We weren't supposed to keep a puppy, but ... there was something about her that we just couldn't refuse. Maybe it was because we have seen her half brother DJ as a grownup and just loved his dark red, shaded sable looks.  Holly will be similar in color to DJ.  At four months in age, Holly has already won over all of our hearts, and most everyone she meets.  She is currently working on Bela & Dillon and is gradually earning her acceptance among all the dogs.  Granny Bec has spent quite a bit of time with her teaching her the fine art of play fighting.

Holly is named in honor of my grandmother, Blonza Holleman Smith.  It only seems fitting especially since she and my grandfather introduced the English Shepherd breed to the family back in 1949.   Brian is taking Holly to puppy classes, while I take her to herding classes.  She is extremely bright/smart and seems to have her daddy's temperament, along with some of his markings.  She is doing well during the herding classes.   I am looking forward to watching this little girl grow up!

9 months - Holly continues to impress me as she grows older.  It's funny how you can see certain aspects of her personality reflecting both her mother & her father.  Granny Bec is still her number one playmate.  Brian continues taking her to beginning agility classes (flat work).  I have begun taking her with Dillon to our private class and started sequencing work with her.  Jumps are set at 8" so there is not an issue of injuring her.  She amazed me the other week as she & I went through a UKC AGI course.  She was super fast, did all 13 obstacles correctly, watched me & had a blast!  That same week, she started to come into her own at herding class.  Up until then, she sort of hung back & really wouldn't approach the sheep on her own.  All of a sudden at that class, she led out, moved the sheep, started doing some small outruns & gathered the sheep to us.  This was pretty cool stuff to watch!

10 & 11 months - Holly surprised me in her interactions with Hunter.  I was quite relieved to see her tone her actions down when we finally exposed her to Hunter for the first time.  From that time forward, she played with Hunter every day.  Shortly after Hunter went to his new home, Holly, Bec, Brian and I went to Topsail Island for several days.  Once she became accustomed to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore, she had a great time walking on the beach with us.

February 2010 - Holly continues to mature both physically & mentally.  Her herding is improving - still a quiet worker, plus she is now attending some agility classes with me on a regular basis, along with Brian's classes with her.  One of the nicest things about Holly's ES behavior is that she is into keeping and enforcing rules around here.  This is a trait I have seen with her father, but no one dog, until Holly, has ever made Kira behave.  Holly has managed to help keep things in check that area.  Got to love that dog!

June 2010 - Holly and I made the trip to IL for a breeding to Amy Dorsch's Rudy.  I wasn't sure how she would do with the all day aspect of riding, but came through it all like a trooper!  One thing I do appreciate about Holly is that I normally don't have to tell her too many times to leave something alone.  I was concerned about her barking in the hotel room.  After we checked in, she would normally bark at either another dog passing by in the hallway or people if they were noisy.  I would remind her that it wasn't her problem and for her to leave it.  That one reminder was usually enough for the stay.  

November 2015 - It has been awhile since things have been updated on Holly's page, so I will give a brief overview of the past few years.  Since I retired Dillon from competition, Holly has attended two UKC agility trial weekends.  The first was in March of 2013.  It's hard to train and run with an intact female since you have to schedule around heat cycles &/or if there are puppies.  So training had been hit & miss for Holly, along with opportunities to trial.  During her first trial we only ran AGI courses.  She earned her AGI title that weekend.  In September of 2014, we entered again working on her AGII title.  She earned it in one weekend.  We have not had the opportunity to enter again since I will only do the local trials.  Competition & earning titles is not nearly as important to me as creating the  bond between me & my dog.

Holly did take herding classes for awhile & we have attended several clinics.  While she was happy working the sheep at the trainer's house, she didn't show much of an interest at the clinics.  Could it be that she really didn't see a need to herd those particular sheep?  Could it be that she didn't view them as her own?  I really don't know & just haven't had the opportunity to get back into herding training with her.

What has truly impressed me over the years is Holly's sense of order and fairness.  She doesn't like misbehaving dogs at classes.  It's pretty obvious when one begins to talk back or act the fool that she feels the need to help restore order.  This same consideration extends to her home where life should be orderly.  She is with the best of them in alerting to all types of things that should not be happening including hawks or buzzards circling overhead, squirrels or other animals that don't belong, alerting to snakes, strangers and more.  She has also been the self appointed guardian of her Uncle Bela & Grammy Bec for several years now.  She has amazed me with the patience and respect she has shown to both of these dogs as they have aged.  Both of them turned 14 this year & Bela is limited in his mobility.

Holly continues to possess a sense of humor, has proven herself to be a trusted partner and has shown herself to be a wonderful mother that actually teaches her puppies acceptable behavior.  Her pups have turned out to be some of the smartest pups, as well as being good looking.  She is a major asset to our family.

September 2016 - Within the past year Holly has hung up her role of "caretaker" of her Granny Bec & Uncle Bela.  I have seen a more carefree dog in Holly since that time.  Her sense of humor has resurfaced.  I guess I didn't realize how serious she had been over the past few years as she watched over the old dogs in the household.  In March, 2016, we began working on accumulating points for her next agility title.  Considering this was only her 3rd ever agility trial, I was extremely proud of her.  Out of 8 possible runs, she had 5 qualifying runs with a total of 31 points earned out of the 100 necessary for her next title.  This was not too shabby at all!  Over the next few months, Holly will be raising another litter.  Since I am hoping to keep one of her pups, we will be looking forward to seeing what Holly can help teach the little one over the next year.  

November 2018 - The last two years have brought about changes in Holly's life. We did end up keeping Roper, from her 2016 litter. Holly has been Roper's main dog teacher, playmate and role model. Holly continues to do some limited training and competition in UKC Agility. In September of 2017, she earned 56 points of her needed 100 points towards her UACH title. Considering that was only her fourth official trial weekend, I am seriously impressed by her ability. She runs like her daddy, Dillon, which makes handling her so much easier. She only needs 13 more points to earn the UACH title. I am hoping that will take place in 2019. As a "senior" dog, she does have the benefit of not jumping as high as she used to during competition, which is fine by me. Holly loves to go to Jan's house for training!

Holly has officially been retired from breeding, but I do expect her to "help" with the puppies as they get older. It is hard for me to believe that Holly is 10 years old now. She is a fabulous dog. I am so thankful that Brian insisted that we keep her back in 2008!