Rough Collies..... fulfilling dreams

The beginning

How did my obsession start…………..it started when I was 5 years old and a rough collie called Max. When Max visited I was allowed to go to the park with him on my own, I felt so special. I knew that one day I would have my very own rough. In December 1992 my husband presented my with a tricoloured bundle of fluff, Atendus wotz going to try (Coco Chanel) breed by Gill Unstead. Coco was everything I dream't a rough collie would be. She gave me 11 amazing years of pleasure, she was my daughters favourite playmate, particularly enjoying the pretend tea parties. She was irreplaceable but time is a great healer and the year my daughter was due to go off to university I decided I needed something to focus on……what better than a new puppy. My life was now very different, the obvious thing to do was talk to Gill. Little did I know how this decision would completely change my life. I knew I wanted a blue merle and when I spoke to Gill she had a three week old litter with one bitch that she had been planning to keep to breed on with but she was happy to let her go and have a puppy back. So May 2007 saw us drive from West Wales to Devon to see this little girl. Surrounded by two litters of puppies I asked Gill which is the little girl, she answered the one chewing your hair. That was it, I was hooked, home came Atendus April Maid, my Nina Ricci

Breeding.........

We are now a small established kennel in West Wales UK and are fortunate to live in a very rural location close to the beach where the collies can regularly be seen running around, chasing seagulls or diving in and out of hedgerows.
The affix SERENLAS was chosen by my daughter, Karla and means BLUE STAR in welsh. This name represents my Nina, my blue merle foundation bitch, the start of it all and the fact we are based in Wales.

Breeding is not something to take on lightly, I have been very fortunate in having an amazing mentor who is extremely knowledgeable having been in collies for over 50 years and has been a big part of every breeding decision we have made.

When deciding to breed you are looking to breed to the Kennel Club standard and to try and improve. Every mating temperament, construction, health stats and a variety of other things must be taken into consideration.

Showing............. the start

My very first show was back in 2008 was a complete disaster, I didn't have a clue. A few years later having bred my first litter I decided to have another go at showing. I met someone who was willing to advise me and teach me how to prepare and present my girls. So off to ringcraft we went.

I was very lucky that Issey had a real work mentality and really enjoyed showing, actually when I think about it all my girls except Pagan have loved the show ring.

Collies are very easy to train and I was totally dedicated to making sure we didn't put a foot wrong in the ring. When Issey was 14 months old we entered our first Championship show. Issey was 5th out of 12, I was so proud of my girl. When Issey was 19 months we qualified for Crufts. WOW was I proud.

Showing ............ now

Now having shown for several years and with several different girls (bitches) I feel far more competent. I love showing, the girls really enjoy the one to one attention and I also enjoy the social side. I have made a huge amount of friends.

I was told by one of my mentors you must always have a goal and in the early days achieving a 1st at a champ show was my goal and I was over the moon when it happened. My greatest acheivement will always be making up my first Champion, my Inca, at Crufts in 2022. To make up a champion is amazing but to do in at Crufts is the dream. After that it was quite hard to set another goal but when I started showing Saffi as a puppy she was winning at practically every show, so I decided to try for her Junior Warrant which is not that easy to achieve. Much to my surprise Saffi accumulated enough points by the time she was 10 months old. Another goal achieved and a lot of fun gaining the points.