Meet Our Border Collies ...

This is Besslin Fleet. He is Hannah's son and sired by Dermot. Fleet is a black/white rough coated dog.  He is a big boy with a very loving disposition. Fleet  attended 2 levels of obedience training at McRae Dog Training in Caledonia.  He loved to play frisbee but was never a competition dog.  Fleet was a farm dog.   He passed away in 2018 at the age of 13yrs


This is Besslin Ibid or Biddy as we call her. She is a littermate to Fleet. Biddy is a black/white smooth coated dog. She is very active, extremely fast, and quite small in stature. Biddy is crazy for the frisbee and competed in the sport of disc dog, as well as performing with Team K9.   Biddy retired from performance in the all of 2018.   She is still with me & is now 14yrs of age..

These handsome boys are Besslin Casey and Besslin Shep. They are Hannah's sons, sired by Pip. Full brothers to Scout. Casey and Shep both attended basic obedience training at the Hamilton Dog Obedience Club when we first moved down here.  They both lived life as happy farm dogs enjoying playing and romping daily.  We don't get hung up on having our dogs out competing as young as possible.  We allow them to have their childhood and when they are ready,  pursue the sports they show us they have an aptitude for.  Shep was a good toss/fetch frisbee dog,  and Casey never quite took to dog sports.   Shep died in 2018.   Casey is still going strong as of this entry … July 2019

(I didn't intend to keep 2 more boys, but they were left over puppies. For whatever reason, no one was interested in them. If you have a dog that you are thinking about breeding, take note of this ..... if you have puppies that don't sell ....... they're YOURS! And if you are not prepared to take on that responsibility, don't breed your dog)

This is Besslin Maeve. She is the daughter of Aisling and Buddy. She was a  black/white smooth coated dog. She attended puppy school at Campaign Dog Training. Maeve was not part of the breeding program. She was spayed. Maeve was a superior sports dog that exceled in flyball and disc dog sports. She is a two time World Finalist in the Hyperflite/Skyhoundz World Championship Disc Dog competitions, and she was an active running member of the Northern Borders flyball team.  Maeve passed away at 14yrs of age.



This is Besslin Caora. She is was a black/white smooth coated dog. She is the daugher of Aisling and Buddy. Caora  was a dog that probably shouldn't have lived. Due to a slight deformaty in the structure of her nose, she was unable to suckle and fell behind in the litter. At 3wks of age little Caora only weighed one pound, while her brothers weighed in at almost 4 lbs each. I had to take Caora away from the litter and bottle raise her to save her life. Due to her rough start in life Caora was not suitable to be a breeding dog. She was spayed and enjoyed  life as our pet. Frisbee was her favourite game. Caora's name is pronounced "Kora" and is the Gaelic word for 'sheep'.   Caora become quite ill at 11yrs of age and sadly,  passed away

This is Besslin Dermot. He is a littermate to Buddy. He was a black/white smooth coated dog. He was late to enter the breeding program but in the past couple of years Dermot has sired several wonderful puppies. Although not fully trained on sheep, Dermot possesses a beautiful style and presence with stock, and a natural wide outrun & talent for the work. In his younger days Dermot was a star high jumper in our dog sport shows.  Dermot lived to be 16yrs of age.

This is Bell's Hannah.  She is out of Ted Bell's dog Skye and sired by Ted's dog Mirk. 100% working sheep dog lines. Hannah is a lovely dog, friendly and outgoing and loves everyone. She competed in flyball and disc (frisbee). Hannah  produced several wonderful and successful puppies before being spayed and retired from breeding.   Hannah lived to be 16yrs of age.

This is Besslin Scout. He  was son to Hannah and Pip. He was a black tri-coloured rough coated dog. A big boy. Scout competed casually in canine disc.  He completed basic obedience training at the Hamilton Dog Obedience Club.  Scout was a friendly and confident boy.    Scout lost his life to an aggressive cancer at the age of 13yrs.

 

This is Bell's Clancy. He was a red tri-coloured rough coated male. . He was out of Ted Bell's Lacy and sired by Ted's dog Mirk. Clancy completed basic obedience training at McRae Dog Training in Caledonia,  and enjoyed a game of frisbee here at home.  Very tragically,  Clancy lost his life at only 5yrs of age.   We believe due to errors in treatment made at the local emergency clinic.

This is Besslin Aoife. Aoife is pronounced ee-fa and is the Gaelic form of the name Eve or Eva. Aoife was out of Ceilidgh and sired by Margaret Lambkins Java. Aoife was a very outgoing and friendly dog and was natural jumper. Keeping her inside the 6ft fence was a challenge at times!!     She was an active high energy dog who despite our best efforts to keep her from over heating …. still managed to do so one day.  We lost her to heatstroke at 8yrs of age.

The passing of Aoife and Clancy took the wind out of my sails, and ultimately brought the end of the Besslin breeding program.  

