeren ønsker af den. Der er sjældent behov for at gentage indlæringen mange gange da collien har et stort ønske om at "behage", at være "til tjeneste".
Collien er en mild hund og det skal der tages hensyn til i opdragelsen. Collien vil trives meget dårligt hvis dens familie er højtråbende og skrigende. Ligeledes må dressuren ikke være efter "kæft, trit og retning" metoden. Collien vil totalt miste respekten for ejeren med de metoder.
Idet collien er en hyrdehund er den meget fokuseret på sin flok. Den holder sig til sin familie og eventuelle andre dyr i husstanden og man ser derfor kun sjældent at en collie er stukket af hjemmefra og strejfe omkring i lokalområdet. Den knytter sig ikke til et enkelt medlem af familien men til hele familien og den har det bedst når hele familien er samlet. Når familien er samlet kan den tillade sig at slappe af.
Collien er derfor bedst egnet i en familie hvor man har en rolig og venlig omgangstone. Man kommer meget længere med sin collie med samvær, ros og venlige tilrettevisninger.
Når man ser collien med sin store flotte pels går det måske igennem ens hoved, hvor må det være et kæmpe arbejde! Svaret hertil er, at selvfølgelig skal pelsen passes, men i virkeligheden er collien den race der i forhold til sin størrelse og pelsmængde kræver absolut den mindste pelspleje. Pelsen skal hverken klippes eller trimmes og vil man bruge en lille halv time ugentligt til pelspleje har man altid en smuk og velplejet collie i huset. Sørger man for at holde pelsen har man heller ikke et fældeproblem. For naturligvis fælder collien! Fordelen er dog at underulden arbejder sig ud gennem dækhårene og dermed er let at rede af før den lægger sig rundt omkring i hjemmet. Ulden er også nemmere at samle sammen end de korte hår som mange andre hunderacer har som borer sig ind i stoffet på møbler og tøj.
Collien er også en nøjsom hund, den spiser i forhold til sin størrelse ikke ret meget mad og den er en sund hund som normalt ikke afstedkommer de store dyrlægeregninger.
Har collien slet ingen fejl? Svaret er egentlig nej, collien er som nævnt en rar og omgængelig hund, men man kan være fuldstændig sikker på at den kan ligge i vejen. Collien lægger sig ofte præcis midt i en gang hvor man ofte går igennem eller i døråbningen mellem to rum. Så kan den jo let holde øje med hvad der foregår og den flytter sig ikke bare fordi man vil forbi med noget tungt eller varmt. Så pas på ikke at falde over hunden!
Animals have been present in my life ever since I can remember.
My rabbit friend, after whom I cried with grief when she ended up as an Easter meal (I haven’t touched rabbit meat since), Felek the cat, dogs Kama, Czarek, Borys and Kazan, endlessly breeding hamsters, abandoned nestlings of sparrows, rooks or pigeons... they were our permanent household members.
On my way home form school I was always accompanied by a group of stray and non-stray yet neglected dogs from the neighborhood, dogs I fed with my leftover lunch sandwiches. This is the reason my Mom started calling me “the dogs’ mother”, a nickname my family has accepted and used.
The situation didn’t change drastically when I moved out and started living on my own. There was always a poor fellow to look after – Pu¶ka, which Szymon scared out of a bush and because of that she fell under a running car, Behemot, becuse nobody could go indifferently by a miaowing cat, marching in the middle of the street... However, up until 1994, all my animals, though extraordinary, were of non-aristocratic origin.
In 1993 I met a collie sheepdog for the first time. He wasn’t beautiful according to today’s standards of tricolor, no stop, no fur and standing ears, yet I was bewitched with the seductive look of his wonderful, almond-shaped eyes (especially when he tried to charm a potential food donor) and his easiness to become an important family member. Oh, and the way he moved... graciously. Many of today breed representatives could envy him his anatomic build.
And so my dream of having my own collie has become an obsession.
In 1994 my husband and I were walking in pouring rain down a road with neither a shoulder nor a sidewalk towards a place which, as it turned out later, became the very beginning of my great lifetime adventure and passion.
This place was the Polcolland animal kennel, where we bought our first dream collie bitch Coca-Cola Polcolland. We called her Chmura (“Cloud”) to remember the terrible weather of the day we'd got her.
She has become the founder of my breed. Her wonderful character, full of gentleness, distance and dignity, made us true lovers of this particular breed.
I cannot forget about another wonderful bitch we got thanks to Ms. Jadwiga Niciewicz. I mean DAFI MAYDAY from Psia Oaza. Dafi presented us not only with numerous show successes, but also beautiful puppies: the N litter, including deceased beloved NIVELLEN and the L litter – LEON and LAILA (both left on the farm) and LUKE-ARIEL who went to live with Agnieszka Dec. [www.ariel.mono.org.pl]
The year 2008 brought us a great surprise and change. A new member has joined our numerous human and animal family. It's a border collie NNL NO LIMITS “Czeko¶”.
Again, life shows us that a man learns all his life. Surely, life is full of surprises. An everyday comparison of the two breeds has been a continuous passionate surprise. And though I have loved collies with my first love, I need to admit Czeko¶ leaves them behind. When collie runs, border whizzes, when collie learns, border jumps at the know-how, when collie cooperates, border reads minds... They're comparable only when it comes to fur.
I give my thanks to Ewa Łukasik for Czeko¶ – my second, though no shallow love, for Czeko¶ who moved into our bedroom and bed (and she snores heavily ;)).
Our animal farm is a family farm. Few litters are always carefully thought over, carers-to-be are carefully assessed. We train all puppies in the house, they constantly meet family members and other animals, which enables them to adapt easily in a different environment.
All dog and other animals lovers are always welcome at Stumilowy Las (“Ashdown Forest”).
Drop in!
I'd like to thank Agnieszka Dec and Tomek Mońko for their input, effort, time and diligence they showed while creating this site.
Thanks to my son, Szymon, for marvellous pictures for our gallery. Regis, you have always been the man to capture unique moments.
