Kourika Rough Collies

Blue breeding is not for the faint hearted as there are so many ups and downs and blue is the hardest colour to breed. However, it was all part of the learning journey, and believe me: to have produced a blue with clear colour and good head, shape and movement is very rewarding, no matter how much heartache along the way!

We ran a small boarding kennel at the time, which curtailed our showing and breeding a bit. Furthermore, our two small boys who had been dragged from show to show needed some of our time too. That, and running my business Minibus Taxi Co made us stop showing for a few years.

Hopefully the boys can look after themselves now!

Breeding went on though: we had kept our blue dog Kourika Kool Water, his Tri Colour sister and a Tri Colour Bitch named Kourika Lady Killer (Amalie/Roanburn lines). The latter was mated to Kool Water and produced our lovely blue bitch, Kourika Klear Star. Out of her mating to Ch Roanburn Black is Black at Zolkhan came a blue dog Kourika Coast Guard at Bahatiview. Klear Star had such a lovely character, smiled every time she saw the lead, and we were devastated when at two and a half years old we lost her as her immune system broke down. She was so close to a perfect blue for us, and now we had to get back to the drawing board again.

Klear Stars’mother, Kourika Lady Killer, was mated to Ch Roanburn Simply Red and produced in her first litter Kourika Kool Kidd and Kourika Kazmika at Roanburn, who gained an RCC at eight and a half months. Both were lovely, outgoing puppies and had successful puppy careers.

Thanks to my dear friend, Gwen Hartley Roanburn, who sadly passed away some time ago, Lady Killers tri daughter Kourika Kiss Me by Kourika Kool Water was also mated to Ch Roanburn Simply Red and out of this mating we had Kourika Koffee Creme, a sable and white bitch who goes back to all mentioned above. We thought we needed some sable blood to bring into our line, but I have never given up on our true love, blues and tris. To keep the blue colour, I took Kourika Kiss Me to Deborah Finneys’ Camanna Coast to Coast at Bahatiview, a sweet natured boy who was by a Linaire dog. The result was Kourika Karazmatic who won 3 RCC’s; her colour and movement were a joy to behold and still are. To bring in some old blood I took her to Ch Erjon Ebony Byron, a dog with a lovely eye and expression. This mating produced our blue bitch Kourika Kleopatra and her brother Kourika Klear Konnection who had really beautiful colour, bone and substance and in turn produced Kourika Koconut Kream to a tri bitch (Kola Kube) coming down from our sable and blue line.

Kourika Klear Konnection


Kourika Karazmatic	Kourika Koconut Kream

As at this point I was more concentrating on blue breeding, I saw a photo of a lovely tri dog pup, Murphy, owned by Di Ware, and after talking to her when she was Ireland she said it would be nice to have him shown in the UK and as I very much liked the look of him when she brought him to Scotland I said I would. I just loved his free flowing movement and his head and expression which reminded me of Ch Mantika in type. I also thought with his breeding he could be very useful as a stud dog for the blue bitches I had at the time, so I asked Di if she would sell him to me and she did.
I will always be grateful she let this boy, who has given me so much pleasure in and outside of the ring, come here. I was very honoured when the late Jimmy Tait gave him his first RCC at eleven months and said he thought this dog showed a lot of promise. Sadly, Jimmy never got to see him being made up but this is a memory I will always cherish.
Murphy has produced some lovely pups in type with super temperaments to the small amount of outcross bitches he has had. I also mated him to all my blue bitches: Karazmatic produced the lovely Kourika Krushed Krystal at Eximer, Kleopatra produced tri color Kourika Karrizma (2 CCS, 2 RCCS) and Koconut Kream produced Kourika Kandita. Again, her shape and colour are what I have been looking for in a blue. She has done well for me, as has his blue daughter Ronansprey Rumour Has It for Terri Brand.

Ch Willowdene Double or Quits at Wassail (Murphy)

Ir Ch Rosschell Bobby Dazzler at Wassail x Wassail Dyna at Willowdene


Kourika Karrizma	Kourika Kandita and her mother, Kourika Koconut Kream

Not long ago I purchased a sable bitch pup from Karen Johnston: Geosamka Has to be at Kourika (Hannah), who carries a lot of old lines back through Sea Dreamers’ and Riverside Song. Hannah is maturing nicely and keeps me active in the ring and outside. Hopefully she willl be mated to Murphy in the future: my last chance with a blonde…


Geosamka Has to be at Kourika (Hannah)

It would have been too much to mention all the dogs and bitches that we have had and used over the past 37 odd years, who have influenced our kennel in one way or another. Not enough space for all the different dogs and secenarios giving us the experience of a lifetime in our breed.

Showing and breeding has been curtailed a bit now, but judging still gives me great pleasure: assessing a dog, watching his movement and looking him over, getting goose bumps down my back is still the best feeling in the world.

It has been a great privilege to hand out CCS to dogs and bitches in the UK (England, Scotland and Wales) and I h
ave been fortunate enough to have judged in Belgium, Germany, Russia and Ireland too. It has been a wonderful lifetime journey, I have been so lucky to have had some success, made many close friends and shared laughs, beers and tears along the way.

I have always felt like trying to breed “middle of the road”type collies, not too extreme either way, with good head and expression, shape and movement, and with a sound temperament.

Thanks to Mike and Bernice Harris, Mybern, this is all behind my line; one doesn’t see many pedigrees like this now.