This is Besslin Ace. Ace was a smooth coat white with black coloured dog.   He was active in flyball, disc (frisbee), and dock diving competitions.  He also had a very nice style on  sheep and showed a lot of natural talent.   Ace was out of Ceilidgh and sired by Buddy.    Ace passed away suddenly at 11yrs of age.   He was head pressing (a sign of neurological problems) and staggering one night & died in the car on the way to the emergency clinic.   It was presumed that he might have had a brain aneurism

Gone But Not Fortgotten .......

These dogs are Murphy and Bonnie Wee Bess. My first 2 border collies. Both red/white and rough coated. Murphy came from a breeder in Terra Cotta, Ontario and was son to Tom and Shelly Wolf's dogs Rawleigh  and Meg; both dogs from working bloodlines. Bess came from a breeder in Kitchener, Ontario. Her mother was Triscuit who was a pet dog from working lines; and her father was Ted Bell's old Shep dog ...... my favourite border collie of all time.

Both Bess and Murphy competed in flyball and did sheep herding. They also did steeplechase and high jumping & Murphy also participated in the Superdogs shows for awhile. Murphy also loved to play frisbee and swim. He was a great swimmer and diver. Murphy lived to be 15yrs of age and Bess lived to be 16.5yrs of age

This is Bell's Tri Dathuil Aisling. (Bell's Tri Colour Dream) "Aisling" is pronounced Ashling and is the Gaelic word for dream. Aisling was the progeny of Ted Bell's dogs Imp. Jake and Imp. Gwen (call name Nicky), both imported from Scotland. Aisling competed in flyball racing and also did sheep herding. She loved the water and loved to swim and dive. She was also a great frisbee catching dog. Aisling passed away in June of 2006 at the age of 15.5 years.

This is Bell's Bonnie Blue. Bonnie was the daughter of Ted Bell's old dogs Kate and Shep, both of whom were working sheep dogs. Bonnie played flyball, frisbee, did high jumping, and sheep herding. Bonnie was a water baby > she LOVED the water and loved to swim. Bonnie lived to be 16yrs of age.

This is Besslin Pip. Pip was the son of Bess and Diane McWhinnie's Kyle. A littermate to Ceilidgh. Due to an injury sustained when he was just a year of age, Pip did not persue competitive dog sports. He did however, enjoy a good game of frisbee now and then. He dabbled a little in sheep herding and showed nice natural talent, but due to his broken scapula, he was only able to do physical work & play for very short periods of time. Pip died in his sleep, suddenly and inexplicably in 2005 at just 10yrs of age. He was fine when we went to bed and gone when we woke up the next morning. "Peepers" was a very special dog.

This is Besslin Kep. Kep was the son of Bess & Murphy. He was the first born puppy in the Besslin line. He was a large handsome boy with a heart of gold. Kep did a little bit of sheep herding when he was young, but he was mostly a flyball dog. He also loved to play frisbee and was known for his spectacular back flips. "Keppy Man" passed away in April of 2005 at teh age of 14.5

This is Imported Molly. I bought Molly when she was 3yrs of age. She was the daughter of the two time International Sheep Herding Champion, Bobby Daziels Wisp. Molly was a wonderful and loving dog who died tragically from an aggressive cancer, at just 5.5 years of age

This is Besslin Tippy. Molly's son. Tippy was a beautiful soul with a heart so loving and devoted to me, that words cannot describe his loyalty. Tippy was never a breeding dog > he was neutered. Tippy suffered from idiopathic epilepsy and succumbed to the affliction at just 4.5 years of age. It's been several years since Tippy passed but we still miss him dearly.

This is Besslin Tommy Tucker. Tucker was the progeny of Bess and Ted Bell's Jake (Aislings father). Tucker was sold at 8wks of age and was returned 2wks later. He stayed with me until he was 5mths of age and then I placed him with a single middle aged man who was looking for a companion dog. Then when Tucker was four and a half years of age, a girlfriend with a dog came into the picture and the 2 dogs did not get along. An ultimatum was given to Tuckers owner …. woman or the dog. Silly man chose the woman! (and now she's gone too!). Tucker was returned for the second time in his life and stayed with me for the rest of his life. He played competitive flyball and was a wonderful companion to us. Tucker died in February of 2006 at the age of 14.5 years.


This is Besslin Buddy. He was a black/white smooth coated dog. Buddy was the son of Bonnie Blue and Mark Bustards Burl. Buddy completed basic obedience training at Campaign Dog Academy. Buddy and also did a little bit of work on sheep in his younger days, but his sport of choice was flyball. He also enjoyed a good game of toss/fetch with the frisbee. Buddy sired many wonderful dogs and continued to be an enthusiastic sports dog up until he retired at 12yrs of age.

This is Besslin Ceilidgh. We lost our beautiful girl to old age New Years Eve 2010. She was almost 16yrs of age. Ceilidgh was an outstanding dog who produced many amazing sport dogs & family pets. She was fully trained as a sheep herding dog & went to a few trials in her younger years. The highlight of Ceilidgh's day was accompanying me to the barn to feed the critters.